You can doubt it all you want, but guns were very, very readily available, including machineguns with drum magazines that could spray hundreds of bullets in just a few seconds. That's why the National Firearms Act got passed in 1934, although all it meant was someone had to get a $200 tax stamp to buy a machinegun (which was a lot of money back then).Jazman wrote: ↑Thu May 11, 2023 1:00 pm I take both your points... (Ok, a weapon that could mow down people did exist...) but really, 1920's/1930's anyone could get one? At any hardware store? I may have oversold my case a bit, but this looks like the same over-selling a case... That's a far-fetched claim imo. I suspect there were a lot fewer Thompson machine guns back then than AR-15's now... In my county alone, there would be multiple stores I could go and get an AR-15 or other semi-automatic rifle (and probably bring it home today) but back in my grandpa's day, here? Multiple general / hardware stores/ etc selling Thompson machine guns? I very much doubt it.
You cannot go into a store in your county and easily buy an AR-15 without passing a background check and submitting other information. In California or NY State, you can't buy an AR-15 at all, and buying any gun means waiting periods and more strict background checks in states like CA, NY, and Illinois. Yet those states have high levels of gun violence, with Chicago regularly topping the charts in terms of homicides.
In 1968, there were a lot of people who were very concerned about black people buying maachineguns and, in general, arming themselves, which led to the 1968 Gun Control Act, which led to comprehensive background checks and requiring the local police department to arbitrarily allow or not allow buying machineguns, sawn off shotguns, and so forth.
Perhaps it would be useful to learn from history. In 1934, there weren't mass shootings (the main concern was Prohibition era mafias and old-time gangsters having so much firepower). Yet it was very very easy for anyone to buy guns.The concerned middle in this discussion (and nationally) main point stands: Numerous factors are playing a role. One of them is Too-Easy access. And that point vs some historical point is moot. We care about the Now.
If you want to see less homicides, you should consider the social conditions as they were back then and ask what is different today. Access to guns is much harder now than it was back then, so that is obviously not a contributing factor (unless you are a person who thinks more guns = safer society).
