Here are my thoughts on gun control. May or may not be relevant, from a UK resident.
In 1996, we had a school massacre in Dunblaine. There was a big public outcry that led to a firearm act that effectively banned hand guns. Everyone was happy. However, what most people don't realise is that after the ban, murder rates INCREASED.
Also worth noting that you can buy a crossbow for ÂŁ50 on eBay over here. Or a recurve bow. I also have a kitchen full of knives, a chainsaw in my shed and a one ton lump of metal in my driveway that I can propel at over 100mph. I don't need a gun if I decide to kill someone.
Some other points to consider: Switzerland has guns. They also have a low murder rate. Sweden has guns. Norway has guns. Homicide rates are low. In the US, Illinois is one of the stricter states for gun control yet Chicago has a disproportionately high murder rate.
Simply put, gun control does not reduce murder.
OK, on to the opinion part of my post.
It seems ridiculous to me to think that making laws will stop lawbreakers. I can't imagine a scenario where a potential murder is prepared to risk life in prison or the death penalty but then changes their mind over a 2 year possession charge (or whatever). You don't reduce crime by making more laws, that's illogical. By definition, criminals break the law.
So why are murder rates higher in the US than other western nations? IMHO it's cultural. An interesting point is that a large majority of US homicides is attributed to black gang violence. If you remove that from the figures, the US murder rate falls to similar levels to other Western countries that don't have the same level of black crime.
I'm not saying black people are to blame, BTW. Quite the opposite; racism is the cause. Of all western nations, the US was the last to outlaw slavery and they had Jim Crow laws until the 1960s. If you deny basic social services (such as education, employment etc) to a large segment of your population, you will create pretty drastic social problems. Most black people are NOT criminals but there are of course lingering effects and these show up in statistical analyses.
As another example of this social engineering backfire, guess which other developed nation suffers from an incredibly high murder rate. South Africa. Apartheid was in place there even more recently than segregation in the US.
So how do we correct these problems? I don't know but I am sure that gun control is not the answer.