ABSTRACT
One of the ironies of the gun control struggle is how traditional political positions often become reversed when the issue is guns. The current ideological lineup on gun control has shallow historical roots. Before 1963, gun control was not a salient issue for most Americans. Gun control opponents argue that criminals cannot be disarmed or prevented from committing crimes through gun control because they will always be willing and able to either get a gun or to commit the crime without a gun. A corollary to the previous fallacy is the assertion that many criminals will ignore gun laws and get guns anyway. The fact remains that although most Americans support moderate gun controls such as requiring a permit to buy a gun, decades of lawmaking and propaganda have not persuaded a majority of them to support a general ban even on private possession of handguns, never mind all guns.
