Since the topic was raised in the smoking forum about guns, and one of the members stated she is licensed to carry a concealed weapon, I thought I would throw out some stats for the crowd that would ban guns if they found a way to throw out portions of the US Constitution:

The National Center for Policy Analysis found, using a variety of sources including leading University of Florida criminologist Gary Kleck and the FBI's own National Crime Statistics reports, that:

* In 1976, Washington, D.C. enacted one of the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation. Since then, the city's murder rate has risen 134 percent while the national murder rate has dropped 2 percent.
* After Evanston, Ill., a Chicago suburb of 75,000 residents, became the largest town to ban handgun ownership in September 1982, it experienced no decline in violent crime.
* Among the 15 states with the highest homicide rates, 10 have restrictive or very restrictive gun laws.
* Twenty percent of U.S. homicides occur in four cities with just six percent of the population -- New York, Chicago, Detroit and Washington, D.C. -- and each has a virtual prohibition on private handguns.
* New York has one of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation -- and 20 percent of the armed robberies. Even more troublesome is the fact that the places where gun control laws are toughest tend to be the places where the most crime is committed with illegal weapons.

Some Startling Statistics...
Number of physicians in the U.S.
700,000
Accidental deaths caused by physicians per year
120,000
Accidental deaths per physician
0.171
Number of gun owners in the U.S.
80,000,000
Number of accidental gun deaths per year (all age groups)
1,500
Accidental deaths per gun owner
0.0000188
Therefore, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous
than gun owners.
Taken from the Benton County NewsTribune 17 November, 1999
The simple, and well documented fact, is that no matter how restrictive gun control is, criminals will always be able to get one. As an ex-cop, I never saw a gun of any sort jump out of a box or closet or holster and kill someone. Its about people control, not gun control.