[benfranklin]

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My wife was born and raised in Oklahoma and is my main source of information of how guns are obtained and stored and generally thought off in at least that part of the US.

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So you are basing your judgement on hear-say information from a single source. Casting no aspersions on your wife, I have relatives who are honest, well-educated, and well-intentioned who are clueless about guns, crime, and the law.

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with no evidence except anecdotal stories



Do you believe AC's linked story is a fabrication?

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I have no reason to doubt it. Anecdotal evidence means you are using a specific example to prove a general principle. For every example of something bad happening with guns, someone else can find an example of something very good happening. Whoever comes up with the most examples doesn't win.

But as long as we are telling stories, here's one. Some years ago in Florida, there were a large number of robberies of foreign tourists. Police eventually found many of the criminals and they were arrested and jailed. A reporter interviewed several of them after they had been convicted. They told him that one of the reasons they focussed on tourists was that Florida has recently passed laws making it much easier to buy and carry a gun. They knew that foreigners could not have guns, making them much easier to rob.

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Here's what I would do - no gun shall be allowed to be kept at a home residence.

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My understanding is that this is the system back in Merrie Olde England. I claim no actual knowledge about what is going on over there, but have heard rumors of high levels of home robberies involving violence. Perhaps those with the facts might share them.

Again, your "solution" to the problem is premised on your opinions about guns. While that might or might not be appropriate or effective in England, it is not appropriate here.

First, most people here do not share your opinion.

Second, our system protects the minority against the opinions of the majority. Even if most people here shared your opinion, our founders considered certain things to be natural rights, and our Constitution protects those rights.

Third, in addition to our federal constitution, each state has a constitution. The great majority of those specifically acknowledge the right to own arms, and many of them specifically mention the right to self-defense.