So, I told one of my friends that I would post this question to, what I felt, was probably the best forum that I'm a member of for such a subject. I'll preface this with the fact that this particular person, I believe, has become a bit more liberal in his political views over the past several years. Anyway, he got started on why he felt handguns should be illegal. Not all guns, but only handguns, because he felt that they tended to lend themselves more to conceal-ability, and therefore, made it easier to use for criminal activity. He also states that this would leave long-guns and shotguns legal so that you could protect what he felt was most valuable: your home and the items in it (I disagreed). I've had this discussion multiple times with him, and ad nauseam. He said that if there were data in other countries, supporting the fact that crime is not lessened in areas that have banned handguns, he would then change his position. I already told him that if this were in a communist or socialist country, it wouldn't matter, because it's not a place that I'd want to live anyway; and he agreed. Anyway, I figured this was the best place to ask about such a thing. Anyone know about crime rates in those countries similar to our's? Also, even though I won't go into all the things that I've used in my argument, anyone have anything else I may be able to use in my defense? I believe I've used very good counter-arguments, but from what I understand, it seems that he is content with leaving himself vulnerable outside of his home (without the ability to carry a handgun).