People clinging to guns...

[Jacobtm]

People with guns have very sensitive egos, they don't like when you're mean to them.

[Jacobtm]

Does anyone still remember that?

Also, more people buying stuff=more people buying guns. It's like getting freaked out about December being the #1 month for buying trees.

Those trees are thrown out in January.

People don't toss out guns as quickly, rather they stockpile them.

[Jacobtm]

Do you think, maybe, that the kind of people that carry guns...I don't know, might have a good reason sometimes?  

Of course they do.

The whole idea of restricting gun ownership would be to take away that reason.

If everyone has guns, and you feel that you might be in danger, you have to get a gun to defend yourself. If no one has guns, and you feel that you might be in danger, you might carry a knife instead.

Of course, the most important reason for owning guns isn't defense from common criminals, but maintaining ultimate power in the hands of the citizens.

Yet many a gun-toting citizen ends up in jail. Hell, they've thrown people in jail for wearing bulletproof vests...

[Jacobtm]

And that would be relevant if you could get rid of all guns by banning them.  Especially from the kind of people that would use one to hold up a jewelry store.

We'd have to do more than simply ban them, obviously.

A supply side solution, like huge bullet taxes, perhaps.

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I don't follow.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

[Jacobtm]

Chris Rock thought of that, but he's just a comedian.  The reality is it's pretty simple to make bullets.  So yeah, if you want a huge black market for bullets (to go along with all the other huge blackmarkets we already have due to making things illegal that shouldn't be), then that idea might have some legs.

Many rappers, black comedians, etc. have thought of the idea before. Indeed, making things illegal is no way to kill the supply or the demand. Even if we shut down all U.S. gun/bullet manufacturers, we'd just have Rusky ones coming in all the time.

Ultimately, I suspect that as long as Americans want to shoot and kill each other, they'll find a way to do it.

One way to drop down homicides significantly would be to legalize drugs. Can you and I agree there?

[Jacobtm]

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

yep, the right of the PEOPLE to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.  Keeping sh**tty govts in check is one good reason (but obviously not the only one) to keep arms, though clearly that would be difficult in today's world.

Still, the basic unit of state power is nothing but a man with a gun.

While a bunch of armed citizens might not be able to take down the state, they could do lots of damage.