Illegal = Unregulated

Oleg Volk makes a really interesting point on his blog.
Let's say, for the sake of argument only, that not only was firearm ownership completely illegal, but that nearly all existing guns have been rounded up.

Let's say that making or owning a gun is a serious felony - much like making or owning, say, heroin or crack cocaine.

Still, there are going to be people who, for their own reasons, want guns.

Now we have highly restricted supply, and reduced, but relatively high demand compared to that supply.

What does that do for prices?

Making a STEN gun or something like it is relatively cheap and easy. It is EASIER to make a fully-automatic submachine gun than to make a semi-automatic rifle or a handgun. Much easier. The STEN was mass produced during WWII for less than $10, which would still be less than $100 at regular labor rates today. Any reasonably well equipped metal shop is capable of doing it. In fact, small, portable machine tools are much cheaper and more available today than the every have been. A serious hobbyist can afford them.

Add to that the potential of, say, 3D printing technology for a lot of low stress parts that, in the past were made of metal because there was no viable alternative.

This isn't rocket science. The only critical part, really, is the barrel. And even that isn't difficult.

The suppressor? Even easier.

Think this is a fantasy? Think again - and the AK is much more complicated than a STEN.



Now this does not have to be a quality weapon. It doesn't need a long lifetime. It just as to work for committing whatever crime is on their mind.

My analogy to heroin and cocaine was deliberate. Anything desirable which is "banned" does not go away. It just goes underground. ANYONE who wants to buy hard drugs can get them. Yes, there are risks, but those risks do not deter the trade at all. There is too much money to be made.

In fact, it is those very drug dealers who will be the market for these guns. They have cash, an underground economy, and are skilled at smuggling.

All of that, of course, assumes that the "ban" on guns is effective, and that our borders are sealed against them.

Did I say borders?
Do you REALLY think that the fully automatic M16 rifles being used in Mexico came from gun stores in Arizona? Hardly. They come up from Columbia and other points south.

Of course the U.S. border with Mexico is hermetically sealed. Nothing and no one gets through it without our knowledge.... right?

Oh, wait, where do all of those drugs come from?
Not to mention the population of Mexico?

No, a "total ban" on guns in the USA is not going to create a "gun free" America.

And if someone is going to make an illegal gun that would put them in prison for a very long time if they were caught, why should they restrict, in any way, its capability?

Let me be clear that I fully realize this is an emotional and sensitive subject. People should be able to feel safe. But we are not acting rationally in response to the fear. Think it through. What will happen? And then what? And then what? Rather than knee-jerk reactions like "Just ban all guns" we have to, first, realize and understand our true limitations in dealing with the problem, and second, take the time that we don't make it worse in our zeal to "do something."

The more control we try to impose, the less we have.