| LemonSlice said: The problem with gun control is that if you really want to root out gun violence it has to be systematic and thorough, and it takes a long time. For America I don't think it's ever going to be possible for gun control to have any positive effect on crime. |
The UK didn't benefit from it. Knife violence is on the rise and far more deadly.
Here in the US, knife violence is known as a personal crime, because usually the level of hatred necessary to plunge a knife into someone takes an amount of personal knowledge, indifference to their welfare, and hatred that only comes from knowing them. Not to imply the victim is a bad person, simply not liked by the attacker.
In the UK, knife violence is indiscriminate. It's also disproportionately deadlier than in the US. Knife crime is so bad in the UK that the police are accused of falsifying reports to indicate "No Crime" rather than to properly report the knife crime. So, in the UK, if someone is stabbed, dies, and they can't identify the assailant, it gets reported as "No Crime."
Admittedly, more often than not, a knife crime results in a wound that is survivable, but likewise not every gun shot victim dies.
It doesn't matter what you do. It is a part of our human nature. People who intend to use violence to forcefully obtain something do so. If the weapon they bring into a situation isn't good enough, they will seek out one better. This is no less true today than it was 20,000 years ago.
As well, regardless of armed or not, the method of attack will change. If someone can assume someone has a gun and could use it if given time to prepare, than rather than give them time to prepare, they'll shoot first and ask questions later. Take away guns, and the person will acclimate themselves to the best weapon available.
The cause of gun violence in the US is the cause of crime in the US. While you can ultimately lessen it, you will never eliminate it. Not through wealth, free drugs, no drugs, etc, etc. What is changing in the US is the appearance that guns are getting used more and more frequently in crimes, but that may point to the level of desperation people are dealing with, or it may point to a mental health problem in the US.
While the US doesn't have the same challenges as some countries, such as the UK, we also don't have access to mental health services like they do. People in the US tend to be empathetic towards people with mental health disorders, where as people in the UK (from what I've seen) tend to think less of them. So there is astigmatism in the UK that doesn't seem to exist in the US.
