“Gun Violence” Protests: Who is Protesting What, and Why?

In cities such as Chicago and London, which already have strict gun control laws, there have been “gun violence” protests organized by anti gun groups.  These usually take place after a criminal violates the gun ban laws and commits a crime.  Unlike protests designed to focus the attention of political leaders on a governmental policy (such as involvement in wars or civil rights), these protests seem to be without purpose.  Allow me to explain:

Usually, the goal of protesting is to make elected officials aware that citizens don’t approve of their policies – and will not re-elect the officials unless a change in their policies is made.  This can work well when the policy is either one that the government either instituted itself (such as wars), or where the government at least has the ability to affect the actions of a 3rd party that implements the policy (such as civil rights at restaurants).  Protesting does not work, however, when the the thing at issue is neither a governmental policy or 3rd party action that the government can control.

The government already bans murder and other violent crime.
The problem with protesting “gun violence” is that there are no US or British governments, or elected officials, that approve of murder.  Unlike involvement in wars, where there are elected officials on both side of the issue, no officials advocate murder.  Nor is there even a debate on the subject.  Murder, robbery, rape, and other such crimes have been against the law since before recorded history.  Furthermore, these cities already have strict laws forbidding the possession of handguns and so called “assault weapons” – and the criminals ignore these laws and commit the violent crimes that these people are protesting.

The government doesn’t have the ability to regulate murder and other violent crime.
Another problem with protesting “gun violence” is that the government has no ability to regulate the commission of murder.  What I mean by that is that murder is already outlawed, so the people committing it do so in secrecy, and then try to escape as quickly as they can.
Contrast this with a civil rights violation in a restaurant or other place of business.  In those situations, the business that is violating citizens’ civil rights has a known address, and conducts its business out in the open.  Police and government officials can go to the restaurant to observe the violations, and can easily take action against the business owner, since they know where to find him or her.  The business owner also has a lot to lose if found in violation, so they will likely comply with the regulations.
Criminals, however, do not open a “murder store” that the government can easily visit.  They do not have fixed places of “business” that are registered in their name.  Nor do they have a “murder license” that can be revoked by the government.  Instead, they are criminals who are already committing some of the most severely punished crimes in our society.  They often have nothing to live for.

Conclusion
The “gun violence” protests are pointless.  The government already has strict laws against murder and violent crime.  The local governments in the violence ravaged areas where these protests take place already ban handguns and many other guns as well, despite the fact that gun bans don’t work.  The governments in these areas also lack the ability to stop criminals from committing violent crime, otherwise they certainly would do so.  Also, it should be obvious that, the criminals who make their living victimizing the law abiding citizens aren’t going to be swayed by these protests.
Rather than seeing that criminals will ignore gun control laws just like they ignore every other law, these anti-gun crusaders (such as Pat Regan) work only to further disarm law abiding citizens, leaving  them vulnerable.  Instead of spending their time within the community to help educate children so that they don’t turn to crime, they pointlessly protest.  Rather than trying to fix the socioeconomic issues that are strongly correlated with crime, they push for a ban on handgun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.  They also ignore the countless cases where law abiding citizens have defended themselves.  Perhaps these gun control advocates should focus on the true causes of crime, which might actually have positive results, rather than scapegoating guns and disarming law abiding citizens?