Again, I think this is a fruitless conversation. Gun control cannot actually be enforced in the United States at this point. Pandora's box is open.
It is certainly possible that eventually it will be legislated, but it would be about as effective as prohibition.
Europeans and Americans are quite different on a few things. In parts of Europe, things like health care and free education and a strong welfare state are considered fundamental rights.
In America, carrying a gun is one of those fundamental rights for a huge percentage of the country.
With such a defeatist attitude, you're damn right you're not going to fix anything. There's a problem in the US with people getting shot. There is always one common denominator, and that is that they had easy access to fairly heavy duty firearms. But suddenly, talking about doing something about it is met by "oh, it's already too late, it can't be fixed".
No one is saying that the US will magically become Sweden, Switzerland or the UK if there are put heavy restrictions on the legality of firearms. No one is saying there won't be any more school shootings. No one is saying that criminals will suddenly not be able to get a hold of guns. But
it's a start.
More than that,
it can't hurt. It can only help. Not every potential crazed gunman will be stopped before he can even commit the act, but some will be. One thing is for certain. More people will be caught trying to acquire illegal guns than will be caught trying to acquire legal guns, used for the same purpose. And, perhaps, the gun culture of the US will slowly change to become a more healthy one.
The problem of the apologists is that they only assume a short-term perspective. Hell, much stricter gun control might not have
any effect for a decade or more. But if nothing at all is done, nothing is going to change, even in the long term. It's such a simple connection to make, yet it seems like so many people aren't making it.