9,146 gun homicides in US. 16,885 killed by drunk drivers.

[Diablo]

(16-01-2013 05:11 PM)Chas Wrote:  

(16-01-2013 05:02 PM)Diablo Wrote:  I heard about a very interesting idea that was being done in NY.

Background Checks to buy Ammo.

Almost no one is trying to take all the guns, and the ones that are
have almost no support. Guns are a necessity in some places in the US.

That is the most overplayed ridiculous argument ever. As if somehow if assault weapons were banned, the criminals would still have tons of them. Its utter nonsense. Almost all guns are purchased legally or stolen. If no one can buy them, then stealing them would be rather hard. That only leaves smuggling them from another country, and distributing them through a black market, but this is fairly difficult. This will of course drastically reduces the # floating around.

Please define 'assault weapon'.

I am sure there is some specific legal definition, but I am not a lawyer, so I don't know it.

"
Assault weapon refers to different types of firearms, and is a term that has differing meanings and usages.

In discussions about gun laws and gun politics in the United States, an assault weapon is most commonly defined as a semi-automatic firearm possessing certain features similar to those of military firearms. Semi-automatic firearms fire one bullet (round) each time the trigger is pulled; the spent cartridge case is ejected and another cartridge is loaded into the chamber, without the manual operation of a bolt handle, a lever, or a sliding handgrip. An assault weapon has a detachable magazine, in conjunction with one, two, or more other features such as a pistol grip, a folding stock, a flash suppressor, or a bayonet lug.[1] Most assault weapons are rifles, but some are pistols or shotguns. "

Wiki

Also, as previously stated, the # of rifles used in crimes in quite low for obvious reasons. Thus there would be almost no demand from the criminal population to purchase them.