Originally Posted by tore

I believe the idea that if guns are outlawed, criminals will still have them at the same frequency, is basically wrong. I think in a society where the regular guy won't be able to legally own a gun, a lot of people who would commit criminal acts won't have guns either. One reason could be that, despite them doing something criminal, they don't have criminal connections that can get them a gun prior to the criminal act. As an example, let's say two guys crash their cars and they start a fight. If one of them has a gun in the car, that fight could escalate and become a murder. If none of them have a gun, the likelyhood of things going that far decreases.

Also, if noone has guns, a criminal may not need that kind of power to f.ex rob someone. The threat of a knife or unarmed violence could be enough. Or maybe, lacking guns, they'll more often opt for criminal activities which do not require confrontations.

So I'm a big believer that less guns in society in general means less guns in the hands of criminals. When I'm sober, I'm sure I can find some studies to back that up.