Recently, I read an opinion article published by the Iowa State Daily that was written in hopes of convincing readers that gun control was the answer to solving gun violence.

After reading the article, I found that I disagreed with the vast majority of all the points made. And since I don’t believe that the Iowa State Daily gets a large number of articles written from the right side of the political spectrum, I decided that I would write this to hopefully convince others that gun control is one of the worst things that could be done to solve the problem of gun violence.

First and foremost, using a law to try to regulate the use of guns will be extremely ineffective. The main evidence of this comes obviously from the city of Chicago. In 1982, Chicago passed a law that banned the use of handguns. On paper, this law would hopefully be very useful in preventing gun violence. Fewer guns would seem to equal less gun crime. However, from 1982 until 2010 — when the law was eventually ruled unconstitutional — 59 percent of all murders were committed by handguns. But how could this be? Handguns were illegal.

See, my main point here is that if people want to own a gun, they will certainly own a gun, regardless of any law standing in their way. You can also look to America’s drug problem as exhibit B. Drugs have been illegal in America for hundreds of years, yet drugs continue to be a huge problem for the United States, no matter what regulations are passed. The same would be true for stricter gun control. Just because a law is put in place doesn’t mean guns will magically disappear from the streets.

My second point is in regard to self-defense. There is only one thing that can stop a bad person with a gun, and that is a good person with a gun. As much as the left would like to stand in a circle and sing Kumbaya to promote peace and well-being, sometimes violence can only be prevented and stopped with more violence.

In America, the average police response time is 10 minutes. In a possible mass-casualty shooting situation, that is about 10 minutes too long. But if someone with a firearm is able to make an attempt at terminating the threat, then I say more power to them.

Yes, this means making concealed carry available in more places, including college campuses. Gun-free zones only create soft targets, and for those who are hell-bent on causing as much damage as possible, there is no better place to do it than a place where effective self-defense is illegal.

Overall, as much as gun control may seem like a good idea, the only result would be taking guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens, and allowing criminals who couldn’t care less about the laws free access to a defenseless America. In a world with less crime, gun control could very well be an answer to eliminating gun violence. However, in a world plagued by violence and evil, gun control is certainly not the answer to making America a safer place.