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From: ark@alice.UUCP (Andrew Koenig)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: handgun control
Message-ID: <3222@alice.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 2-Jan-85 10:55:11 EST
Article-I.D.: alice.3222
Posted: Wed Jan  2 10:55:11 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 3-Jan-85 04:15:36 EST
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 20

To all those people wailing about how many people are killed
by handguns and how much better everything would be if those
guns were illegal:

	What fraction of the handguns used to commit crimes
	do you suppose are actually legally held?

I know the answer for New York City:  almost none.  It is
virtually impossible to get a handgun permit in New York.
The fellow who shot the four punks on the subway, for instance,
did so with an illegal gun: after he was mugged four years
ago, he applied for a pistol permit but was turned down because
he failed to demonstrate sufficient need for it.

If enough people want something badly enough, making it illegal
has about as much effect as closing your eyes and pretending
it isn't there.

If we really want to solve the crime problem, maybe we have to
look a little deeper for the solution.