in a country that has more guns than citizens, an outright ban wouldn't do a lot of good... more likely it would create a black market economy of more untraceable weapons because even the responsible/legal gun owners would be forced to go underground...
black market guns in toronto, for example, is a pretty lucrative marketplace because of canadian gun control laws and access to a 'free market' of guns in the US.
Moreover, there would be a substantial portion of US gun owners who would view this move as something that is a step away from tyranny in the states and certainly the nut jobs like Alex Jones would be fanning those flames of civil insurrection...there is a substantial group of americans who do not trust the institutions in place; trying to ban all firearms feeds into that paranoia.
at this point, there are no easy solutions, some incremental changes is the only thing that 'might' get passed, but if you can't even pass minor legislation like universal background checks in the aftermath of Newtown, its going to take a paradigm shift of all americans - something that i cannot see happening.
its a sad truth, but i don't think anything happens of substance... maybe you'll be able to ban extended magazines, but unlikely there will be anything more than that. Not under this president and not under this supreme court.
|