@RyanW If someone wants to kill me and he has a gun, that's a problem for me. If he wants to kill me and we both have guns, that's a problem for him because I might get the drop on him. If he wants to kill me and I have a gun and he doesn't, that's a BIG problem for him. If he wants to kill me and he does not KNOW whether or not I have a gun, that's an enormous problem for him because now he has to worry about the unknown. If he wants to kill me and my neighbor has a gun and sees him coming, that's a problem for him.
But if he's a crook, I know he has a gun. He knows he has a gun. If I'm a law-abiding person and I don't have any guns, he knows I don't have a gun. So it's happy time for him.
And, before anyone starts "but what if they got ALL the guns, like in England," well, there's two problems with that:
Samuel Colt called the firearm The Great Equalizer because most humans could operate one, whether it was an aged granny old enough to have seen British Redcoats burn the White House in 1812, or a youth of twelve.
If NOBODY has guns, folk can still kill other folk, they just need other force-multipliers, like knives. Why do you think we keep hearing about knife crime in England? So now if he wants to kill me but I might have a knife, etc, etc. Only now you're introducing a greater element of physical prowess to the equation. Small and weak humans with firearms have successfully defended themselves against large and powerful aggressive ones without them - or with them, in fact. Put the scenario back to old-school muscle-powered aggression and the chances of that go WAY down.
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@RyanW If someone wants to kill me and he has a gun, that's a problem for me. If he wants to kill me and we both have guns, that's a problem for him because I might get the drop on him. If he wants to kill me and I have a gun and he doesn't, that's a BIG problem for him. If he wants to kill me and he does not KNOW whether or not I have a gun, that's an enormous problem for him because now he has to worry about the unknown. If he wants to kill me and my neighbor has a gun and sees him coming, that's a problem for him.
But if he's a crook, I know he has a gun. He knows he has a gun. If I'm a law-abiding person and I don't have any guns, he knows I don't have a gun. So it's happy time for him.
And, before anyone starts "but what if they got ALL the guns, like in England," well, there's two problems with that:
Samuel Colt called the firearm The Great Equalizer because most humans could operate one, whether it was an aged granny old enough to have seen British Redcoats burn the White House in 1812, or a youth of twelve.
If NOBODY has guns, folk can still kill other folk, they just need other force-multipliers, like knives. Why do you think we keep hearing about knife crime in England? So now if he wants to kill me but I might have a knife, etc, etc. Only now you're introducing a greater element of physical prowess to the equation. Small and weak humans with firearms have successfully defended themselves against large and powerful aggressive ones without them - or with them, in fact. Put the scenario back to old-school muscle-powered aggression and the chances of that go WAY down.