I don't quite understand the strategy of the government on these bans ("assault weapons" and "high capacity magazine", etc.). They must now know, from the consistent experience of other states that the compliance rate is at maximum 20%. And all those 20% are obviously law-abiding citizens. Not one criminal with a firearm, almost all of which are illegally possessed in the first place, will be turned in. So they have gotten rid of zero guns are that highly likely to be used in committing crimes. Is the hypothesis that eventually, in 50 or 100 or 200 years that the remaining guns and magazine, etc. will be turned in as the firearms are transferred to new owners upon the old-age incapacitation or death of those who illegally kept them? Or that with "only" 80% remaining in civilain hands that the rate of theft will thus be diminished by 20% and there will be 20% fewer criminals with guns?
The other side of it is that many people who believe they have a ("natural" if not "legal") right of self-defense using the best tool possible will not only not obey the "turn 'em all in Mr. and Mrs. America" (Feinstein), but will actively create "work arounds" and obtain more of the forbidden items that will in no way be tracked in the first place (no NICS checks, 4473s, etc.). If that IS the case, there would end up being MORE not fewer (untraceable) firearms and magazines, etc. in the public sector.
And of course there will never be any causal connection to anything remotely resembling "lower crime rates" or "enhanced public safety".
I don't get it. It makes no sense. I'm tempted to put on my tinfoil hat and say "They must be up to something".
They are up to the same thing they were in the 70s. There was a push to ban semi-auto handguns. Reasoning said since they were used in most gun crimes, that would reduce crime. It's the same faulty logic that lead to banning the Saturday Night Specials. Ban a type of gun associated with the most shootings, you'll have the biggest reduction in shootings.
The logic is flawed, but it's irrelevant. They use stats to confuse and lie to the public. In reality the Sat Night Special ban caused more deaths. People in bad areas couldn't afford new guns after the ban, so they were defenseless, and the crooks started using better guns with larger calibers. More people died from shootings whereas before the .22 and .25 caliber Sat Night Special injuries were often survived.
So, the criminals started using Semi-auto pistols as the rounds rivaled the .38 and .357 rounds formerly favored by crooks. So the anti-gunners went after all semis, saying "only criminals have any use for these killing machines." Sound familiar?
But that effort failed, mainly because cops and the public started arming themselves with semis. Once it became a commonly owned gun for self defense purposes, there was no way to have a ban pass.
Enter the "assault weapons!" Even though the platform was around for decades, not many people were fans. Eventually the numbers owned started to rise, and the gun grabbers targeted them. After a few high profile shootings involving AKs and ARs/M16s, the fear mongering started again..
The goal is never to save lives, even though the blind followers believe that's the objective. The goal is to ban as many guns at once as possible, then move on to the next type, until all guns are banned or unobtainable.
Here's the irony. By banning the AR for 10 years, then letting the law sunset, the popularity of the gun exploded! Now the AR is the most common rifle owned in the US, making it nearly impossible to totally ban based on the "in common use" criteria. The antis basically created a situation that might prevent them from ever succeeding as long as we the people keep taking them to court.