It's not need, it's want. People love to shoot things, ten cans, targets, birds, and occasionally humans. Personally, I think it would be great if our society rejected gun ownership but that's not going to happen. The best that can happen is some sensible gun control that can actually be enforced.
- I have a license to own a gun. To get that license I had to show a need to own a gun.
- I have a license to carry a gun. To get that license I had to undergo training and undergo a fingerprinted background check.
- All of my guns are registered; the state has their make, model, serial number and ballistic fingerprint on record.
- I had to undergo at least one background check before I bought all of my guns, including those I bought in private sales and those I bought from the federal government – which required fingerprints, as did my licenses to own and carry a gun.
- All of my guns and their magazines were purchased legally between 1995 and 2003.
How do these "common sense" gun control laws prevent me from shooting up a school or a mall or a movie theater?
The benefit of "reasonable" gun control:
CA gun laws require that:
-All transfers must be through a dealer, thus...
-All transfers undergo a background check
-All transfers undergo a 10-day waiting period (ruled unconstitutional 8/2014)
-All firearms must be registered
-Handgun purchases require a handgun safety certificate-– a permit.that requires training and a test
-Ban on ‘assault weapons’, effective 1 JUN 1989
-Ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds
-Ban on NFA machineguns
% of murders in US committed with a firearm: 69.36 (8855/12765)
% of murders in CA committed with a firearm: 69.39 (1304/1879)
% US population in CA: 12.12%
% US murders in CA: 14.71
% US murders with a gun in CA 14.72