Abstract

Guns are mere objects. Preventing people from owning them, or limiting their availability, is an infringement of the natural right to property. Guns are also a peculiar good, since they are the key for the protection of liberty and property. In this perspective, gun control is not about guns: it is about control. In fact, government growth may be slowed by private gun ownership. A tyranny is unlikely to occur where people are armed. Historical evidence confirms this point: for example, Adolf Hitler disarmed the German Jews as a premise to their genocide. Moreover, statistics show that private gun ownership does not increase gun accidents or crime; indeed, when private citizens are armed, criminals tend to strike less, or to strike in less lethal ways. Criminals fear armed citizens much more than police forces. Gun control laws, however, are extremely effective in the disarmament of lawabiding citizens; much less in disarming outlaws. The right to keep and bear arms should be maintained where it is recognized, and restored elsewhere. Italy belongs to the latter category. Libertarians’ efforts to reduce the size of government require private gun ownership, because privately owned weapons are the only, sensible obstacle to the rise of Political power