With all the gun laws created since the days of the Swap Sheet 25'ish years ago, gun crime and death hasn't lowered so why not? Gang Bangers need to defend themselves too lol Seriously though, how do you make a law that actually keeps guns out of the hands of bad people like gangs or career criminals? Make a law saying you have to pass a background check to buy a gun, gang bangers don't buy guns in stores and still get them one way or the other, it just slows the process for people that follow the laws to get one. Limit the magazine to 7 shots, criminals, the military and law enforcement can have them but not you and I that would never cause harm to begin with can't? You could make a law that says anyone with a felony can't buy a gun, my brother that got 3 DWI's within 10 years got charged and convicted of a felony and spent 2 years in prison for it. For context, he didn't cause any crashes or hurt anyone, just pulled over after drinking in his late 20's and early 30's like an dumbass. My brother would never use a gun nefariously, neither would people like accountants convicted of fraud or money laundering. If they defined it so only violent felons or violent criminals couldn't buy a gun I would be more agreeable but lets be honest, if any criminal wants a gun they will get one and it likely wouldn't be from a gun shop in the first place so really it would again just delay law abiding people like you and I from getting a gun.
You are a NY'er so I have to ask, how many lives were saved because of the Safe Act? AR part restrictions, gun registration for all your owned guns, limited magazine capacity are all moot laws that don't stop nefarious gun crimes. In my opinion any law that is applied to US citizens, especially ones that alter Constitutional Rights, should have to be justified with statistics a couple years after it was created to prove it works to keep it on the books. Granted there would likely be shenanigans with the numbers, like how some cities changed paramaters of gun statistics to include any bullet that enters a school zone to be counted as a "school shooting". For example, a gang fight happens 4 blocks away on a Saturday night when not even the janitor is in the school but one of the stray bullets hits the school. Is that really a "school shooting"? That isn't a made up scenario, it happens today and is directly the reason "school shooting" numbers have spiked recently. Have there been more school shootings in recent times? Absolutely, but no where near the actual number they claim.
Sorry I made this long winded but I think it would surprise most people to know that with all the laws and restrictions on buying/owning/transporting guns do you think it is worth the few lives it has alleged to have saved? Does making schools gun free zones stop guns from getting into schools?
Some numbers to consider: 2018 was the latest year we have numbers for until they are recounted and published this year by the CDC, I don't know why they are responsible for tracking the data but even the FBI uses their numbers as well as places that compile statistical data like Pew Research. In 2018 there were a total of 38,390 deaths in the US by firearms (roughly 70% were handgun deaths) 24,432 were suicides. A majority of the remaining 13,958 gun deaths were murder/homicide, but that number includes everything else like home defenders, police shootings, hunting accidents etc.
On the other end of the stick, under Democrat President
Bill Clinton, the Department of Justice conducted a survey in 1994 that placed the usage rate of guns used in personal defense at 1.5 million times per year, most agree that is an overestimate by an average of 10% making the lowest estimate at 1.35 million times per year. I didn't cherry pick this source, there isn't much reliable data collected on this topic (intentional?). Some other sources put it at 800,000 times per year people have defended themselves with a gun, you can use that and I am ok with it because it still shows that guns save many times more lives than they take nefariously.
36,000 people died last year in vehicle accidents and there is no Constitutional rights to a vehicle. I could go on and on about smoking deaths, diabetes etc. but I think I said too much already lol
