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Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
And about the finger: Good analogy. This is what I'm talking about. We look at guns vs. no guns, and meanwhile we forget about all the in-betweens.
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We need more good guys with guns and less bad guys with guns. We're doing pretty well in the legitimate market, the black market is the problem. Responsible and legal gun ownership is a good thing and the fear of guns and gun owners by a large segment of the population, combined with lack of knowledge of these things is a problem. I don't think everyone should have a gun, hell, I don't think 90% of the people out there should even be allowed to drive, but when someone is willing to train to use a gun and carry it for protection of self and others, violent crime will decrease, not increase.
As we scale up inspections of imported goods, more illegal guns will be found entering the country. Norinco took a huge hit when the ATF found the big undeclared shipment of giggle-switch AKs a few years ago, it's going to be another year or two before they can get anything other than a few shotguns back on the US market, and only because someone signed a contract to manufacture in the US for them. When it's on that scale, one or two finds can put a big dent in the black market.
The biggest demographic of illegal gun buyers and owners is gang members. With crackdowns on gangs increasing (at least in my area,) illegal guns are being seized constantly and taken out of the hands of people who will cause harm with them. Violent criminals should be punished very severely when they have tools that allow them to commit violent crimes. I would support heavy recommended sentences for anyone who has a gun in their possession during the commission of a violent or coercive crime.