After the shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, many people in America are screaming for more gun-control bills. Not surprisingly, these are also the people who scream for "more realistic (i.e. show consequences of senseless violence)" TV and who scream for "less blood on TV" at the same time. Personally, I think we have plenty of gun-control bills now, and whatever happened to the Brady Bill? (I think it was declared unconstitutional.) I am all for registering guns to lawful owners, it is a good way to find out whose house a criminal's gun was stolen from, as well as keeping an eye on easily-modified guns, etc.
However, the outright banning of guns simply will not work, I do not care how hard you crack down on citizens in a country, guns will be around. I know this sounds like the old "Outlaw guns and only outlaws will have guns" routine, but it really does work that way. Criminals will get guns one way or the other, and they are not about to register an illegally-gotten gun with the local police department, or whoever is in charge of it. There is such a thing as the black market for a reason; people could not get something they want, and if they want a gun, all they have to do is dial a number and pick it up in a vacant lot somewhere. With recent screams for gun restrictions, guns are being taken out of law-abiding citizens' homes, and criminals everywhere must be laughing at the rest of us. The lawmakers are only trying to implement these futile policies (and declaring the ones that work 'unconstitutional') so they can look good for the voters, despite the fact that illegal guns like AK-47s and assault weapons are readily available. Whether or not the statistics say gun violence is going down, would you find that comforting if somebody pointed an Uzi at your forehead?
Just an observation