America, You Must Not Look Away (How to Finish Off the NRA) ...a letter from Michael Moore

[Crepuscular]

134. Cost/benefit

I'm not sure what the 10% improvement you are talking about it but it comes down to a cost/benefit assessment.

Like I mentioned in another post, approx. 20 children are killed by dogs every year in this country, hundreds, if not thousands, are also injured, many seriously. Using the logic employed by some of the people in this argument, the benefit that would be achieved by outlawing the possession of dogs as pets, would be worth it, despite the cost to millions of dog lovers, who would no longer have their faithful companions, not to mention the inconvenience of many individuals who rely on service dogs. Our society decides all the time that the relative benefit of any number of things such as dogs, swimming pools, hot tubs, buckets, ladders, or automobiles, outweighs the relative cost to society of the unfortunate number of individuals, including children, who die every year due to incidents involved with those things. It's always sad when someone dies, especially when that individual is an innocent child but unfortunately accidents happen.

As far as the premise that you claim that "you guys" take an absolutist approach, I'd disagree. I think most gun owners would go along with reasonable measures as long as there was some evidence that the measure would have an actual, tangible impact on reducing gun violence and crime. But the sad reality is that much of what is being proposed is purely designed for political showmanship or as a feel good measure, that will have absolutely no impact on reducing crime or the number of people who die as the result of guns.