Originally Posted by Lutherf

Americans also have laws against illegal drug use yet they are suffering an epidemic of heroin addiction. Even if guns were completely banned in the nation there would still be gun violence because, like drugs, people want guns. As I said before, the VAST majority of American gun owners want guns for sport and personal protection. Every time there is media attention regarding a shooting more Americans come to the conclusion that it's to their benefit to be armed in case they are confronted with a homicidal maniac.

While likely not indicative of a universal result for more liberal firearms laws I would cite the case of Arizona as an example of what MIGHT happen when the freedom to carry firearms is extended. Arizona had a homicide rate that climbed consistently from the 1960's to the 1990's. By the mid 1990's the homicide rate had climbed to more than 10/100k. Around that time the political powers that be started looking at other options for curbing violence. They enacted harsher penalties for violent crime, increased law enforcement in problem areas and, in 2003, removed any requirement for anyone in Arizona to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon. In the 15 years that followed this change the homicide rate dropped in half and is now at or below where it was in the 1960's.

On a national level, the homicide rate in the US INCREASED for the 25 years following the 1968 Gun Control Act which mandated special rules for sellers of firearms and identified circumstances by which someone could be prohibited from possessing a firearm. The homicide rate did start to come down in the mid 1990's with the implementation of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. While there was an "assault weapon" ban associated with the act the primary reason for the decrease in crime seems to have been the overall crackdown on crime. New sentencing guidelines were implemented as were laws related to ones membership in a gang. With regard to the "assault weapons" ban, that portion of the law phased out in 2004 and the homicide rate STILL continued to drop.

In all fairness, at the same time the VCCLE act was implemented so was the Brady Bill which required background checks for firearms purchases through a federally licensed seller. It can be argued that this act also contributed to the decline in the homicide rate but the evidence for that is scant as it can be as easily circumvented as an underage person getting someone to buy beer or liquor for them.