jgoins, you are making comments that are not backed up by facts - again. Just because you say or think something doesn't make it true. Specifically - you claim that, regardless of the country or gun laws, criminals can get guns easily. This is utter crap! While I accept that, if a person is determined enough, they would be able to get a gun illegally in any jurisdiction, I dispute that it would be easy. The difficulty in obtaining guns means that the petty criminal does not have access to those sorts of weapons due to the fact that, as a general rule, petty crims are lazy and not that determined. The real benefit in this though is that, as petty criminals are not armed, the general populace does not feel the need to be either, or at least not armed with lethal weapons.