I hear what your saying and understand, I'm kind of conflicted on the whole issue. But I tend to hold fairly unpopular opinions on most hot topics.
One cannot argue that if you do away with access to firearms, all things being equal, they will be over time less available to the criminal element. That means our kids are safer from stray bullets. A good thing.
But I can say I've had my day saved by having an equalizer close at hand. As have others. It's just that so many of us are legally able to do many potentially harmful things and we do so with frightening regularity. As arrogant as it seems, I'm good with having access to firearms, I'm just not sure how I feel about the collective you having that same access.
Education, tough licensing standards, public awareness, etc. are all good ideas but that means we have to trust that those elements be administered and policed effectively for them to work. I don't believe that will be the case.
One of the incidents involved a Kalashnikov. God knows how it was obtained but most likely not on the streets of Beirut. Probably started life as a perfectly legal sale properly documented and everything. Now it's evidence in a murder investigation. I can't help think there's a breakdown in the process somewhere. Fix the process and there should be no need for firearm prohibition.
I will say that were it not for some form of gun control I bet the areas where most of these incidents took place would quickly come to resemble the streets of Beirut, Mogadishu, or Mosul.
