I know! They could never be used for something useful like defending one's self or family. Leave that to the police who are only minutes away when seconds count.
...but there's really a false-choice scenario that gets presented by hardcore conservatives every time this discussion happens.
A) "I can own or distribute whatever kinds of guns, and the government shouldn't be able to stop me"
B) "I'm left completely disarmed and have absolutely no practical means to defend myself or my family"
...are not the only two options here.
In reality, there are probably about a dozen different flavors gun control legislation models ranging from super-strict, to almost as lax as us with a few minor tweaks that could be considered and reviewed. Of course, the NRA lobbies to block even doing research into such subjects (which is odd, because if what they say is the definitive and undeniable truth they claim it is, they should jump at the chance to have that published, in writing, by researchers someone else's expense with not so much as a dime out of their own resources.)
I always encourage people to look at the legislation model in the Czech Republic for gun control.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_the_Czech_Republic
Some key points:
- You can own handguns, shotguns, AR-15's, Ak's, etc...
- You can reasonably obtain a CCW permit (and roughly a similar percentage of their population does; roughly 2-3% much like here in the US)
- They don't have gun free zones, and if you have your permit, you can carry on campuses and schools (more lax than us in that regard)
- Most gun are purchased for the purpose of defense; so it's not about hunting for them, they have historical culture with guns like we do
- Permits are "shall-issue", even for non-residents. Which means, if I went there on a 1-month vacation, provided I could pass their tests and met their criteria, I could carry while I was there. (again, a way they're more lax than we are)
- Universal reciprocity throughout all of their administrative districts
BUT, in order to do the things above, you need the following
- A mental health examination (which, since that's the target of NRA blame for every gun related tragedy, they shouldn't have a problem with it)
- Universal background checks (still not sure why people take issue with these)
- Pass a written test on the law
- Pass a practical examination showing you know how to handle a gun and hit what you're aiming at
The end result, a nation where they have expansive gun rights (in some ways more gun right than we do), with a few little tweaks and integrity measures, that has one of the lowest violent crime rates in the civilized world.
We could work toward that too....
IF:
- The far left could abandon their paranoia about "scary looking guns"
- The far right could abandon their slippery slope logic where they portray any and all integrity measures as a precursor to "tyranny"