John Stossel: Gun Control Isn't Crime Control

Okay. I know I said a couple posts back that I was done with Gun Control posts, but I just came across article and couldn't resist putting it up here for the rest of you. My Gun Control (part 2) post was the full text of a very good article written by Mr. John Stossel of ABC's 20/20. I was browsing around the PAFOA forums today and discovered that Mr. Stossel had recently written another article about the utter failure of gun control as a crime deterrent. Perhaps one of the best examples of this is the UK gun ban:

After the 1997 shooting of 16 kids in Dunblane, England, the United Kingdom passed one of the strictest gun-control laws in the world, banning its citizens from owning almost all types of handguns. Britain seemed to get safer by the minute, as 162,000 newly-illegal firearms were forked over to British officials by law-abiding citizens.

But this didn't decrease the amount of gun-related crime in the U.K. In fact, gun-related crime has nearly doubled in the U.K. since the ban was enacted.

As I have been saying over and over again, strict Gun Control laws do nothing to curb violent crime, and only take guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens. Taking guns out of the hands of good people only leaves us defenseless against the criminals--who, by the way, still have guns because they get them illegally--who choose to exploit a gun-less society. Mr. Stossel again uses the example of the UK:

England's ban didn't magically cause all British handguns to disappear. Officials estimate that more than 250,000 illegal weapons are still in circulation in the country. Without the fear of retaliation from victims who might be packing heat, criminals in possession of these weapons now have a much easier job, and the incidence of gun-related crime has risen. As the saying goes, "If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns."

The necessary realization is that people like the madman who was responsible for the VA-Tech shootings (I'm choosing to not use his name as I don't believe it is right to idolize him like the media enjoys doing) will always find ways to carry out their evil deeds. Again, I'll leave it up to Mr. Stossel to put it bluntly:

There's no way to know whether [VA-Tech shooter's] murderous rampage could have been stopped in a similar way, but what's certain is that strict gun control laws do not always have the effect that legislators intend. More guns (in the right hands) can stop crime, and fewer guns (in the wrong hands) can make for more crime. Gun control isn't crime control.