Political Crossfire Forums

There's a saying that goes "If you outlaw guns, only the outlaws would have guns." However, the term "outlaw" covers a broad range from petty thugs to organized crime. Petty thugs are weak individually, but there are many of them. Organized criminals are stronger but they are fewer in numbers. So the question is are we better off in a situation where both petty thugs and organized criminals have access to guns or if only organized criminals with deep connections have access to guns.

In the first scenario, we're assuming that guns are legal. Ordinary citizens have guns because they're easily accessible. But their ease of access also mean that small time criminals can get it too. This means that robberies, movie theater shooting, school shooting can be done by individuals who simply go and purchase guns. And they can easily obtain the guns provided that they had no history of shooting shit up prior to the first time they shot shit up, which is always the case.

In the second scenario, guns are illegal. This means that they are not easily accessible to citizens nor small time criminals. The organized criminals would still have ways of obtaining the guns through illegal means. However, since it raised the obstacles needed to obtain a gun, a criminal organization would use it only if it protects their interests. We wouldn't have scenarios of senseless shootings. Additionally, since it's tougher to get guns, crime organizations would have less of them than in the first scenario.

So, are we better off if only big time criminals have guns than if small time criminals have them too?

Systema is the answer.

You would find yourself in a situation similar to Britain in the 60s and early 70s. The Firms were the only ones generally resourced enough to afford illegal firearms. The majority of the shooting crime was the firms attacking each other, because armed robbery with a firearm pulled a massive prison sentence compared to similar crime using different weapons. The average police officer had no need for a gun during their normal duties, but there were armed flying squads who were specifically trained to deal with particularly violent crime or crimes involving firearms.