Mutually Reinforcing Reasons for Skepticism About Proposals for Gun Control

1. Gun control measures reduce the popular capacity for armed resistance to tyranny and invasion.
2.  These measures limit opportunities for self-defense against thuggery.
3.  They deny people the benefits of the deterrent effect exerted by the widespread belief that most members of a given population are armed.
4.  They increase people's dependence on state authorities who would otherwise be seen as irrelevant and unnecessary.
5.  They leave state authorities more willing to violate people's rights with impunity.
6.  The implementation of these measures increases the power of the state and provides excuses for state authorities to intrusively surveil people's nonviolent activities, thus compromising privacy and autonomy.
7.  The implementation of these measures involves forcible interference with nonviolent conduct—at minimum the imposition of fines and the confiscation of property, and, if the criminal law is used, the subjection of people to criminal penalties. This is objectionable for the same reason the criminalization of nonviolent conduct generally is objectionable.-Gary Chartier: Some Problems with Gun Control