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> But there is absolute evidence that 'not having guns widespread' will keep people safer. There is no such evidence. Your canard about other countries is comp

• formerly_proven 6y ago
  This doesn't strike me as a strong argument. While it is true that cultural similarities between Central Europe and the US are mostly superficial, while the underlying cultures and values are quite different, I don't see why that provides a solid reason to dismiss GP's point. For example, I don't even know how I would get a gun here in Germany, much less a gun that is useful in committing a bunch of murders (and immediately getting arrested, since all guns you can buy are registered as far as I know). So clearly it would be quite difficult for me to shoot a bunch of people up. Of course, I could use use other weapons to hurt or kill people, e.g. a stick or a kitchen knife. And that's what people usually use, so there is clearly some displacement going on (no/few guns available -> use other weapons to commit crimes). However, not all crimes can be easily committed with any weapon. School shootings don't work with a knife (though you would probably still injure or kill a few people), you need a gun (or a bomb) to effectively kill many people quickly. The consequence is that school shootings are incredibly rare.