First, let’s examine the premise. ‘It would be a safer world without guns.’
Ok.. I suppose that’s possible. Never mind that before guns were invented, people found a myriad of ways to kill each other. Never mind that far more people are killed by cars than guns. Never mind that the world would be safer still, without nuclear weapons. But a good argument could be made that, in a country without guns, there would be fewer gun deaths. This means, however, a country with NO guns. None. Add even one gun and that equation changes a lot.
Next, let’s dispel a notion. ‘By passing enough laws, we can get rid of all guns.’
Seriously? In a free nation with over 200 million guns? We could ever get rid of every single one? Never mind that the second amendment says that won’t/can’t happen. Wouldn’t people—some people at least— just bury their guns or hide them away? Wouldn’t there be a black market for guns akin to moonshine during prohibition? The best you can EVER hope for is fewer guns.
So. Would that be a safer world? Let’s do the math. Let’s round the number of guns in the US to 200 million. If each gun owner has, on average, two guns, that makes 100 million gun owners. Approximately one American in three. (Not sure if that’s the real number, but it’s close enough for this purpose.)
Now let’s bring it to the local level. Say you live in a city with 300,000 people. One in three means you have about 100,000 gun owners in your town. Can we agree that 90 percent of gun owners are responsible, law-abiding people? I wouldn’t go to the mat on that percentage, but certainly it’s ‘most’ gun owners that are responsible. Let’s give away another ten percent and say 80%. There are 80,000 responsible, law-abiding gun owners in your town. They lock their guns up, using them only for defense and recreation. The other 20,000 people? Not so much.
Now pass a law that confiscates everybody’s gun. The eighty percent, being responsible, will mostly comply. Let’s say you get 90% of their guns. (Even responsible, law-abiding people have their limits…) So you have confiscated 144,000 guns and it looks really good on the news. You are sure you are finally getting this thing under control. Those responsible, law abiding people still have 16,000 guns tucked away where they can’t be found—or easily accessed.
Now let’s focus on the other 20%. These are gun owners who are less responsible and less law-abiding. You think you’re going to get 90% of their guns? Try 10%. They don’t obey other laws, why would they obey this one. Realistically, you’ll get a token 10% or so. Just to be on the safe side, let’s call it 20%. So you have collected 8,000 guns. And that population still possesses 32,000 guns.
Unless I’m missing something here, THE BAD PEOPLE IN YOUR TOWN NOW POSSES TWICE AS MANY GUNS AS THE DECENT, LAW ABIDING PEOPLE!!!
AND YOU THINK YOUR TOWN IS SAFER?????
