Responsible gun owners would never defend street thugs or illegal gun use, said Dave Workman, senior editor of Gun Week and author of "Washington State Gun Rights and Responsibilities." And he said additional laws won't stop the criminals who already have no regard for them.
"I think if you really want to address the problem of disarming street thugs, you've got to enforce the existing statutes, which unfortunately often wind up getting plea-bargained away," he said. "If you stick them with an enhanced sentence for using an illegal gun in a crime, they're going to go away for a hell of a long time, and it's going to hurt."
Let me ask a theoretical question. Would the Tucson gunman, Jared Loughner be able to obtain a gun to kill if he were not allowed to buy it legally?