Jim - you keep bringing up that chart but it doesn't say where or under what situations these crimes were committed. I am NOT defending assault weapons or high count magazines or anything else. I AM a gun owner who hopes to pass from this life having never to take the safety off or draw it from the holster. As a combat veteran, I have had the ethically and morally difficult choice of having to take human lives thrust upon me. I know what it means to kill a human being and it haunts me everyday....... but we are talking about gun users with no conscience, no moral code or , in these cases, mental states so far off base that they no longer have the ability to differentiate morally or ethically correct behavior. Fanatics are, by and large, unstoppable. In these recent cases the main cause is the lack of recognizing the potential for violence in the would be aggressor. A secondary cause is irresponsible care by the gun owner, i.e., unsecured weapons, not the legal purchase of the gun.
Your 'chart' fails to take into account the extremely high gun related crime in cities with high drug traffic. These crimes are committed by thugs who don't care one bit about whether the gun is legal, who they robbed or killed to get it, or who they kill with it. It is simply a business tool. Face it, the criminals don't give a shit about ANY laws, gun or anything else - that's why they're criminals. I was brought up in one of these neighborhoods in case you were wondering if I was talking without benefit of first-hand experience. Thank God for the oppotunity to leave. The murder rate is disproportionate to the suburbs or rural areas. Your 'chart' would have everyone believe the entiire U.S. is just one blazing hotbed of gun violence. I know you do not intend to present it as such, but you have to admit the drug trade in the inner cities breeds most of this statistical result. There are so many illegal guns in these areas it would be years and years before law enforcement could make a dent in the numbers on the street. Can the rest of us wait that long for the playing field to be leveled? Again, look at Chicago and the rest of Illinois - did the prohibition of handguns there eliminate any gun violence - answer is a fat NO, it's worse than anywhere else. And why isn't the rate of such crime much higher in a state like Vermont where no license is required and open carry is the rule, than it is in Illinois? How does that fit into your chart? Please look at realistic solutions to this problem. Yes, we need to recognize someone's potential for extreme violence and take the necessary steps, always a difficult call. No, we don't need 30 round clips for our hunting rifles or handguns. Yes, we need a standardized, equal set of requirements to own a handgun. Yes, certain assault weapons, those with extreme capacity, should be reviewed for legality. But NO, eliminating all private ownership will not make this problem go away. None of this will bring back any of the 26 children and adults in Newton,CT but well thought-out solutions wil go a long way toward eliminating the 'Next" time. Finally - Jim, I am not disagreeing with you that something has to be done. I respect your opinion and willingness to find answers and solutions.
