Why I Own Guns Sam Harris Analysis

With gun control being one of the most substantial controversies of modern times, many influential figures have risen to support stances on the matter. On February first of 2013, a man by the name of Sam Harris wrote an article for “The WEEK” on the matter titled, “Why I own guns” in which he illustrates his beliefs as to why a rational person should own firearms. Sam Harris is a New York Times bestselling author, a gun rights activist, and possesses a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Harris believes that “rational” people should possess firearms for protection, as he states that “a person with a gun can make all the difference.” (Harris) To support

One of the first arguments is that in a world without guns, the deciding factor in many violence-related situations is physical ability. Harris claims that the world without guns is “one in which the advantages of youth, size, strength, aggression, and sheer numbers are almost always decisive.” The logic behind this is quite justifiable and calls for serious point in the issue. To support this, he references that police are unable to respond and arrive before anything could happen. Though a major weakness in this argument is that the physically superior being could just as well be the one possessing a firearm. In cases where all present are armed, outcomes would be determined by skill and the type of firearm. Harris addresses this by raising the question of which firearms could plausibly be prohibited. Due to the political influence of the NRA and the laws of concealment and hunting, Harris considers handguns and rifles to be the key issue. His argument is weakened due to making a large claim, handguns are the most frequently used firearms in gun violence cases, yet he does not provide any evidence to back up this statement. On the other hand, his claims that handguns are not in the pool of plausible weapon bans gain more credibility by referencing Supreme Court cases. Instead, he focuses attention on how an armed person could change a situation for the better.

A man by the name of Sean Faircloth, who is an author, an attorney, and a five-term state legislator from Maine; went against Sam Harris to give his own beliefs on the ordeal. Faircloth also wrote an article for The Week in response to Harris titled, “Why more guns won’t make us safer” in which he claims that Harris neglected the two largest problems involving gun-violence. Faircloth believes that Harris failed to acknowledge the substantial issue of gun-related domestic violence against women, and the success of gun-control legislation in foreign countries. Utilizing statistics, real world examples, and his own logic; Faircloth goes in depth with his core arguments. He wrote his article to dissuade the readers of Sam Harris’s article that “Why I own guns” lacks