ad Odiernod: (…) Robert had a point where he mentioned that one has too fix the root cause if one really wants to limit crime rates. The root cause for much of America’s crime is its gang culture. As some have already noted, making laws to limit guns will not reduce crime since laws are only followed by law abiders. Even if limiting guns actually worked to reduce gun crime, it would be at best a ill-fitting band-aid over the problem, as gang members are more than happy to stab and bludgeon people to death in the absence of a gun. (…)
I, too, believe that gang related crime is the major problem. Just look at the horrific crime rates in Central America where drug lords practically rule and destroy the countries as they please. The question is how to avoid a situation where these people get so much power they can do whatever they want. I am convinced that most people want to live in peace. The breeding ground for a lot of violence seems to be the terrible social conditions people have to live in. This is by no means to say that there is any justification whatsoever for attacking or even killing another person (unless you do so in self-defense). Many poor people would never even think of stealing and robbing. It is not so much the lack of money either but the lack of social cohesion that creates most problems. If your parents are not around or if they abuse you, if there are no role models to follow, if you are constantly discriminated against (on whatever basis), if there are no jobs available or in case they are available you are not given any access to the job market (because of your religion, your skin colour, your sex, etc.) and if in all this misery all of a sudden a group of people comes around offering you all the “goodies in life” such as money, recognition by your peers, “friends” and if the society at large fails to offer you any of these perspectives, chances are that quite a large number of people at risk won’t be able to resist the temptation and start a criminal career.
Of course, people should not just sit back and wait for the government to simply dish out services to them. Everybody needs to understand that they have to do their part as well. If I want a job I must be ready to work for it BUT I also need to be given the opportunity to do so. It does not make any sense to require people to get professional training if there are no schools or no teachers.
We have experienced a major increase in drug-related crime in Austria as well. I do believe that we’d have more serious incidents if we had more liberal gun control laws now. If a junky tries to stab you because he wants your money you still have better chances to get away than if he had a machine gun.
But, as I said previously, I’m not entirely against allowing people to own a gun. This may come as a surprise to some people but I actually enjoyed shooting my gun while I did my military service. Not because I enjoy thinking of killing people but because I liked the competition at the shooting range and I was quite good at it as a matter of fact 
And, yes, I certainly would defend myself and people whose safety I have to ensure (such as family members and people in need of help because they can’t help themselves) by the use of force, if necessary also by using a gun. Fortunately, in Austria (at least so far) there is no need for civilians to get armed (not systematically) in order to ensure their safety. Our law enforcement forces seem to handle the situation quite well and I prefer it this way. I am very happy that I don’t feel the need to own a gun but I certainly would get myself one if I felt that this is the only way to protect myself and/or those whose safety I have to ensure.
By the way, while in the Army and having access to live ammunition and a series of different arms, I never even thought a second about using a gun to kill people (except for war scenarios and since I was still a reservist at the time the war in former Yugoslavia broke out we actually were asked to stand by since I only live about 10 km away from the border. Luckily, things did not get out of control although we had some tank units stationed along our borders then). So, having access to a gun does not turn you into a criminal but it may be a good idea to make sure people don’t walk around armed to their teeth.
I really enjoy living in a society where private ownership of guns is very limited.
We, as a society, ought to finally understand that violence can and should only be the last resort if you need to defend yourself. But instead we keep creating an environment for our kids where violence is portrayed as cool. You can easily get a computer game for your kids where they can “learn” how to cut off heads, shoot hundreds of people to get to the next “level” with lots of blood all over the place. Try to make a naked picture of the same kid and send it to your parents and they’ll bust you for proliferation of child porn (there actually were a few incidents like these reported in the media). I know this is an extreme example but it shows that most of our societies in many ways are still stuck in a rather archaic mindset.
Luckily, there are also many communities out there that work fine and I think that when taking a closer look at how they work it almost always comes down to providing social cohesion. People assuming responsibility and taking care of each other and the services and facilities they share. Once this sense of responsiblity gets lost, you have opened the door for some rather nasty “visitors” (such as drug abuse, crime etc.). If people think its funny to randomly destroy community facilities and if they don’t have to fear any punishment, if they can get away with whatever damage they cause to society, quite a few of them will.
