10-21-2015, 11:23 AM
(10-20-2015, 03:40 PM)F.U. Wrote: Could it be possible that the murder rate has remained the same after the guns were removed from the equation because people no longer feared encountering a armed victim when the decided to commit a crime. Ok lets just say I want to rob someone of their purse and know they wont be armed. Then they resist so I beat them to death. Its still a death/murder and it may not have happened if the bad guy thought there was a chance that their victim could have ben armed.
Fuck, I almost confused myself with that question.
Just thinking outloud.
I think that's possible, F.U.
It's also possible that bans/restrictions are mostly respected by law-abiding citizens and gun owners; not criminals or would-be criminals. Most criminals will continue to possess guns illegally or turn to other weapons. You and others have stated such many times before and that contention seems to hold true when you look at the homicide ad crime rate statistics before and after bans in U.S. cities and in other countries (unless guns are banned altogether).
I support banning automatic weapons in the U.S., though they don't appear to be used much in crimes these days (let's keep it that way).
I also support banning 100 round cartridges and the like, which I don't see as necessary for anyone but are appealing to mass murderers (like Holmes).
Tightening up and expanding the background check system for gun purchases, more consistency in states' reporting into NICS, national gun regulations applied to all states, national child safety protection regulations, dedicated national research/ tracking/ and reporting of gun violence statistics, strict prosecution of all gun-related crimes everywhere in the country, and a license or certificate of competency requirement for all citizens who want to bear arms <-- all gun control/safety measures which, in my opinion, would prevent some intentional and unintentional deaths and likely stymie some mass murderers. Those are laudable goals that help improve public safety without infringing on the right to reasonably bear arms in self defense or for other reasons.
But, based on historical gun control results, no gun controls are likely to significantly impact the overall homicide and violent crime rates unless there is a simultaneous/strong law enforcement effort in every state to eliminate illegal trafficking and black market sales.
Personally, I think poverty is a significant contributor to crime, gun crime and all crime. If the U.S. effectively reduced the poverty rate, crime rates would likely be reduced in correlation (more directly than the correlation between gun control and crime rates). That's just my opinion.