Stringent gun control legislation will not reduce violence, but it will reduce its harmful effects. In 1992, Americans owned 212 million guns. Rates of gun ownership in the United States run about twenty times the rate in comparable nations- and so do the rates of homicide. In 1993, more than five times as many victims died from firearms than knives, the second most deadly weapon. It is much easier to kill with a gun than by any other means, and the presence of a gun can turn heated arguments into homicides.
Federal legislation prevents guns from moving between jurisdictions with different laws.
Recognize the relationship between poverty, economic inequality and crime, and make a national effort to reduce the conditions in which crime most easily takes root. The poorest neighborhoods have the highest crime the statistics show it and anyone who avoids those neighborhoods at night will confirm it. Just half of prison inmates held full time jobs prior to their incarceration, and only a quarter had graduated from high school. Economic opportunity and jobs that pay a living wage remain key ingredients to reducing crime. Eliminate racial bias and reduce racial disparity within the justice system.