Quote:
Originally Posted by dittbub
Gun control is a net benefit to society. Gun ownership may be a net benefit to the owner, but not society.
Gun control works when it actually reduces the number of guns within society. If all it does is move them around, if the guns are still around and are just "illegal" then the law and enforcement become moot.
But in Canada we have managed to reduce guns. This invariably results in less gun-crime. And invariably, reduces crime overall, because other weapons cannot kill as fast and viciously as a semi or automatic gun.
The gang "problem" Toronto has is multiple times SMALLER than in many comparable US cities. Any wiki or statscan search can confirm this.
Gun control in the states will not work unless its federal. It is too easy to smuggle across state borders from one state that sells to another than bans. Heck, most guns in Canada are smuggled across the federal border. I would suspect that if guns in the US are no longer manufactured and sold for consumers, you would see a long-term slow decline in gun violence on both sides of the border.
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Of the 5,194 homicides in 9 years: 2.27% of the guns were registered.
Statistics Canada tables also show only 2.1% of murderers had a valid firearms licence.
http://www.garrybreitkreuz.com/breit.../2006/dec7.htm
The gun control has done nothing to target criminals. It hasn't reduced illegal guns. The statistics above show you that law-abiding citizens and their guns are far from the problem.
Also, thanks to our general population not being allowed to carry a handgun, many crimes that could have been prevented weren't.
Remember that guy being decapitated on the Greyhound bus by a knife wielding maniac. If a law-abiding citizen was armed with a handgun, they could have shot the assualter before he killed the innocent man. Remember the Dawson College massacre, if someone was armed they would have killed the murderer before he had a chance to injure dozens more people. Thousands of rapes each year could be prevented if women were armed. Taking self-defense out of the hands of people is why crime rates haven't been going down faster.