> (snip)
> > By the way, our gun laws obviously don't work very well, because A whole lot of people who shouldn't have access to guns do, even though there might not be any in the house.
> >
> > Finchplucker
>
> Ahh...but the problem is not to make new laws...but enforce the ones we have, as I believe has been stated on here before. The laws would work just fine if they were being enforced.
>
> Ticia

Gun laws are enforced, but they really only work against law abiding citizens. Bill and Ray each want a hand gun. Bill, a law abiding citizen, goes to his local store, makes his purchase and picks up his gun 10 days later after the FBI checks him out. Ray, with no regard for laws, goes down to his local alley behind a seedy bar, pays a guy probably lees than what Bill paid, and walks home with his gun the same day.
Waiting periods and other restrictions are fine, but don't have any effect on those persons who'd rather circumvent the law. Black market guns are too accessible to persons of questionable ethics. An ex-con isn't going to buy a gun in a store where he knows he'll be declined; he'll just use his connections.
Guns enter the country illegally all the time, not to mention the occasional crooked cop who somehow manages to "rescue" a condemned load of confiscated weapons from the incinerator.
This isn't the reason for violence, it's simply access to a tool.

Tranio