Guns.. and political agnosticism

Summed up in one line, my take on gun control: The problem is far too complex and multifaceted to have an easy (and applicable) answer. If you are purely anti- or pro-gun, you are clearly ignoring something.

*one of the guns that many Swiss men are required (by law) to keep at home

To quickly address some common arguments: The 2nd ammendment does not give an unequivocal right to own a gun (this was a surprise to me). Persons that obtain guns illegally do not necessarily expose faults in the law (VA Tech shooter... the problem was not with US gun policy, it was with a gun-owner not properly securing his guns). Remember, that homicide rates include non-gun murders, of which there are plenty. There is an argument that guns cause murder because when somebody wants to kill someone they go buy a gun... well guess what, if you're going to kill someone, a gun is a pretty easy way to do it, I'd probably buy one too. This does not make any statement that the murder would not have happened without the gun. Dinner table and pragmatic arguments aside, consider the following countries:

United States: Fairly liberal gun policy, Low homicide rate/violent crime rate, HDI (.948)
Spain/Japan: Vehemently anti-weapon, Low homicide rate/violent crime rate, HDIs (Sp .938; Ja .949)
Switzerland: Nearly one gun per person, Low homicide rate/violent crime rate, HDI (.947)
Brazil: Gun ownership illegal, high homicide/violet crime rate, HDI (.792)
Colombia: Ownership legal, with checks; highest homicide rate, HDI (.790)

Right off, HDI seems to be a lot more correlated to violence than gun policy (if I get bored this weekend, I'll plot a few). The National Academy of Science kind of agrees, they, "found no evidence that shows right-to-carry laws have an impact, either way, on rates of violent crime." Now, I haven't talked to many murderers but... people who want to kill someone probably don't care much if they get a gun legally. You'd think that making it harder to get guns would help, but let's remember prohibition. The government made alcohol illegal and the US abounded with illegal alcohol. Anti-gun policies will probably not be effective unless your country is already uin the midst of a gun famine (that there is pontification).

It's simple, the problem is too complex to have a simple answer, but here it is... Remove guns from the hands of criminals. After you do that, educate and feed the masses, then take lunch. In the afternoon you can fix global warming... You think that sounds like a lot?...Yeah, about that? It looks I'm going to need you to come in on Saturday, and don't forget your cover paper on those TPS reports.

Links:
-Homicide rate/100o - 2000 United Nations Survey Fun page on International Homecide - Sources cited, but not well
-National Academy of Science, Committee on Law and Justice - online publication
-Recent article about new gun laws in Columbia