Originally Posted by
Mardan
From the perspective of a European, I think it's pretty much impossible to understand the attachment to guns some people seem to have.
And I don't expect to ever change anyone's mind about that either.
It's just that some of the arguments that I see against critics don't make any sense for me.
One of the most common ones I see is "What would making guns illegal/harder to get accomplish? People would get them illegally!"
...yes? That's the WHOLE POINT.
As things stand now, anyone itching to shoot up a school/store/church/you name it, can just grab any of the readily available guns lying around and, in a fit of rage, go through with their lunacy.
Same thing goes for scorned lovers, desperate robbers, angry people arguing...thousands of deaths that happen every day because someone was angry and happened to have a weapon in hand.
Around 70% of non-crime related homicides are what is called a "crime of passion". That is, the homicide isn't premeditated, but it's carried out in a fit of rage.
In other countries, the most you can do is grab a knife.
In America, you can kill your victim, bystanders, and then yourself, all without breaking a sweat.
Normal people do not know where to get illegal contraband.
Normal people do not want to dirty themselves with crime.
Normal people do not want to know they formed a 'link' with criminals.
With an illegals (or heavily regulated) guns scenario, you prevent the normal majority from being involved in "accidental" crime, and you protect them from themselves.
The "You can still get guns illegaly" argument, while true, is completely irrelevant when applied to the demographics gun control would actually be trying to protect.