Making guns illegal wouldn't change a thing

If somehow through some ridiculous series of event, guns were made illegal it wouldn't make a bit of difference. Violence will still exist and humans will find other ways of expressing violence. To quote a weapons dealer from a tv show: "If you seal away technology then I'll sell guns, I'll sell swords, I'll sell hatchets. If you seal away iron, I'll sell cudgels. Such is the nature of an arms dealer"...If humans want to kill each other, they'll find a way with or without guns, it makes no difference the weapon if the effect is the same.

reply to post by GokuVsSuperman0


Given the choice between a world of guns and a world of knives, I'd choose a world of knives..

But, yeah, making guns illegal at this point would obviously be a disaster...

Yep...If I really wanted you gone, a big old rock to the skull while you slept would do the trick. The gun is sort of like the toaster...No more need to light a fire and bend a coat hanger into shape For the arms dealer it is always what people want versus what's available unless you're building too.

reply to post by GokuVsSuperman0


No, making guns illegal will not end the violent nature in human beings. Humans have been violent since well before guns came into the picture. However nobody is proposing to "make guns illegal", nobody is proposing to ban people from owning all guns legally. I'm not sure what the point of this thread is?

Making guns illegal would have all sorts of consequences.

You can't really dispute the fact that when you have less of something there are fewer uses of it. If you have less guns in a society you will have less gun violence.

This is backed up by the lower gun violence statistics in countries with less guns. Will people find a different method to take out their anger?

Possibly.

But it will at least remove the threat from guns which are definitely more lethal than a knife. A knife can still easily kill but I don't think your going to argue that a gun is far more effective than a knife. This is why the military and law enforcement use guns before knives.

You deserve a cookie for your amazing investigative skills.

2nd

I disagree OP. Making guns illegal will change a lot. It will make a lot of people criminals. Won't that be different?

But as to the point youi're trying to make - Removing guns wont make the problems of violent crime go away any more than removing hamburgers will make the obesity problem go away.

So lets give a hamburger to everybody who doesn't have one. Hamburgers don't kill people. People kill people!

Better yet, why not be that guy who has 1500 hamburgers because they gosh darn just look pretty. -- as seen on ATS. (heck, I could go for fake hamburgers here, but I'm a patriot god damn it, I want a real hamburger!)

And not only that but I have 50000 pickles per hamburger. And that's just peanuts for pickles here. I'm not talking cucumbers. Just pickles.

Yes yes, I need my hamburgers. A well trained militia has a full stomach.

Making guns illegal will eliminate gun presence as much as making marijuana illegal eliminated marijuana's presence... not at all

Originally posted by bacci0909
Making guns illegal will eliminate gun presence as much as making marijuana illegal eliminated marijuana's presence... not at all

Yes it will take a very long time for guns to filter out of society but if that was a country's wish they could certainly lessen the impact of them over time.

Prevent new guns from being sold, offer a buyback program for those that already have them, destroy confiscated or found weapons.

Eventually after many decades, guns in a society would be dramatically decreased. This would lessen the statistic of gun violence quite a bit although we all know that criminals would still have them and there would still be many in homes, the overall net effect would be a decrease in gun violence.

reply to post by Hopechest


That assumes our borders are secure. It assumes flooding the justice system and prisons won't bankrupt us. It assumes mafia style organizations won't manufacture guns like they made whiskey during prohibition. While it sounds good, reality would make it disasterous.

Originally posted by jimmiec
reply to post by Hopechest

 

That assumes our borders are secure. It assumes flooding the justice system and prisons won't bankrupt us. It assumes mafia style organizations won't manufacture guns like they made whiskey during prohibition. While it sounds good, reality would make it disasterous.

The majority of guns in the US come from in-country gun manufacturers. Even if the smuggling of guns skyrocketed after they were outlawed it would still be far far less than are currently sold every year.

That is a reduction. The mafia would find it quite a bit harder to manufacture guns than they did moonshine, plus its a little harder to hide a gun plant than it is a still in the woods.

As for the prisons, you may see a spike to begin with but as guns become less and less common you should see that number start to drop. Perhaps do not even make having one that isn't registered to you a felony, make it a misdemeanor except after multiple offenses.

Plenty of ways to deal with the overcrowding issue but it will eventually even out.

Originally posted by jimmiec
reply to post by Hopechest

 

That assumes our borders are secure. It assumes flooding the justice system and prisons won't bankrupt us. It assumes mafia style organizations won't manufacture guns like they made whiskey during prohibition. While it sounds good, reality would make it disasterous.

"While it sounds good, reality would make it disasterous"

With respect....Wouldn't that be an assumption?

Lets go for common sense solutions to gun violence. Can't we save just one life? Is one life not worth the loss of a nations freedom? That one mythical life, we have a chance here to save it. It will be for our future, our kids future that we eliminate guns from the hands of the people. From those that wish to slaughter our children. It's common sense, it makes sense to do this. Doesn't it?

With a stroke of a pen, a nation changes. The balance of power shifts. A future becomes uncertain, but in that ink, a life is saved.

In the end the argument comes down to saving lives. Maybe even one. Remember though when you choose your side, where have the greatest loss of life due to gun violence originated in the history of mans fascination with guns? Which element of society has contributed the most damage to the innocent? This question you need to ponder a bit. This segment is that which wishes most to take yours, and have theirs.

Think.

reply to post by caterpillage


I would say the most harm from gun violence in history has been warfare. I'd say a close second would be self-inflicted wounds or accidents and probably third is violent crime.

Just my guess.

Originally posted by Hopechest
reply to post by caterpillage

 

I would say the most harm from gun violence in history has been warfare. I'd say a close second would be self-inflicted wounds or accidents and probably third is violent crime.

Just my guess.

And I would say the largest by and far above any other culprit in the terms of mass killings by the gun would be the peoples government. An examination of history bears this out quite well. This could quite arguably include warfare, as it is generally brought through governments. Self infliction, and violent crime would be second and third no doubt, but pretty distantly in the terms of numbers. Government in historical terms have killed more people unjustly than any other non-natural cause.

reply to post by GokuVsSuperman0

Never fear OP.


(Source: Gun Policy.org )

They could ignore the Constitution and outlaw every firearm in the nation tomorrow. It would still be generations before the supply noticeably dropped from existing ones breaking with no spare parts or running out of ammunition. Of course, people stocked up on reloading equipment and components enough in late 2008 and 2009 to cause a shortage which lasted the better part of 2 years. I.E.....There is enough to be reloaded for generations, without buying anything more.

Guns aren't going anywhere in our lifetimes. Law or no law. They won't consider that though and the attempts won't stop, I'm sure.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Certainly it would take quite awhile to reduce the numbers to any great degree but it would happen eventually. I believe your over estimating the fact when you say generations.

Decades possibly but not generations. Ammo can always be made but the guns themselves, assuming no more are currently being put into circulation, will quickly become lost or broken or discarded, many will be turned in with an aggressive buyback program....and many will be locked up by their owners as collectables. I imagine the numbers should drop fairly quickly then will even out and start a slow decline after that.

But yes, it will be many years before you see a noticable drop in gun violence. Still, it will be the end result no matter how long it takes. Had they done this after WWII our gun violence would be less today than it currently is.

Originally posted by Hopechest
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

Certainly it would take quite awhile to reduce the numbers to any great degree but it would happen eventually. I believe your over estimating the fact when you say generations.

Decades possibly but not generations. Ammo can always be made but the guns themselves, assuming no more are currently being put into circulation, will quickly become lost or broken or discarded, many will be turned in with an aggressive buyback program....and many will be locked up by their owners as collectables. I imagine the numbers should drop fairly quickly then will even out and start a slow decline after that.

But yes, it will be many years before you see a noticable drop in gun violence. Still, it will be the end result no matter how long it takes. Had they done this after WWII our gun violence would be less today than it currently is.

One of the guns in my safe in a Winchester Model 1903. That's over 100 years old and is the best firing rifle I have. It'll drive tacks. My 30-06 is War vintage and I don't mean Vietnam or Korea. It's also in excellent shape and shoots true. A relative has a "Trap Door" gun of civil war vintage. Again, fires and functions without fail.

A properly cared for firearm can last 100 years, easily. As technology advances, the spare parts problem will solve itself with 3-D printing and other methods of fabrication that haven't been invented yet. Oh, I don't see any shortage of firearms in my lifetime, secondary to any laws passed.

There is ONE weak spot in the chain and really, only one. Even gunpowder can be made....although that's a tricky trial and error to get it right. Not for me, to be sure. Primers ...That's the shortfall in the whole thing. That actually contains a tiny little bit of explosive in a precise measure and precisely constructed for tolerances and function. THAT is something the average shooter can't make at home.

Luckily...most serious reloaders have 10's of thousands of them. So no problem there for a loooong time.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Love the Winchester model, my favorite gun and the only one I can actually hit anything with for some reason. I prefer the 1873 model myself. Yes people such as yourself will hold onto guns for 100's of years but that really isn't the typical owner.

Most people will allow them to fall into disrepair over the years which will ultimately reduce the numbers. You also keep yours in a safe which prevents it from disappearing to places it shouldn't go.

The ones that are actively in circulation however will slowly find themselves worked out of the system one way or another.

Originally posted by redtic
reply to post by GokuVsSuperman0

 

Given the choice between a world of guns and a world of knives, I'd choose a world of knives..

But, yeah, making guns illegal at this point would obviously be a disaster...

You are about 99 percent right but allow me to correct the little missed part of your sentence please?

"But, yeah, making guns illegal has always been a disaster".
There we go!