About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

12 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 243 (1993)
Why We Should Ban Handguns in the United States

handle is hein.journals/stlpl12 and id is 249 raw text is: WHY WE SHOULD BAN HANDGUNS IN THE UNITED STATES NICHOLAS DIXON* Readers of this review are likely to be familiar with the con- troversy over whether restrictions on gun ownership are compatible with the Second Amendment's guarantee of the right to bear arms.' There would be little point in discussing the complex ques- tion of the constitutionality of gun restrictions, however, unless there were good reasons for implementing them in the first place. The pur- pose of this paper, which will be confined to handguns, is to argue that there are good reasons for the most stringent restriction - an outright handgun ban. This paper can thus be viewed as motivating and setting the stage for the constitutional debate. My argument for banning handguns is utilitarian: the likely good consequences of my proposal, I argue, far outweigh the possi- ble bad consequences. My main focus will be on homicide, but I will also sometimes discuss robbery and assault in connection with handguns. Aside from my detailed discussion of existing literature and evidence, I hope to advance the debate over gun control in two main ways. First, I have gathered original data, strongly supporting my hypothesis, on the correlation between handgun ownership and handgun homicide rates in various countries. Second, I have placed the discussion of rival interpretations of the evidence in the context of an elementary discussion of the nature of confirmation of hypothe- ses in the social sciences, and of the burden of proof that falls on their proponents and opponents. While the points I make in this regard are indeed elementary, they have been persistently ignored by opponents of gun control. In keeping with the utilitarian nature of my argument, the majority of my paper is devoted to a discussion of empirical data. However, the theoretical key to my argument is my * Associate Professor of Philosophy, Alma College, Alma, Michigan. 1. See, e.g., Don B. Kates, Jr., Handgun Prohibition and the Original Meaning of the Second Amendment, 82 MICH. L. REV. 204-73 (1983); Sanford Levinson, The Embarrassing Second Amendment, 99 YALE L.J. 637-59 (1989-90); Wendy Brown, Guns, Cowboys, Philadelphia Mayors, and Civic Republicanism: On Sanford Levinson's 'The Embarrassing Second Amendment', id. at 661-67.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most