>>What do you think, though, about the statistic that most guns used in crimes are STOLEN from
legitimate owners? Would the rate of crimes where weapons are used perhaps go down if there were
no guns in private ownership? Would that mean fewer gun victims?<<
Yes, and Probably. The [violent] crime rate would drop, but how much is wildly debatable. In my opinion though the price is too high. There is something REALLY reprehensible about making law-abiding gun owners "sit in the corner" for the misdeeds of the bungholes who stole their guns. (Last I checked, stealing guns was a crime. Let's throw the book at taht.) It's a matter of personal (or "national") priority. What takes precedence: a right spelled out in our core legislative document, or the removal of that percentage of violent crimes performed with freshly-stolen guns?
I worry that gun crimes as a whole won't decline far or quickly. There is a huge number of black-market firepower out there. What a civilian gun ban will really accomplish imho is the establishment of yet another high-dollar criminal market.
It's pretty obvious that I'm sorta frustrated with our legal system on this one. I tire of public servants who would rather write a glossy law than attack the thornier issue: the deed of crime as opposed to its instrumentalities. We have laws on the books in all the States making dumb or nasty gunplay a heavy offense. Let's show these in action before before writing measures aimed squarely at the "good citizens". My modest proposals: One jail cell for every convict. This'll be expensive, but it will at long last say that the voter will do what it takes to keep the Bad Boys off our streets&playgrounds. (Ancillary: let's count folks convicted by the exercise of due process as trouble. Handwringing about the vast number of prisoners in this country misses one point: they were convicted one by one, by a pretty stresses juducial system.) This would mean that everyone sentenced stands a good chance of serving his/her full sentence without living in unnecessary frae of the biggest meanest sodomist on the block.
Next: fund courts&police to the point where, without damaging out current state of jurisprudence, we can arrest and try all who fall afoul of the law. This will not only bring down crimes-of-opportunity using guns, but the whole enchilada. Spouse beating. Rape. Telefraud. Homework assignment: How can we draw the attention of the media from the "social engineering" implicit in showing a gun as the symbol of a violent crime to focusing on the crime itself, with or without the gun?
Ceterum censeo that there should be a national right-to-carry. This would expand our police force real cheap. And if you look at Florida or Texas or other recent bastions of the concealed weapon, you'll find a) a real reduction in street crime and b) a near-absence of violence started by a lawful cerrier. So, polemics about entitlements aside: I think putting power in the hands of the people passes the practical exam. Puts a burr under the saddle of those who serve and guide the public, e.g. Senators and anchorfolk. |
