Nobody is trying to make the point that laws don’t have any affect at all. The truth is that we don’t have any evidence to show that these laws make any kind of discernible difference with respect to criminal use of guns or homicide rates. We must be very careful about telling people to surrender their arms (a very important right in the minds of many Americans) if there is no evidence that doing so would result in a better, safer society.
While some might discount the importance of weapons — whether for sport, hunting, self-defense, or protection against tyranny — that is simply their personal opinion. Those who support gun ownership and the ability of citizens to protect themselves, either from common criminals or a tyrannical government, would probably feel very differently about it.
