Sorry for the delay have been rather busy for the last bit.
Ok first off gun laws. I agree gun laws so far have been non effective for several reasons, the biggest being localization differences (the old go across to a state where gun laws are weak). My thought on making it more effective would be first to change the control system from the state to the federal level. Second all loop holes and other tricks that the criminal element uses to get their firearms from legal sources need to be closed. Gun sales need to be recorded carefully, theft of weapons needs to be mandatoraly reported with fines, jail time or even liability for the use of the weapon if one fails to report a theft (and monitored too, anyone who has multiple guns stolen multiple times should have their license revoked for not safely storing their weapons). Lastly the companies that make weapons specifically intended for criminal use (like the tec-9) which can be easily converted to full auto fire need to be taken to task and shut down. Anyone with a serious criminal record should probably also be banned from gun ownership (with strict penalties if broken)
Ideally the laws would let proper law abiding citizens have the firearms they desire (with in reason, i don't think military grade weapons should be easily available), and hinder the criminal element from obtaining firearms from legal sources. Of course this wont eliminate criminals with firearms, but it would help to reduce availability (once the current batch of firearms washes out of the system anyhow). They would have to resort more to smuggling guns in which is much more expensive, and lowers the supply. Lets face it the vast majority of weapons used in the US by criminals came from legal sources like gun shows and states with lax gun laws.
I do not support having civilians armed with concealed (or visible) weapons in public. First off I don't believe it is a deterrent (it certainly wasn't in the "wild west"). Second i have strong concerns about collateral damage, mistaken shootouts between civilians, the increased risks to law enforcement personnel, not to mention the usual problems of tempers and alcohol. I think violent death would go up as a statistic not down.
Ultimately though if you want to really reduce the violence, you have to change the societal issues which are the root cause of the violence. You mentioned Switzerland and gun violence, I could mention as the opposite Japan, which also has very low violence and extremely strict weapons laws. These are different societies though with very different dynamics. The distribution of wealth, and the extremes of the distribution level, along with average education level are strongly associated with the level of gun violence in a country. Countries with excessive gun violence often tend to have high to extreme amounts of poverty, very large extremes of wealth distribution, and low to non existent education levels among the lower classes. All of which tends to lead to anger, frustration, aggression, substance abuse, and violence. Japan and Switzerland aren't gun violence magnets because the wealth distribution is a bit more balanced, education levels are much higher, government assistance is greater, and there is much less poverty.
As for if I were a criminal, I doubt that people armed would phase me much. After all I probably belong to a gang, who has been having an armed conflict with another gang, friends have been murdered, I've probably murdered. I would defiantly know how to use my guns very well, and as for civilians, I would simply shoot first if everyone is armed, preferably with a silencer to minimize retaliation. I would probably also be a substance abuser, and not expect to live very long, so I probably wouldn't care a whole lot if I got killed, just as long as I killed you back.
Subman1 I agree, we live in an imperfect world, but surely we can find a way of coexisting with out the need to arm ourselves to the teeth.
Oh and lastly I myself am a gun owner, I inherited a couple of fully functional family heirlooms from the ending days of the wild west. I firmly believe in responsible safe gun ownership.
Anyhow ill close off with the NRA line that guns don't kill people, people do... Unfortunately people are the problem as no one is perfect. Guns make killing a whole lot easier and quicker, so quick you can kill someone before you even have a chance to think about it, or realize it.
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