View Single Post
  #3  
Old 04-24-2007, 10:00 AM
mosdef mosdef is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Toronto
Posts: 3,414
Default Re: More guns the way to go? Some thoughs.

Well, the counter arguments to your points are in many other emails, so I don't want to start another long thread of arguments and counter arguments. But here's a summary of my point of view and I'll leave it at that.

[ QUOTE ]
what a stupid thing to say. the harder it is to get a gun, the less likely it is that someone would get one.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's not really true. The market for guns exists, whether you ban them or not. When you ban them, it just pushes the demand to a black market instead of a recognized market. Activity in black markets promotes violence because when the market is "unofficial" in society's eyes then the only recourse for dissatisfied consumers in that market is violence. When you force people to participate in a black market it encourages violence, including gun use.

[ QUOTE ]
and of course, if guns aren't allowed, a criminal wouldn't need a gun as much as if everybody else had it. you don't need that "edge" anymore. when everybody else have guns, say in the us, of course criminals must use guns.

[/ QUOTE ]

It is a huge mistake to think that demand for a product or service will go away if the product is deemed illegal by the government. This is simply not the case and the existence of black markets far and wide in the world is evidence of that.

[ QUOTE ]
Especially since almost all western industrial countries but the US has stricter gun laws AND less murder rates. I think it's pretty obvious. It's like what more proof do you need?

[/ QUOTE ]

How about proof of causation instead of just correlation? You should consider the possibility that Norway's more progressive taxation system, for example, reduces the demand for guns rather than the ban on the guns.

[ QUOTE ]
I can understand many peoples argument about being able do "defend themself", and therfore having guns. But the thing is, if guns are illegal, you don't have to.

[/ QUOTE ]

That would be true if your ban on guns was sufficient to ensure that no criminals would buy the guns. But as I've noted, a government ban will not eliminate demand.

I agree that less demand for guns would be good. I don't agree that a government ban would eliminate the demand.
Reply With Quote