Quote:
Originally Posted by Northendzone
even if the government was to really tighten up the gun marketplace in north America as a whole, I would think it would take decades for all of the guns or even a significant portion of the guns that are currently out there to get taken off the street
i wonder if there is a real workable solution to this issue?
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I think most people tend to only look at the number of guns and sort of throw up hands and say "there is so many it isn't realisitc to get them off the street". And that is likely correct though I think you'd be shocked how many people would turn them in if they did a gun drive.
But what tends to get lost is that you can put in measures that limit how you transfer those guns from person to person. You need to stop the gun show crap where anyone can walk in with cash and out with whatever they want 15 minutes later. You can put in background checks no matter what. You can make people take and pass classes before they are able to get their first or more guns. You can make people purchase insurance if they own a gun. You can do a lot of things that doesn't involve actually banning more types of guns (which should happen as well IMO).
Essentially making gun ownership as hard as the steps needed to drive-purchase-lease a car would be a massive step forward...and getting your license and driving a car is not onerous.
By doing these things you put up additional hurdles for the criminal. You put up hurdle to the spur of the moment gun violence (including self harm). And maybe most importantly you give the men and women in blue more effective tools so they have a better chance to stop these things before they begin.
And most Americans agree with those things!
I would personally go much further, but those things would be a massive leap forward and your responsible gun owners (which is less than they want you to believe) wouldn't truly be affected. A small bit of inconvenience sure, but we're talking about an item that in the wrong hands can change lives forever. Inconvenience is warranted.