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I truly believe the private resale of firearms helps keep certain folks from seriously entertaining the idea of just slowly but surely revoking all FFLs. I mean, we know some political types out there would absolutely love to shut down all firearms sales in the USA. However, stopping the sale of new firearms without stopping the sale of used firearms, though it would drive the price up, would be a useless enterprise. Firearms would still be out there, the economy would take a big hit, and it would just make a lot of Americans angry. But if they could make it illegal to privately sell firearms first, then slowly shut off the FFLs, why that would be much more like the way it was done in other nations. Thanks, but no thanks, I don't want ANY more gun control. Criminals laugh at it and why should I have problems when it won't do anything to stop them?

baldeagle wrote:

K.Mooneyham wrote:

baldeagle wrote:

K.Mooneyham wrote:Well they can either do something about gangs, or shut up about shootings, since the bulk of shootings are gang-related. That's all I'm getting at.

I just checked on that. Gang-related homicides constitute less than 20% of the annual homicides in America. So they are part of the problem, but not the bulk of it. 48% of males and 65% of females arrested for homicide tested positive for illegal substances yet drug-related homicides only accounted for about 5% of the total. Just some factoids I dug up.

So, you're telling me that the constant occurrences of shootings in the known bad neighborhoods in large urban areas like Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, etc. aren't somehow gang-related? Or is it that a lot of the shootings aren't solved, so they can't officially tie it to gangs?

Not me. The FBI and CDC. Watch The First 48. You will see homicide after homicide after homicide due to a drug deal gone bad or the settling of a beef between two people or a robbery. Nothing at all to do with gangs. Just abysmally bad social skills and atrocious behavior.

I have seen shows where a guy killed his "best friend" during a robbery when the best friend resisted. I've seen shows where an innocent man was killed during a robbery. I've seen shows where people were killed during a shootout between two guys who had a beef with each other. Yesterday I watched one that was between gang members in Miami fighting over turf.

I am NOT saying there are no gang-related homicides. It's obvious there are, and the statistics prove it. What I'm saying is that the highest incidence of homicide is drug related, not gang related. The statistics prove it. The most stunning thing about the show is how they mostly seem to kill people they know.

I've agreed with you much of the time, baldeagle. However, with this stuff, I disagree with two caveats. The first is that IMHO, drugs are gang-related. Not saying there aren't individuals who grow weed and sell it, or cook up the occasional batch of something in the garage, but most drugs are pushed by gangs of one sort or another. The second caveat is that Hollywood and their pals manipulate almost everything seen on television. No matter how realistic (even something that actually happened) is shown on TV, you can bet it was edited to get a specific effect or to prove a specific point. Even the angle of a camera can dramatically change how people see an event. Yes, Hollywood likes money, and yes, they need ratings to get it...but they also have an agenda, and that agenda usually runs counter to the daily life of the average American citizen. If the gangs in this nation could somehow be broken, violent crimes would plummet overnight, I am convinced of that. Not be eliminated, but reduced substantially.

baldeagle wrote:

K.Mooneyham wrote:Well they can either do something about gangs, or shut up about shootings, since the bulk of shootings are gang-related. That's all I'm getting at.

I just checked on that. Gang-related homicides constitute less than 20% of the annual homicides in America. So they are part of the problem, but not the bulk of it. 48% of males and 65% of females arrested for homicide tested positive for illegal substances yet drug-related homicides only accounted for about 5% of the total. Just some factoids I dug up.

So, you're telling me that the constant occurrences of shootings in the known bad neighborhoods in large urban areas like Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, etc. aren't somehow gang-related? Or is it that a lot of the shootings aren't solved, so they can't officially tie it to gangs?

JALLEN wrote:

K.Mooneyham wrote:The article was at least well-written, something most gun-controllers and antis never bother to do. However, something blatantly obvious was not pointed out, and it would change the "narrative" dramatically about firearm homicides in the USA. If gang violence was brought under control, then the numbers of firearms homicides would plummet. If you look at the numbers, the largest group of those who are being shot are young black males, almost guaranteed as a result of gang-related crimes. I won't violate forum rules and bring up broader social topics, but if someone refuses to see the impact of gang violence on the entire problem, they are being willfully ignorant and only care about the politics of the thing, in my opinion.

The war on organized crime was so successful that now we are left with only disorganized crime.

Well they can either do something about gangs, or shut up about shootings, since the bulk of shootings are gang-related. That's all I'm getting at.

The article was at least well-written, something most gun-controllers and antis never bother to do. However, something blatantly obvious was not pointed out, and it would change the "narrative" dramatically about firearm homicides in the USA. If gang violence was brought under control, then the numbers of firearms homicides would plummet. If you look at the numbers, the largest group of those who are being shot are young black males, almost guaranteed as a result of gang-related crimes. I won't violate forum rules and bring up broader social topics, but if someone refuses to see the impact of gang violence on the entire problem, they are being willfully ignorant and only care about the politics of the thing, in my opinion.