American gun laws are none of my business, but I’ll just say something. In the country where I live, I am, legally, permitted to own a gun as long as I have no criminal record and obtain a licence from the local authorities. In the state where I live, the only recognised reason for being granted said licence is self-defence; and I would have to prove that my life was under threat before I could get this licence. In this state, too, the only licences granted are for handguns, of 7.62 mm calibre or lower, though in most other states you can buy bolt action rifles or shotguns as well. Now in this country no imported weapons are available for sale to civilians; you can only buy indigenously manufactured guns. Gun stores (which are much fewer in number than they were even twenty years ago) are not permitted to deal in handguns. The only handgun suppliers are a few designated ordnance factories in specific states. I would, assuming I ever got a permit, have to pay a deposit and register for a gun at one of those factories; the closest is nearly a thousand kilometres away. Then I would have to get temporary permits from all the states in between to be allowed to carry the gun across their territory. And then, when notified that my gun was available – a process that might take months – I would finally be able to collect it…for a price that would probably be more than a month’s pay for most non-rich people. And then I would also have to get a permit for the ammunition, to renew which i would have to account for every single bullet I used up.Obviously, it would be cheaper and easier to be a criminal and own an illegal gun; but guess how many gun crimes this country has per year?Almost none.
American gun laws are none of my business, but I’ll just say something. In the country where I live, I am, legally, permitted to own a gun as long as I have no criminal record and obtain a licence from the local authorities. In the state where I live, the only recognised reason for being granted said licence is self-defence; and I would have to prove that my life was under threat before I could get this licence. In this state, too, the only licences granted are for handguns, of 7.62 mm calibre or lower, though in most other states you can buy bolt action rifles or shotguns as well. Now in this country no imported weapons are available for sale to civilians; you can only buy indigenously manufactured guns. Gun stores (which are much fewer in number than they were even twenty years ago) are not permitted to deal in handguns. The only handgun suppliers are a few designated ordnance factories in specific states. I would, assuming I ever got a permit, have to pay a deposit and register for a gun at one of those factories; the closest is nearly a thousand kilometres away. Then I would have to get temporary permits from all the states in between to be allowed to carry the gun across their territory. And then, when notified that my gun was available – a process that might take months – I would finally be able to collect it…for a price that would probably be more than a month’s pay for most non-rich people. And then I would also have to get a permit for the ammunition, to renew which i would have to account for every single bullet I used up.Obviously, it would be cheaper and easier to be a criminal and own an illegal gun; but guess how many gun crimes this country has per year?Almost none.