As the number of shootings increases, so too do the cries for stricter gun control laws. This might seem logical at first: with stricter gun laws, the number of attacks will decrease as well. However, an increase in gun laws is anything but an airtight solution to these attacks.

Gun control laws in San Bernardino, Calif. were among the strictest in the country.   Despite this, a couple was able to purchase multiple guns legally, which they used later to kill and injure around three dozen people.  Strict gun laws did not prevent this shooting from happening. It is foolish to expect criminals to stop and turn around when they see a sign labelled “gun-free zone.” These criminals have already determined to kill, regardless of what the law says.

Banning various guns will not stop attacks from occurring. Criminals will still be able to obtain weapons illegally, and – short of some secret police – this fact will not change. Nor are criminals confined to using firearms in an attack; anything from vehicles to pressure cookers have been used.

During Bastille Day, 2016 in Nice, France a man drove a truck through crowds. This attack killed and injured hundreds.  Someone determined to kill others can easily use a vehicle to accomplish this end.

In China, a knife attack at Kunming station killed 31 and injured over 100. Any criminal can effortlessly access a knife and use it to kill others.

Yet another example of criminal ingenuity is the Boston Marathon. Using a pressure cooker as a makeshift bomb, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev killed three and injured hundreds more. (5) No effective ban can be made to prevent something as commonplace as a kitchen appliance from becoming a weapon.

Perhaps stricter gun control laws will make it harder for criminals to lay hands on a gun. Perhaps it could reduce, even slightly, the number of mass shootings. But it is fanciful to assume these laws will stop shootings. Rather, they will put law-abiding citizens in greater danger by depriving them of the ability to defend themselves. Instead, they will only be able to protect as Aaron Feis, a football coach at Stoneman Douglas High School, did at the expense of his life. (6)

Strict gun control will not lead to an end of these shootings. It is the person in possession of the gun that should be the greatest concern.