It may be a tool, I just don't think it's a major or the main tool, for three reasons.
1) There are enough guns out there now that a ban on new production would have only a minimal effect, a ban on transfers would have only somewhat more effect, and a ban on possession, given that criminals are willing to break laws, wouldn't have a huge effect.
For spree shooters, even a pump-action shotgun or lever carbine and a 10-rd handgun or two (or even just a couple revolvers with speedloaders) would be pretty adequate to kill 50+ unarmed people, even if they weren't 6 year old children. So you'd need to address not just "assault rifles and 100 round drums" but basically most firearms (maybe leave single-shot shotguns/rifles).
2) The cost of ending the media deification of spree killers is almost zero. The cost (in terms of implementation cost as well as loss of rights) of any gun control is far higher. The cost of a comprehensive gun ban and confiscation could be up to (probably localized) civil war. Pick the tool which has the least costs first, especially if it's probably more effective.
3) Even if there were zero guns, you'd have other instruments of death, assuming people had the desire. I'll accept that guns are easier for some of the more amateurish and unmotivated killers (including maybe the CT guy), but Columbine involved bombs, McVeigh was a bomb, and now that the "spree kill and become famous" thing is out there, all it would take would be another McVeigh or two to show how its done and then people would be doing bombings, or running over a bunch of kids at bus stops, or whatever.
In places where drugs and alcohol are banned, they make alcohol out of prunes, get high off glue, etc. It's a lot better to focus on demand than supply.
I think Europe generally doesn't have incidents like this, not because it's disarmed, but because even "losers" in Europe can live a somewhat comfortable life compared to losers in the US. Better healthcare, better social support, etc. Europe has certainly had some serious violence in the past, generally by organized groups that feel they are "losers" vs. individuals, more so than the US. European society seems to have less inequality and thus fewer positive and negative outliers than the US. (Similarly, there is a gender difference in distributions of most traits; men tend toward the extremes; which may be why most criminals and other horrible people seem to be male)
> a ban on possession, given that criminals are willing to break laws, wouldn't have a huge effect
A recurring element in a lot of these shootings is that the shooter gets/steals his weaponry from an uncle, dad's rifle cabinet, a friend or so on. These are the kind of people that would dutifully get rid of their guns if they were banned. Thus closing up a potential source of destructive firepower for nutcases.
> I think Europe generally doesn't have incidents like this, not because it's disarmed, but because even "losers" in Europe can live a somewhat comfortable life compared to losers in the US.
Is there any indication that any of the recent shootings happened because the shooter didn't have any food to eat, no shelter or bad healthcare? Because that's the sort of comfort that a welfare state provides and I don't see the link.
Especially true for minors. True for a possession ban. Less so for sale prohibition or transfer prohibition. More so for sale/transfer prohibition with generous buybacks. (if new-sale is prohibited, prices will rise, so they'll be secured better; if transfer-ban, you'd probably see prices fall (since there's no market), so less of a reason to secure them, ironically).
> [food, shelter]
Clearly they have insufficient mental health services (in the CT case, some of the problem was that he wasn't a minor, and his mother was trying to have him committed). Not so much "how to pay for mental health" vs. general delivery issues.
They do seem to generally be middle class and not starving or anything, but I meant "failure" in the sense of social standing/competitiveness/etc., not just absolute poverty. After all, even a fairly poor person today lives (in absolute terms throughout history) fairly comfortably, but feels the relative social standing and status.
1) There are enough guns out there now that a ban on new production would have only a minimal effect, a ban on transfers would have only somewhat more effect, and a ban on possession, given that criminals are willing to break laws, wouldn't have a huge effect.
For spree shooters, even a pump-action shotgun or lever carbine and a 10-rd handgun or two (or even just a couple revolvers with speedloaders) would be pretty adequate to kill 50+ unarmed people, even if they weren't 6 year old children. So you'd need to address not just "assault rifles and 100 round drums" but basically most firearms (maybe leave single-shot shotguns/rifles).
2) The cost of ending the media deification of spree killers is almost zero. The cost (in terms of implementation cost as well as loss of rights) of any gun control is far higher. The cost of a comprehensive gun ban and confiscation could be up to (probably localized) civil war. Pick the tool which has the least costs first, especially if it's probably more effective.
3) Even if there were zero guns, you'd have other instruments of death, assuming people had the desire. I'll accept that guns are easier for some of the more amateurish and unmotivated killers (including maybe the CT guy), but Columbine involved bombs, McVeigh was a bomb, and now that the "spree kill and become famous" thing is out there, all it would take would be another McVeigh or two to show how its done and then people would be doing bombings, or running over a bunch of kids at bus stops, or whatever.
In places where drugs and alcohol are banned, they make alcohol out of prunes, get high off glue, etc. It's a lot better to focus on demand than supply.
I think Europe generally doesn't have incidents like this, not because it's disarmed, but because even "losers" in Europe can live a somewhat comfortable life compared to losers in the US. Better healthcare, better social support, etc. Europe has certainly had some serious violence in the past, generally by organized groups that feel they are "losers" vs. individuals, more so than the US. European society seems to have less inequality and thus fewer positive and negative outliers than the US. (Similarly, there is a gender difference in distributions of most traits; men tend toward the extremes; which may be why most criminals and other horrible people seem to be male)