Originally Posted by JonL

THIS American shares your view. I think you have stated it very well.

Another post made the point that criminals are not going to simply go away. Therefore, I believe that a more heavily armed general populace will simply create an arms race with the criminals, and as you have said muggings will become murders. The crime rate in NYC dropped farther and faster than anyone could have imagined yet NYC has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation AND there is no shortage of weaponry amongst the criminals. I would conclude that increased gun ownership is therefore not the answer. Crime is a societal problem, and must be tackled as such.