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Originally Posted by Montana Moe
How often are the police on scene as a crime is being committed? Seriously???
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Almost never, but I'm doubtful that the answer is to have an armed citizenry. The point is that the police, the courts, and the law should deal with crime, and despite the pro-gun rhetoric, there is no provable correlation between gun ownership and violent crime rates OR prevention.
Personally I'm not necessarily against personal gun ownership, but I don't understand the mindset of people that think widespread gun ownership is some kind of answer to the problem of violent crime. This argument seems to depend on anecdotal evidence or "well what if some dude invaded your house with a gun" stories, neither of which is proof of anything, because they are considered in isolation and not coupled to other possible effects of gun ownership.
I would suggest that cultural and economic factors have far more to do with violent crime than gun ownership laws, and that certain cultures might be better served by tighter gun laws, and other cultures better served by looser laws. In no case, however, do I think that the idea that having a gun is "necessary" to protect oneself from violent criminals is a good one - if you live in a place where this seems reasonable, I suggest that maybe there is a large dysfunction in society that needs addressing more than you need guns.