Not really, no. There's always been gun violence and there probably always will be, no matter what anyone does.
Guns today are relatively easy to acquire, too easy I think. I think that's a problem. In none of my posts I have argued the point that people should be able to bear arms. In fact I quite agree with that right. I am also not against the spirit of the second amendment, more along the lines with how its been interpreted.
My major concern is access for everyone and quantity. That's basically it.
My county is very gun-friendly. Anyone who wants a concealed carry pistol permit can get one as long as they have no non-relieved felonies or domestic violence convictions, and no history of serious mental illness. Applicants are not required to demonstrate need. If they want the permit and have no disqualifications (or if the disqualifications have been relieved), they get the permit.
New York City is very gun
-unfriendly. It is almost impossible to get a carry permit unless you have an actual need for one. Even then, the process can take well over a year, and the police will try to talk you out of it any way they can. Even non-carry premises permits are very difficult to obtain.
When people in my county who can't buy a handgun because of a felony or domestic violence conviction want a gun, they go to New York City (specifically, The Bronx). The excessively strict gun laws in New York City sustain a thriving black market in guns and ammunition wherein anyone can buy any gun or ammunition they could possibly want, with no forms to fill out, and no questions asked.
Most buyers are not professional criminals. They're store owners, ATM service technicians, livery drivers, and others who want the weapons for protection, but who can't convince the NYPD to issue them a permit. But the illegal gun sellers aren't very picky. It makes no difference to them whether they're selling to an honest bodega owner or a drug kingpin with a string of bodies. They're breaking the same law and taking the same risks either way, so it doesn't matter.
New York City mayors have long complained that people go to states "down South" where it's easier to buy guns, and then bring them back to The City to commit crimes. The truth, however, is quite the opposite. New York City exports more illegal firearms than they import. In places where it's easy to get guns
legally it's difficult to get them
illegally because legal gun dealers won't sell them to people who are forbidden from possessing them.
The guy selling guns out of his trunk in an alley in The Bronx, on the other hand, has no such qualms. But his business depends on prohibition. If it were easier to get guns
legally, no one would pay the price and take the risks to buy them
illegally. It just wouldn't make any sense. Why risk being arrested for a crime you didn't commit because the illegal gun you buy has a history? Only a fool would do that -- except when forced to do so by prohibition.
What it comes down to is that prohibition is a prerequisite to black markets, whether we're talking about booze, drugs, guns, or anything else. Make the laws too tough, and all you do is push questionable purchasers over to the black market, thus losing whatever margin of safety the legal sale system provides.
Rich