Re: inevitable
One question I have had recently is what would all the "legitimate", "responsible", "sensible", "legal" gun owners do if laws were passed to bring the US into line with, say, Australia?
To be clear, I am not saying that Australia has 'good' or even 'effective' gun control, or that such a change would be desirable. But, to be 'legal' and 'legitimate' gun owners, you have to actually follow the laws that govern such ownership. So, if laws were passed that required gun owners to surrender their weapons, would they do so?
Obviously, prior to that, there would be a great and concerted lobbying effort against it and that is the way democracy works. There would be legal challenges up and down the circuit and that's fine. BUT, having lost that fight and being now bound by law to surrender your guns, what then?
I'm sure many people would indeed abide by the new laws. Grudgingly to be certain, but they would do so. There would undeniably, however, be a not-insignificant portion of gun-owners who simply would not.
This is not a direct attack or even a challenge against anyone - it's more a thought experiment.
I found myself thinking along these lines recently when talking about marijuana. My stance then, as now, was that I do not approve as it is illegal. Whatever arguments could be made about it being harmless or beneficial or the user being responsible was irrelevant to me; it's illegal. And then I thought: what if alcohol suddenly became illegal...? What would _I_ do?
I suppose the question distilled from that rambling mess is - if strict gun-control laws were passed in the US, would printed guns become the modern-day bathtub gin?