I generally agree with this viewpoint. In most countries with moderate gun control measures, the categories of weapon that are most restricted are handguns and fully auto weapons (SMGs, select fire ARs etc). The reason for this is that there’s virtually no reason why a person would need one other than killing people. I am not an expert, but I’m certain that handguns are just massively over represented in gun violence compared to say, shotguns or rifles. I also think this goes for law enforcement. I especially expect that handguns are over represented in suicides. Does anyone have any statistics that would confirm or deny my gut feeling here?
You're right, most murders in the U.S. are committed with handguns. About 63% in the U.S., but probably more since there's an "unreported" category[0].
That said, gun laws in the U.S. preserve the right to bear arms specifically for the purpose of killing people: the right to bear arms is one of the checks and balances on government power. There are people who make the argument that the ownership of non-military weapons is not protected by the second amendment.
