Just Take Away their Guns by Wilson - Article Example

The paper "Just Take Away Their Guns by Wilson" is a good example of an article on social science. Wilson’s criticism of gun control is partially valid. His assertion that legally purchased guns help citizens defend themselves is sound in the light of the statistics he presents. However, even the legal purchase of guns needs to be brought within the ambit of legal accountability by subjecting it to measures such as background checks and verifications (Jacobs 120). This will assure that the law and order authorities do get to know the criminal history of any person, purchasing a gun. On the other side, Wilson’s opposition to the National Rifle Association’s premise that people committing gun crimes should be made to serve longer prison sentences is not in accordance with the theory of deterrence. Common sense does support the premise that if the criminals carrying guns do come to know that they may spend the rest of their life behind bars, in case they commit a serious crime using those guns, this will positively deter them from committing crimes using the illegal weapons in their possession (Bouza 97).