Shooting at Batman Premiere - 12 dead / Your opinions on gun laws

[Mr Khan]

insomniac17 said:

Mr Khan said:

Sure it would be easy for organized crime rings to acquire guns, but what about the junkie next door who's just looking for something for some quick muggings? The mafia is always going to have guns, but i don't see why we have to live in constant fear of getting shot just for that.

That's exactly right. Only the most dangerous criminals will have guns. That we would disarm everyone and leave only those who are most determined to break the law with guns scares me. As it is now, I do not live in a constant fear of getting shot, despite living in a state where I know people can carry a gun. The worst gun related incidents that come to mind took place in an area where guns were restricted, or no one else had a gun to stop the criminal. The people who would be restricted by gun bans are overwhelmingly the people who would not commit a crime, and would not be careless with a gun.

As for the junkie next door who's looking for a quick mugging; if he knows that people don't have guns, he knows he doesn't need one either. He could grab a knife or a bat, or some melee weapon, and that would be more than enough for him to do what he wants to do.

And with which people could be non-lethally armed to stop him.

This is where the argument breaks down. In a world without guns, we would still have many weapons to stop crime: useful, nonlethal weapons, and thus avoid senseless wasting of life.

That organized crime can acquire weapons abroad is inevitable, but that is an invalid argument for justifying everyone owning weapons.