DasFX said:
Can you imagine how many shooting we would have? The definition of self-defense is very subjective. People would become trigger happy at any issue and claim self defense.
If I got into a road rage altercation, you can bet that I'm going to be ready to shoot the guy, because I would know he has a gun too and I'd want to shoot him before he shot me.
What about people who don't want to carry guns, they would be at a distinct disadvantage. What about kids? Say a women becomes surrounded by a group of youth (age 15). If she feels threaten, would it be okay if she shot them all, although they were unarmed?
This has not been the American experience.
Most US states had strict laws against concealed carry of handguns 20 years ago. In 1989, Florida passed a law that
required the state to issue a licence to carry a concealed handgun to any citizen that took a 12 hour qualification course and had no criminal record.
The anti-gun people howled their heads off about the wild west, and mayhem in the streets.
What happened was an immediate, and dramatic drop in violent street crime. Even the Miami police chief, a leader in opposition to the bill, had a road to Damascus conversion.
The odd thing is, only about 250,000 Florida citizens exercise their right to carry. The effect is that street punks don't know who it is safe to mug, so they turn to other (non-confrontational) forms of crime, and don't attack anyone.
The law was such a success that it has been adopted by 36 states.
Since 1989, the US murder rate has dropped 40%.
The most interesting thing about the Florida experience is the fact that the police are TWICE as apt to shoot someone without due cause as are armed private citizens.