I also think that at least some of the 33,000ish Americans killed annually by gun violence might be spared if we made some of the more combat-effective, lethal firearms harder to get.
The overwhelming majority of firearms used in homicides in this country are not by any stretch of the imagination "combat effective," and they're about as low on the lethality scale as you can get and still call them a firearm.
We're talking about lots of little mouse guns, "Saturday night specials," cheap little revolvers, single shot breakover shotguns, etc. Lots of .22, .25, .32, and .380 handguns. Why? Because they're cheap. They're also easy to conceal.
So called "assault weapons" account for a negligible number of homicides in this country. However, these so called "assault weapons" are used on a regular basis by victims to protect themselves when their homes and businesses are broken into by multiple armed attackers.
ETA: Oh, and when criminals do want the real thing, they get the REAL thing, not some neutered semi automatic look-alike version. Go down to any sheriff's department and ask them how many machineguns they recover every year, especially in areas where there's a lot of meth cooking.
How do you suppose those backwoods tweakers obtain such weapons, considering they're highly illegal and supposedly unobtanium? And, pay close attention here, HOW DO YOU THINK ME GIVING UP MY SEMI AUTOMATIC AR15 IS GOING TO PREVENT CRIME IF WE CAN'T EVEN PREVENT CRIMINALS FROM GETTING WEAPONS THAT ARE ALREADY ILLEGAL???
Machineguns have been illegal in this country for nearly 85 years, there's a federal law enforcement agency dedicated to stamping them out, the penalties are more severe than many second degree murder sentences, and yet criminals STILL have easy access to illegal machineguns brought here from overseas.
I'll tell you what. When the ATF can enforce the laws already on the books, and criminals no longer have easy access to supposedly illegal weapons, then and only then can we sit down and have a discussion about my AR15.