@dwinblood said:
Where there is a will there is a way.
True that, but there's more to it.
I think most people who fought in anger will agree, that it is easier to kill with a bomb than with a gun, easier to kill with a gun than with a knife, easier to kill with a knife than with your bare hands. I'm not talking about technique or effectiveness here, but about emotion. The more distance a weapon creates, the more abstract and easy the killing becomes.
Second is availability. I am glad I live in a country with strict gun controls, simply because there aren't many guns around, and the black market is tiny and difficult to access. Guns are illegal and hard to get, so not any Johnny Moron can just grab one and go on a shooting spree. The more effort and preparation is required to kill, the less likely people are to go through with it. Availability can make a difference. Also, if the idiots would have easy access to guns, I would want one too, a miniature arms race in the making. Conversely, I don't need a gun because there are so few around that could threaten me.
But the USA is coming from a different perspective, it is a different culture, and guns are part of it, and most of all, the guns are already there. Simply banning them would not do much good, as people probably would not only feel a right was taken away, but would also hang on their weapons despite the ban.
Some loose thoughts:
If weapons are intended for use against a violent or oppressive government, and not for personal self defense, why not allow ownership but forbid carrying one outside your house? If that doesn't satisfy gun owners, something else entirely is going on.
Also, make all gun owners and buyers do training and pass a test. After all, you do that before you are allowed to drive a car, why not for guns as well?
Great points, you sound just like the guy in the video! Very reasonable. As an American I'll say that the issue doesn't seem to be the people, it's the politicians. There are many gun regulations that the majority of Americans agree on. Our political system is just so stagnant and degenerate it no longer seems capable of capable of doing anything ... let alone gun control.
Yes and politicians love to play us against each other I think we can all agree on that. It is one of their standard modes of operation.
These things depend upon training. Gun makes it easier to kill with a knife without requiring training. I know people that would be absolutely devastating with a knife. In fact they are so good with them that if you have a gun and are not further than 20 feet from them I'd bet they'd come out on top. They are trained though...
I just posted a followup to this blog on my own blog... stressing the idea here...
Great points. One of the interesting things that I read at some point was that there are a lot of guns in Canada too but they have less gun crime proportionally to the US. Obviously they have a much smaller population density and the population is a lot more spread out. Could this be a problem that is more prevalent in places of high population density?
Almost every Swiss male has a gun at his house, because of the militia-style organisation of the Swiss Army.
Also, the federal legislation allows the free purchase of semi-automatic firearms by Swiss citizens and foreigners with permanent residence, though permits for carrying in public are issued only restrictively. There is proper vetting before you get a gun license. Stricter gun laws were rejected in a referendum.
Quite a few guns around there as well, but not much gun crime. Culture could play a big role here.
Interesting. I will have to see if somebody has done a psychological or sociological study on this. I'm sure someone will have done.