It’s already too late for gun control to work

Washington Post ^ | November 8, 2016 | Dr. John Lott

[VictimsRightsPro2a]

It seems obvious: Restrict gun access and people will be safer.

Indeed, in all four presidential debates, Hillary Clinton and running mate Tim Kaine have pushed for background checks on private transfers of guns. Clinton says this will “keep guns out of the hands of those who will do harm.” After each mass public shooting, President Obama has made a similar case for background checks on private transfers of guns.

But theory and practice don’t always match. Too often, gun bans or background checks don’t stop criminals and disarm law-abiding citizens, particularly poor minorities. This only makes life easier for criminals.

To start, it would be almost impossible at this point to ban all guns in the United States, where there are already 300 million guns in circulation, and more than 12 million enter the market each year. With 3D metal printers, more people will be able to make weapons that are indistinguishable from those purchased in stores. Getting rid of these weapons would require a door-to-door campaign by law enforcement officials, and even that would be of only limited effectiveness.

It’s also not clear that it would help. When Britain and Jamaica banned all guns and handguns, they saw a subsequent increase in murder rates. Even island nations, which have relatively easily-monitored and defendable borders, have faced five or sixfold increases in murder rates after guns were banned

[YogicCowboy]

it was too late as soon as guns were invented.

Something cannot be uninvented.

[YogicCowboy]

Fortunately, I started in third grade: it’s like riding a bike.

[Big Red Badger]

I’m still on training wheels!