ing the policy of permitting handguns and other weapons to be sold in a market that is closely regulated by government.
Gun control advocates, according to Gary Kleck (2001), tend to assert that high crime rates and mass shootings such as those that have tragically occurred in far too many American schools show the need for more gun control. However, while there is no doubt that guns make it easier for the criminally minded person to kill potentially large numbers of people, calling for stricter gun control fails to recognize that gun control will not prevent criminals for either obtaining or using guns. In the case of juveniles, said Kleck (2001), nearly everything a juvenile might do with a gun when not under adult supervision is already illegal and schools already prohibit guns on school property. The further regulation of guns would only take away everyone's guns while leaving determined juvenile criminals free to obtain guns illegally in the same way that adult criminals obtain them.
Generally speaking, most jurisdictions allow the use of lethal force to defend oneself against a lethal threat. Jerry Usher (2000) pointed out that the best yardstick one can apply as to when lethal force is justified is if a reasonable person believes that an individual was under lethal threat at the time he or she used the force against a possible assailant. This analyst believes that what is needed is not stricter gun control per se, but educational efforts to facilitate the proper use of and care for personal handguns or rifles. Often, the person who uses a legally owned weapon for self-defense does so in situations of extreme danger. Robert Waters (2001) described a case in Chattanooga, Tennessee where 45 home invasions took place in a 5 month period between 2000 and 2001. When the 46th invasion occurred, one of the masked gunmen who entered a private home, taking money and jewelry at gunpoint and even attempting to kidnap an occup...