Well, there has to be a line where certain weapons are illegal. For instance you don't want your neighbor having chemical weapons or tank in their yard. At the same time gun control is a limitation on freedom. I can see both sides of this argument. I guess I agree with the mayor, hunting rifles, and pistols for self protection seem logical. Semi automatic assault rifles don't. They are specifically designed to kill large numbers of people fast.
Switzerland issues all citizens that become adults a fully automatic rifle. Their homeland security consists of the citizenry.
Switzerland has 68 gun related murders a year.
Chicago alone has over 500 and they have the strictest gun laws in the US.
The citizens are armed, preventing outside forces from entering and taking control.
The US spends trillions hiring paid gunmen to protect us.
That includes the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Homeland Security, Border Patrol Agents, The ATF, The CIA, The NSA, Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Marshals Service, Federal Air Marshal Service, United States Coast Guard, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Secret Service, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Protective Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Division, United States Treasury Police, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Pentagon Force Protection Agency, United States Army Criminal Investigation Division, United States Army Military Police Corps, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Air Force Security Forces, Department of the Air Force Police, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Office of Naval Intelligence Police, Marine Corps Provost Marshal's Office, U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations, Bureau of Land Management Office of Law Enforcement & Security, National Park Rangers, United States Park Police, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, Federal Reserve Police, Library of Congress Police, United States Probation Service, United States Supreme Court Police, Veterans Affairs Police and The National Guard, The Air National Guard, the list is endless.
Then on the state and local levels:
NYS Government departments
New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police
New York State Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
New York State Division of Parole
New York State Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives
New York State Police
New York State DMV Division of Field Investigations
Other state agencies
New York State Bridge Authority Police
New York State Court Officers
New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence
New York State Office of Children and Family Services
New York State Forest Rangers
New York State Office of Mental Health Police
New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Police
New York State Office of Tax Enforcement
New York State Park Police
New York State Special Commission of Investigation
Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police
Port Authority of New York
State University of New York Police
Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Police
Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor Police
Schenectady County Sheriff's Office
Schenectady Police Department
Scotia Police
Rotterdam Police
Glenville Police
Niskayuna Police
Yet with trillions spent, one guy can terrorize any city, town, or village at any moment.
Does anyone actually feel safe and protected.
I would like to be protected from those who take my money by force to create this network of redundancy and waste.
We are the most militarized nation of law enforcement personnel in the world.
We have more people in prison per capita than anyone, by far.
We have overlapping agencies that are complete failures.
We spend more on law enforcement than most of the countries of the world spend on their entire budgets.
Then along comes Tim McViegh, the unibomber, Columbine, Virginia Tech, etc.
Law enforcement can't keep anyone safe except themselves.