Gun-Free Zones Don't Deter Killers Determined To Bring Their Guns To Kill People

Kind of obvious, but it should be noted.

I don't get the whole argument. The one thing the gun-control people claim is that they're not gun grabbers, and they don't want to literally ban every gun in the US.

But... banning every gun in the US is the only possible gun-control measure that could plausibly achieve the results they seek. If there are any guns in the country, at all, presumably criminals will ignore laws against possessing them (as they currently ignore such laws) and also ignore laws against, well, shooting people with guns (several statutes cover this, pretty exhaustively, and yet they still ignore it).

So all gun control laws are aimed, essentially, at the one class of persons who have already demonstrated their intent to ignore gun laws. The laws are aimed at the very people who don't obey them, but it is taken as an article of faith that if you just disarm the people who aren't breaking the law, for some reason the criminally-minded will follow their lead.

Well, that's absurd, obviously. The only way that a criminal who is determined to get a gun and use it for a criminal purpose will not have a gun is if there are literally no guns to be had-- no guns to be stolen, no guns to be bought off Craigslist, no guns, period.

In that regime, I can see the argument that the 100% gun ban would greatly reduce gun violence. Although, of course, there are still lots of shootings in England, and lots of knifings, and in gun-control Germany there was an atrocious school-shooting a couple of years ago... but let's say that such a regime at least greatly reduces gun crimes.

Trouble is, that regime is precisely what gun-control people say they're not angling for.

I assume they're lying. But if we're going to "discuss" gun control, as the liberal party now insists, then let's discuss it honestly. If you want to greatly reduce gun crime, down to European levels (where they still have gun crime, and knife crime, too), you're going to have to outlaw almost all guns.

So is that your proposal? Put it on the table, straight and honest, and we'll kick it around.

But I'm really tired of this endless call for "discussions" about a problem where the moving parties are too cowardly and dishonest to state what they actually want to do, besides "discussing" things.

I like discussing things. I'm discussing things now.

What is the actual action sought? Only discussion? Obviously discussion alone accomplishes nothing.

So what do you want? Stop hiding behind the "discussions" euphemism. Let's talk about the action you actually seek.

posted by Ace at 08:09 PM

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