Gun Control and Nature

Natural selection favors deadly predators and fast prey animals with nearly equally lethal defenses. The slowest lion does not eat, and the slowest gazelle becomes dinner. The winners (the ones who get to eat and the ones who get to live another day) go on to breed and produce more of the top of its species. As humans are nothing more than animals with more intelligence and thumbs, natural selection holds true all the same while also including members of our own species in the predator/prey equation. Firearms have made this balance much more even in favor of “prey” humans, but many humans seem to think it is a good idea to take away guns. These gun control measures, thought to take away a “predator’s claws”, do nothing but make the ordinary human more vulnerable to becoming “the one the wolves pulled down”.

Nature is full of animals that have developed varying strategies for eating or not being eaten. Cheetahs have incredible speed along with their claws and teeth. Wolves hunt their prey in well-organized, social packs who rely on combined strength and intelligence to make kills. Eagles have great sight, speed, and sharp talons to snatch their prey. Deer, gazelle, and antelope all have long, powerful legs for running away from attacks and antlers for defending themselves. Squirrels can jump into trees to get away from dogs, coyotes, and bobcats who would love to snack on them. Rabbits build burrows underground to get away from predators. These adaptations all allow predators to make kills while enough prey get away to keep the population of both animals balanced.

Human predators and prey, which put into more concrete terms would be criminals and their intended victims, have also developed weapons and defenses. These adaptations have not come in quite the same way as other animals’ have though. Man has used technology as well as its own body’s ability to predate or defend against such an attack. The technology has evolved from simple stone knives and wooden arrows with bone heads to steel knives, pepper sprays, and other weapons, including incredibly reliable semi-automatic pistols, rifles, and shotguns. The physical aspect is someone doing strength training as well as learning a martial art, be it a sportfighting style such as tae kwon do or a practical one, such as Krav Maga or the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP).

Human predators, such as murderers, rapists, burglars, robbers, muggers, or just a local bully, will always exist and will always look for prey within the law-abiding community. It can be for many reasons, from being a sociopath to feeling it is easier and more in their interest to steal from others than do honest work. No matter the crime or the reason, there is always a weapon involved in a violent crime. The weapon, essentially the “claws and teeth”, can be anything from a 6’5″ felon’s long, powerful arms, a knife, baseball or cricket bat, some other improvised weapon, or a gun. They use these weapons, often with great efficiency, to prey upon other humans who want to live in peace.

Unlike prey animals, humans not engaged in acts of violent crime have the same options of “claws and teeth” as their predators do. The law-abiding citizen can train their body to lift great amounts of weight and deliver technically sound attacks, keep a knife or ball bat, and own a gun to have the exact same abilities (or even more) that their attackers to in order to stop the attack. Even a 5’0″ business woman with no martial arts training can bring a fight with a hardened ex-convict to an end by pulling the trigger on a 9mm pistol. In this way, physical characteristics have no implications on a fight if one or both of the combatants are armed. It is merely a matter of who is better with the gun. Crime rates drop sharply in states after they pass concealed weapons license laws. Criminals are afraid to break into homes because the owner may have a gun.

So if guns make the power balance even or weigh it in the favor of the “prey”, what right-minded person would want to take them away? Do they want to subject the population to years of criminals still using illegal guns, putting the evolutionary course right back in the hands of the criminal? Do they want criminals to still be able to use other weapons such as knives and baseball bats (no one will ban the things we cook and play with) against unarmed and therefore helpless victims? Should the elders of our society be forced to take whatever crime is committed against them instead of pulling out their old bird gun?

Nowhere in nature do prey animals voluntarily give away their defenses. No squirrel will stop climbing trees to get away from the neighborhood dogs. No antelope will allow its legs to weaken and slow itself voluntarily. (Though slave owners did cut the Achilles tendons of runaway slaves.) Dolphins will never stop using their long noses to ram and kill sharks. A rhinoceros will not give up its tough skin and strong horn. They need these for survival. For this reason, humans should not vote their best defenses (guns) away. Even if human predators somehow stop using all forms of firearms (unlikely seeing as they are already breaking the law by committing a crime), criminals will “evolve” and use a different weapon. This evolution is likely to take the form of knives, bats, and other easy to use weapons. If you are not interested in walking down the street with a baseball bat in hand and a knife in your pocket then you may want to avoid this scenario.

We can see the natural order being disrupted already in places that have banned most guns and made it illegal to use legal ones for defensive purposes. The riots that occurred throughout England in 2011 are a great example of this. Poor elements of society used economic conditions and the government as a convenient excuse to attack, rob, and burgle to their hearts’ content. Shop owners were helpless as they watched thugs steal their wares. People were stabbed, beaten, or humiliated for simply walking down the same street as a disgruntled member of the lower class. This situation is like releasing a pack of wolves in a pen full of lambs. The natural order shifts drastically in favor of the predator. This is of course in sharp contrast to many American cities, where shop owners have a gun under the counter and many average citizens have pistols under their clothing. The docile sheep have powerful 9mm and 12 gauge claws hidden away when gun control does not run away with their rights.

Criminals, the predators of the human race, are always going to exist. No gun control, education, or other left-wing measures to counter criminal activity will ever destroy it. That said, it is in the interest of you, the potential prey, to be able to own a gun to make yourself a very difficult target indeed.