rate during that period fell. Also, gun control laws do not reduce crime anyway. Firearms have not been regulated in the US for most the past 30 years. The number of them in private hands has increased continually by millions per year. Yet the rate of crime, violent crime, and homicide has shown no significant correlation. Gun control doesn’t stop friends from killing friends either. Most murderers and victims of homicides have criminal records and are likely to have other criminals as friends. While it is true in many cases, the offender and victim know each other, it is not true that these “friends killing friends” are the plain ordinary folks often portrayed in the antigun propaganda. It has also been established earlier that gun control laws do not stop criminals from obtaining guns. In a survey of prisoners, only 7% of criminals’ handguns were obtained from legitimate sources. Three-fourths of the felons report that they would have no trouble obtaining a gun once they were released. (“Death”). Also, those required waiting periods would not actually prevent some of the most vicious crimes. The Brady Bill waiting period imposes a waiting periods on handguns, the least deadly type of firearm, while imposing no such restriction on more deadly weapons such as rifles and shotguns. While handguns are preferred by criminals because of their portability and concealability, not every criminal who planned to use a handgun will abandon his criminal plans when confronted by a waiting period. Also, guns work as self-defense against these criminals. They are about as valuable to civilians as they are to police officers. As many as 65 lives are protected by guns for every life lost to a gun. Every year potential victims kill between 2,000 and 3,000 criminals, and wound an additional 9,000 to 17,000. Private citizens mistakenly kill innocent people only thirty times a year, compared to about 310...
