It's a tough one.
We've banned guns here in Aus without a special license for quite a while now (took a massacre before we did, though), and I have to say that the instances of gun related fatalities that I hear about in general and on the news are very rare. It's more often a beating or knife attack.
If you ban guns, like you said, those who really want one will find another means to get it. Sure.
But, if you don't ban guns, anyone can get one which may encourage them to use it. It's a kind of Chicken & Egg situation. Which came first, the shootings, or the abundance of guns?
Personally, I believe that if the guns are taken away, then less people will be inclined to even learn how to shoot, and further preventing the temptation (same reason I'm against Methodone clinics where they give it away for free).
I've learnt to shoot through the Navy cadets. However, it took a pretty hard safety test before I was even allowed near the range, let alone to hold one.
It comes back to the disscusion of do games turn people bad? I think it's generally held by most here that those people were already really,
really messed up before they got their hands on the game. Guns are quite the same. Let a psycho have availability of weapons, and they're bound to use them. Take them away and they're still messed up in the head and will no doubt find another way to prove it.
That brings me to the point of protection. Isn't owning a gun for protection like swatting a fly with a sledge-hammer?
I can't see any situation where producing a gun instead of a can of mace can help the situation. Pull the gun, and they still attack: Unless you're good with it, you'll probably miss or be overpowered. Pull the gun, and you shoot: You've just injured or killed someone who could have been subdued just as effectively with mace or a laser.
Because I believe that a gun for 'protection' is an oxymoron, then, unlike the case for violent video games, Guns should be removed completely from normal society.
Don't forget when reading this that I am Australian. I don't follow American laws, and I don't put any weight either way in your Constitution (I have my own laws to worry about
).
At any rate...
A bulletproof backpack?
Haha, that's stupid.
