THE Gun Thread

[Rev. Rye]

Gun buybacks can work. Australia had one in the mid-90s that wound up greatly reducing gun deaths. That said, when you do the gun buyback scheme at such a small scale as America tends to do, you’re probably less likely to see the sort of results Australia’s had. Even if Houston is the fourth-largest city in the nation, it’s probably not going to move the needle that far, especially when not combined with legislation to limit the amount of guns brought back into circulation after the buyback.

Even on the off chance Houston did pass gun control laws, if the city of Galveston did nothing, it’s just 50 miles away from a major city where it’s easier to get a gun. Earlier in this thread, I mentioned that the reason Chicago has so much gun crime in spite of comparatively strict (for the US) gun laws is that it’s easy as shit for a gun runner from Chicago to just drive to a state with more lax laws. When I drove back home from Wisconsin the other day, I decided to time how long it took to get from the state line to my home in Skokie (just north of Chicago.) It was 35:40. That’s how long it took me to go home from a place with more lax laws. It might take more time if you’re based out of the city proper, but still, it’s easy as shit if you’ve got the will to do a little driving. And my dad and I have crossed that border over a hundred times in my life without getting stopped by the cops once. And in the hypothetical gun running situation I posited between Houston and Galveston, you wouldn’t even have the inconvenience of differing state laws.