I am all for extended background checks and mental health check requisites. The rifles I own were custom builds and I had to wait several months on them so a ten day check is fine by me. I am not a member of the NRA on principle - I think that background checks should be more robust to include mental health issues and I think that gun show sales should undergo the same checks as other FFL dealers.
The article you referenced strongly correlates stricter gun laws with a decrease in gun related violence . You then mixed that up with some gun lobby partisan content and chart. Don't you think that is highly misleading and disingenuous?
First chart that came up in Google Image - coincidence. The data contained in it is correct and from the CDC and FBI. In fact I think it's disingenuous for media and pundits to correlate a 20 percent reduction in household firearms in Australia (the loosely accepted buyback program net ownership reduction) with a markedly reduced gun violence rate. You see slightly different estimates, but nobody will claim that the Australian buyback program came anywhere close to eliminating existing privately held firearms. It's a much bigger stretch to claim that the Aussie Buyback Program would achieve any meaningful success in the US. But there is no doubt that Aussie legislation made civilian purchases going forward next to impossible. You'd stand a better chance finding causation with that than the buyback program. But as Malcolm Turnbull said, Australia does not have an individual bill of rights.
If you look at the FBI data for "homicide by other means" it is remarkably close to the gun homicide data. Maybe like London we should ban knives ?
I readily acknowledge that it’s the highest on Earth, absent some transient statistic representing some war-torn shithole. I do no prescribe to the notion that absent rifles, perps would use bombs, incendiaries, etc. to commit mass killings. It’s simply too technical and inconvenient to do so. IMO the vast majority of mass shooters would not achieve the numbers they have if not for the ease of access of SA rifles. The vast majority of mass shootings have been result of legally-obtained firearms as you have stated. So... begs the question. Would I be willing to give up the ability to own a SA rifle in an futile attempt to reduce all gun-related homicides by say, 2,000? No.
Upon further review, gun ownership laws should be loosened, especially in Chicago. Tighter local gun laws infringe on our constitutional rights and should be overturned on that basis alone. In addition, from a practical standpoint where criminals potentially face “immediate enforcement” when committing crimes, they may start considering other options. In other cases, increased criminal casualties will also help reduce gun crime. However, none of these arguments address the underlying problem: Substance abuse. Substance abuse has a direct or indirect cause in a lot of gun related suicides. Furthermore, many drug dealers carry guns for protection or for “business” use as related to their profession. Drug users frequently develop a habit they cannot afford to pay for. They use guns to quickly acquire the money they need for their next fix. Crimes of passion involving gun use are much more likely to happen when someone is under the influence. The vast majority of crime, including gun crime, is drug related. Does the Left want to make America safe again? For drug dealers and users? Until we seriously address our rampant drug problem, we are just pissing in the wind and thus our citizens have a particulary valid reason to want to carry.
This thread illustrates my central point in starting it. It is foolish and self-defeating for gun rights advocates to compromise on anything. The reason is no compromise will ever be adequate, up to and including confiscation. You could have said I was using hyperbole, but the UK has actually now gone beyond gun confiscation to knife control. The point of a compromise is that both sides concede ground and solve the issue in the middle. There is no middle with anti-gun zealots. They see, and quite rightly, every concession as the starting point for the next round of concessions. They see our willingness to give ground and get nothing in response as an acknowledgement of their moral superiority and our evilness. Republican officeholders must be sent a clear and simple message. You can sell us out on every other issue and we might overlook it, but not on gun rights. Those are non-negotiable, you know, like a Constitutional right or something. Cross us and you're done.
Thanks for your honesty. Nobody would ask you to give up your whatever rifles you are worshipping at home. But you most likely will be required to undergo training and pass tests on new purchases no matter how proficient you may claim you are. Certain attachments may be illegal to use hence you can hug them in your bed at home but can't use at any shooting range, including private ranges. No more gun shows perhaps. With every additional mass shooting we will edge closer to the above scenario.