> Okay, make it impossible for Joe Regular to get a gun. Nothing is
> impossible, trust me. If you are going to outlaw firearms, then how about
> bomb making materials. It just keeps getting biger and bigger. It makes
> no sense to outlaw firearms, since a person who wants to do this will find
> a way.
> Addtionally, These two individuals broke so many laws already, making
> firearms illegal to posess alltogether would have made no difference to
> them. Take a look at Colorado law and you will see how many laws were
> broken, besides the ***. We need enforceable laws not more laws.
> Banning firearms is not enforceable.
You are creating two false dichotomies, here.
In the first place, it is not the case that you have to ban everything
associated with *** (weed killer, kitchen knives etc.) in order for a
full or partial gun ban to make a difference. Your reductio ad absurdum
argument has a broken link. We can approach the issue of bomb making as a
separate subject and it can be backed up with separate legislation.
In the second place, it does not follow that because laws get broken, laws
have no effect. Of course laws get broken. If no one felt an urge to break a
law then there is little point in having a law. If people are tempted to break
a law then I would maintain that irrespective of the severity of the
punishment, some people will break that law. This does not mean that having
the law does not discourage many people from breaking that law. As John
Wallace says further down, this is "why we have a police force, courts, why
law-abiding people pay taxes". People will have to hide their guns if there is
a gun ban, because otherwise they will suffer the consequences under the law.
Bad guys have to pay more for "black-market" guns if there are no more legal
ones. They will need gun suppliers etc. etc. Sure they will still be able get
guns if they are determined but it will be harder and thus fewer people will
get hold of them. With each new illegal gun found by the police, the illegal
gun stockpile will be decreased. As time goes on still fewer people will have
them until eventually almost no one has them. Additionally, the few guns that
we get in the UK (and I guess other countries) will vanish completely because
almost all the illegal guns that get into the UK are originally sourced in the
US.
Cheers,
Paul
