@Isdaril Except cities like Chicago, which has some of the strictest firearm regulations in the USA, also has some of the *highest* gun violence stats in the USA.
Which is another point that a lot of these studies don't bring up. Regulations vary from state to state. Some states, like Hawaii, have several permit requirements for owning and carrying different kinds of firearms and carrying a *loaded* firearm at all is a felony. (Which, honestly, seems to defeat the whole point of carrying a firearm.) North Dakota, on the other hand, just requires that you be a state resident to carry a concealed weapon and carrying a loaded firearm is only regulated in regards to storage in a vehicle.
And I'd like to reiterate that most criminals *don't* obtain their weapons legally. Though I will grant that it's a lot easier to get an illegal weapon when there are a lot of legal owners around you can steal from.
I think the problem is less about the legality of firearms and more about cultural attitudes. And not necessarily cultural attitudes toward guns. I'm talking about attitudes about community, self-control, responsibility, and mental health. A lot of the people who commit, or try to commit, mass murder showed a lot of warning signs that something wasn't right beforehand. Often, nothing was done to intervene. Sometimes a token effort was made, usually involving the prescription of some medication, but little to no follow up. I can't even begin to count how many times one of these stories involve phrases like "was off his medication" or "diagnosed with..."
In short, yeah, the USA has problems, but banning guns is treating a symptom, not the disease.
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@Isdaril Except cities like Chicago, which has some of the strictest firearm regulations in the USA, also has some of the *highest* gun violence stats in the USA.
Which is another point that a lot of these studies don't bring up. Regulations vary from state to state. Some states, like Hawaii, have several permit requirements for owning and carrying different kinds of firearms and carrying a *loaded* firearm at all is a felony. (Which, honestly, seems to defeat the whole point of carrying a firearm.) North Dakota, on the other hand, just requires that you be a state resident to carry a concealed weapon and carrying a loaded firearm is only regulated in regards to storage in a vehicle.
And I'd like to reiterate that most criminals *don't* obtain their weapons legally. Though I will grant that it's a lot easier to get an illegal weapon when there are a lot of legal owners around you can steal from.
I think the problem is less about the legality of firearms and more about cultural attitudes. And not necessarily cultural attitudes toward guns. I'm talking about attitudes about community, self-control, responsibility, and mental health. A lot of the people who commit, or try to commit, mass murder showed a lot of warning signs that something wasn't right beforehand. Often, nothing was done to intervene. Sometimes a token effort was made, usually involving the prescription of some medication, but little to no follow up. I can't even begin to count how many times one of these stories involve phrases like "was off his medication" or "diagnosed with..."
In short, yeah, the USA has problems, but banning guns is treating a symptom, not the disease.