Libertarian Gun Control

Most libertarians will point at the Second Amendment (which I’ve already written about) and say “… shall not be infringed. End of discussion. We don’t believe in any form of gun control.” I’d like to make sure I really am thinking through all the possibilities.

What is it that we as libertarians believe about the right to bear arms, and the right to defend oneself? We believe that everyone has the right to defend themselves. Using force on otherwise peaceful people to dictate how they are allowed to defend themselves is wrong. People are also allowed to own property, and using force on otherwise peaceful people to dictate the types of property they’re allowed to own is wrong. With this logical deduction, we can come to the conclusion outlined in the Second Amendment. “… shall not be infringed.”

Now that we’ve established that people are allowed to defend themselves however they see fit, when are they allowed to defend themselves? Obviously, if someone was actively trying to harm you or steal your property, you would be justified in defending yourself. But what about beforehand?

If someone told you that tomorrow they would come to your house and shoot you, would you be justified in stealing their guns to prevent them from being able to do so? Would you be justified in having a police force take their guns? What if they were threatening someone else? Asked in this way, it doesn’t necessarily seem unreasonable.

However, if the police would be allowed to preemptively take someone’s guns, when should they be allowed to do so? In order to answer that question, we can look at the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. A person cannot have their property seized without a warrant, that warrant must be specific, and a speedy trial must be conducted. And in the event someone’s guns are confiscated, and/or they are prevented from obtaining new guns, such a sentence should be for a reasonable time period.

So I think, it may be compatible with freedom to have some sort of “preventative” gun control, but it doesn’t come in the form of bans on types of guns, and it shouldn’t be enforced without a trial.