General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The CDC study on guns...shut down. [View all]krispos42
(49,445 posts)They are a tool used in violent death, typically suicide or homicide. But they are not the cause of death. The cause of death is almost always either a) a person deciding to kill another person, or b) a person deciding to kill himself. There are very few accidents with guns.
So (t)he same science that researchers use to study traffic deaths and other safety issues can be applied to the study of guns and their impact on the health of society might be a little bit off. I'd rather have people figuring out how to get less people murdered or suicidal than figuring out how to get less people using a gun to murder or suicide.
Of course, the single biggest aid to reducing homicides would be to legalize drugs, but that's not even an option. Can you imagine the CDC issuing a paper saying the best way to reduce gun-related murders was to legalize drugs??? If you think the NRA has some power with the voter, wait until you see the power Big Pharma has with lobbyists and Congresscritters in DC.
The best way to reduce guns to criminals, if that's your goal, is to have mandatory background checks for for all firearm transfers, both commercial and private. And this would only work if the states kept the database of criminals and mentally deficient up-to-date. BUT, it has to be done on a state-by-state level; it cannot be federally regulated because DC doesn't have the jurisdiction.
And the cities and states need to stop pleading down accused criminals that use guns to commit crimes, or convicted criminals that are caught with guns. Strict guns laws don't work if enforcement is lax. Get the potheads out of prison and put in armed felons instead!
A 12-gun-a-year limit would also be possible and reasonable. Not 1-gun-a-month, but 12 guns a year. This would reduce trafficking. If you want to buy 13 or more guns a year, get some kind of state or federal permit.