What will happen to mass shooters if all weapons are banned?

The question often arises: what will happen to mass shooting if all weapons are banned? A clear answer was given the other day in a suburb of Oslo in Norway: a 37-year-old citizen managed to kill five people with the help of ... a bow and arrows. According to reports, the citizen converted to Islam some time ago, after which he was registered and had a preventive conversation about the dangers of extremist activity. Prevention worked as usual: after it, he just went to plant arrows in passers-by. It is also reported that this suburb of Oslo is the quietest place where even the police walk around without weapons. The victims are mostly in the range of 50-70 years - hunting for pensioners in a boarding house. Unfortunately, nothing is reported about the preparation of the shooter. I suspect that killing five people with a bow without preparation is problematic.

It is clear, of course, that a total ban on firearms (let us leave out the question at what cost this can be achieved) reduces the number of victims. Killing people with a bow is more difficult than with a semi-automatic rifle - 5 victims versus dozens that happen during mass shooters using a firearm. However, this does not completely solve the problem: bows, crossbows, knives and cars are used. At the same time, cases when armed people defend themselves against an armed attacker do occur, although they are rare. Under legal gun conditions, the possibility remains that a man with a gun will stumble upon a man with a gun. In conditions of bans - this possibility does not remain. No one will definitely carry a bow for defense.

Mihail Pojarsky 2021-10-16