The debate over gun rights and gun control stretches back decades, to at least the early part of the 20th century. It should, then, come as no surprise that there are quite a few recurring and oft-argued themes and positions in this long-running debate. Seasoned gun-rights debaters have heard them all, over and over again, have parsed and deconstructed them, and have formulated responses and rebuttals. Which they typically repeat, over and over again.

After growing tired of typing the same words repeatedly, I decided to compile a list of all the arguments thrown at me, and assembled a pro-gun-rights rebuttal to each of them. For readers who understand the importance of our individual right to keep and bear arms, I hope this list proves a useful resource. For readers who are uncertain or consider themselves under-informed on this topic, I hope this list provides an education, clears misconceptions, and helps in solidifying opinions. For readers who are strongly anti-gun, I hope there’s enough open-mindedness to give the pro-gun arguments herein an honest read and a fair shake. Perhaps you believe some things that simply aren’t true. There’s nothing wrong with correcting mistaken beliefs.

I welcome feedback, and if you’ve heard a trope I haven’t addressed, please let me know. I will continue to add to this list as need be.

In addition, I offer a number of articles that discuss gun rights in the context of current debate:
– The racist roots of gun prohibition laws.
– Gun prohibitionists often say wrong or ignorant things, but don’t care.
– How “doing something,” even if that something is pointless or counterproductive, is presented as morally upright.
– How discussing “gun crime” is a means of deflecting attention and skewing statistics away from non-gun crime.
– The lie being peddled by those who support universal background checks but claim to oppose universal registration.
– Why gun control advocates have no qualms about lying to hide their true desire and end-goal.
– The use of language trickery to pretend that mass shootings are a uniquely American problem.
– More on the virtue-signaling aspect of calls to “do something,” even before the facts of an incident are known.
– How the Press is quick to level its attacks at politically “safe” targets, but won’t dare cross the PC boundary.
– How the Left’s increasing rage when it comes to gun control is a response to the futility of their past efforts.
– America’s puritanical obsessions regarding alcohol and drugs is the primary cause of gun violence and the first source of gun control laws.
– The irony of Obama’s “bitter clingers” lament when it came to his own anti-gun narratives.
– Even more on the desire to see “something” done in response to a mass shooting incident.
– How people who don’t trust others to own guns responsibly nevertheless demand that others trust them when it comes to gun control.
– Some thoughts on the dissonance and inconsistency in many anti-gunners’ arguments.
– The tendency to bend facts and evidence to pre-determined narratives and policy prescriptions.
– Several policy ideas regarding guns that will promote safety while preserving rights.
– Your rights end where mine begin, and vice versa. Subject to those boundaries, rights cannot be abridged.
– The bootstrapping deceit behind dubbing something a “public health crisis.”
– 3D printing will make gun restrictions obsolete. This freaks out gun-grabbing politicians.
– “Papers please” went from a Cold War-era mockery of socialist systems to an unfortunate reality in America today.
– How prohibitionists who’ve lost their primary fights are taking it out on “lesser” versions of that they want banned.
– The Left’s freak out over a young woman who won Olympic gold in shooting tells us of broad cultural divides in America.
– How the supposedly popular idea of universal background checks would be used to back-door the unpopular idea of universal registration into law.
– Another example of a female Olympic medalist in shooting sports causing discomfort among the gun-hating Left.
– A guest blogger’s take on judging self-defense needs vs the functionality of the state.
– The real purpose of zero tolerance policies.
– How fear mongering is used to argue against repealing useless restrictions.
– The odd disconnect in fearing the rise of the Alt-Right and Trumpofascism, yet wanting only the government to have guns.
– Questions as to the effectiveness of proposed new laws in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting.
– The societal sickness that fueled the Parkland shooting.
– Policy ideas that would work while preserving rights, in the wake of the Parkland shooting.
– Questioning why the post-Parkland debate is about guns, rather than about top-to-bottom government failure.
– The coining of a new word, “gunsplaining,” as a means of dodging legitimate accusations of ignorance and factual error.
– The terrible inconvenience for the anti-gun dogmatists of a good-guy-with-a-gun response at a Maryland high school.
– Should we consider that the people making a big show of turning in their AR-15s are telling us they shouldn’t be trusted with guns?
– Some thoughts on David Hogg and the other earnest young people demanding that our rights be stripped away.
– How a ridiculously tight permitting process in New York City fostered corruption, undermined the rule of law, and opened the door to a debate on reciprocity.
– A reminder that the Revolution began over a gun-grab by the government.
– The farcicality of the sudden hysterics over plastic guns.
– Dissecting a gun control proposal tells us a lot about the real motives of its writers

About the Author

About Peter Venetoklis

I am twice-retired, a former rocket engineer and a former small business owner. At the very least, it makes for interesting party conversation. I'm also a life-long libertarian, I engage in an expanse of entertainments, and I squabble for sport.

Nowadays, I spend a good bit of my time arguing politics and editing this website.

If you'd like to help keep the site ad-free, please support us on Patreon.

1 Comment

Andrew Johnstone on March 29, 2020 at 1:25 pm

If you haven’t read this law review journal article, you should.

I ask anti-gun people to read Section XIII first – https://guncite.com/journals/tennmed.html

Kates and his physician co-authors SHRED the ‘public health’ argument supporting ‘gun control’

I co-founded Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws about 20 years ago, and although our organization has drifted into disarray, we helped get the Second Amendment Foundation some similar article resources, as ways to educate not only anti-gun people in politics and the ‘news’ media, but ALSO to provide the brave pro-gun ones intellectual ammunition in support of their stands (because if they only use stuff from the ‘gun lobby’ they aren’t taken seriously).

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