It’s also not a completely desirable idea when all things are considered. For instance, if a new law was suddenly enacted requiring everyone to turn in their guns, those who follow the law would then be completely disarmed. Criminals, who are predisposed to ignore or flaunt the law, would keep their weapons and thus be given the upper hand -- a very dangerous unintended consequence! We have laws that outright ban illegal drugs, but those laws have had the consequence of creating an underground. Just as in the days of prohibition when alcohol created wealthy criminal empires, drugs are doing the same today for drug lords and cartels. Despite some very harsh laws, drugs are cheap and readily available. What makes anyone think that the same wouldn’t be true if guns were banned?
Hunting and the shooting sports are also a multi-billion-dollar industry. It employs thousands of people and the sale of hunting licenses pours a lot of money into state coffers. Sportsmen and women fund most of our state parks. Given the current state of our economy, such a ban would only make economic matters worse.
Another thing to consider are those guns that are in use by our police and security professionals. It would be all but impossible for them to do their jobs effectively without firearms, yet they can be (and are) stolen. Even our own FBI famously lost several fully automatic machineguns! The bottom line is that firearms do have a vital and necessary place in our society, and those very supply lines can be vulnerable to criminals.
In this light, “getting rid of all of the guns” becomes all but impossible and not at all practical if it was. (And all of this is aside from arguments about Constitutional rights and freedoms.)
From the opposite angle, there is good evidence that guns in the hands of law abiding private citizens, as well as legal concealed carry, actually reduces crime. This is why so many states have enacted concealed carry laws in recent years. The first state to enact what is known as “shall issue” concealed carry was Florida in 1987, in response to rampant crime. “Shall issue” means that a state or county gun board cannot arbitrarily deny a law-abiding citizen a permit as long as that citizen passes an FBI background check and meets all of the training requirements. This check is far more extensive than the NICS (National Instant Check System) check used for simply purchasing a gun. The result was a resounding success! Crime rates dropped with record speed. Also, in all of the news accounts of crimes involving firearms, very few involve those who are legally licensed.
Not long ago, ABC News reporter, John Stossell, interviewed prisoners who were convicted of so-called “gun crimes.” They admitted that they had little fear of police or the law. Their biggest fear was meeting an armed homeowner or victim.
One more fact that we can all be thankful for: military weapons aside, the vast majority of guns go from factory to scrap heap without ever being used to commit a crime. A good thing, considering how many there are! So unless you’re a hoplophobe (a person with an irrational fear of guns), then guns in the hands of peaceful citizens should never be viewed as a problem.
In our continued search for ideas to combat crime, another often mentioned concept is “safe storage” for firearms. That seems like good, common sense thinking at first glance. Shouldn’t people, especially parents, make sure that their guns aren’t accessible to children or thieves? Of course! I’ve never heard an argument against the spirit of this idea. What bothers many gun owners is that, when “safe storage” is codified into law and made mandatory, it often requires that all guns be unloaded and even disassembled, and then locked up with a trigger lock or inside a safe, making them inaccessible in an emergency! If a homeowner hears a window shatter in the middle of the night, he can’t ask the burglar to wait while they unlock, reassemble and load their weapon!
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