No, you are right. I have never been desperate.....for any reason or anything. But, that has nothing to do with whether or not this man's life could have been saved had he been able to purchase a weapon.
But, to respond to guns and the control of firearms. May I recommend a study done in prisons and specifically of those incarcerated crimes committed while in possession or the use of guns.
http://www.rkba.org/research/wright/armed-criminal.summary.html"(1) Legitimate firearms retailers play only a minor role as direct sources of handguns for adult felony offenders.
Only about one-sixth of the gun-owning felons obtained their most recent handguns through a customary retail transaction involving a licensed firearms dealer. The remainder -- five out of six -- obtained them via informal, off-the-record transactions involving friends and associates, family members, and various black market outlets. The means of acquisition from these informal sources included cash purchase, swaps and trades, borrowing and renting, and often theft. The criminal handgun market is overwhelmingly dominated by informal transactions and theft as mechanisms of supply.
The off-the-record nature of the market is further illustrated in the responses to a series of questions concerning the ease with which these men felt they could arm themselves upon release from prison. (As convicted felons, of course, all these men are legally prohibited from acquiring guns upon release, under provisions of the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.) Most of the sample (gun owners and nonowners alike) thought it would be "no trouble at all" to acquire a gun upon release; about 80 percent felt they could obtain a suitable handgun in a few days or less. When asked where they would go for guns, their sources were friends, the street, and various black market sources.
These results suggest certain policy implications. Policies attempting to regulate handgun acquisition at the point of retail sale may be effective in preventing some types of criminals from acquiring firearms (e.g., juveniles or nonfelony offenders), but they are likely to have little effect on the most serious handgun-owning felons represented in this sample. Hardcore felons of the sort studied in this research rarely use customary retail channels to obtain handguns.
(2) Gun theft plays a critical role in connecting the adult felony offender to his firearms supply.
Half the men in the total sample had stolen at least one gun at some time in their lives (as shown in Figure 1). Many had stolen more than one. A few, particularly the more predatory felons, had stolen guns in extremely large numbers. At least 40 percent and perhaps has many as 70 percent of the most recent handguns owned by this sample were stolen weapons. These percentages include not only the guns that the felons stole themselves (32 percent), but also guns that the felons knew or believed to have been stolen prior to their acquisition of them."
Therefore, I state once again. The people the laws will affect are those individuals who obey the rules and regulations that are already on the books for gun purchase. Regardless of how many laws are passed, the rate of felonies committed by the people who are intent on robbing, murdering, or causing harm will acquire guns. By removing guns from law abiding people you are in essence painting a target on their backs.
By the way, are you aware by using all upper case in your writing it is the same as yelling at your readers? Very impolite. I am sure that you were not aware of this fact, because you are a gentle, evangelist who would never say or do anything to hurt another person's feelings.
Merry Christmas!
rumitoid wrote:
Perhaps you have not been desperate enough, ginnyt. But wait! Following your logic, no crimes have ever been committed where there are loser gun laws? Is that right? Only NJ and states like it have problems with such crimes? Yes?
I AM NOT AGAINST PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF GUNS! I AM AGAINST THE MANY LOOPHOLES that allow the PURCHASE of ARMS BY CRIMINALS, TERRORISTS, AND KNOWN ENEMIES OF THE STATE. If your paranoia translates that into black helicopters swooping down to take away both your guns and your freedom or a hitlerian confiscation due to a universal registration, dream on.
Perhaps you have not been desperate enough, ginnyt... (
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