Yeah, one of the more famous/infamous NRA slogans/bumper stickers gets ignored or made fun of because it's a truism that the other side just *can't* deal with mentally:

"If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns"

For some reason, these folks have trouble grasping the concept that "laws only stop the law-abiding from doing things".

*Punishments* dictated by laws will only stop folks who think they'll get caught (another major flaw in the thinking of many people who propose laws to "fix" things).

And even then, you have to really stop and consider mindsets.

Somebody who has decided that they need to kill a bunch of people (which pretty much carries life in prison or the death penalty, depending where you are) is *not* going to *care* that there are penalties for using a gun, having a gun in the area, etc. Ditto for laws about explosives.

But the "sheep" type people can't envision someone thinking that way. So they propose laws, mandatory sentences (which really, *really* mess up the court system) and so on. All because they fail to grasp the essential truth that the folks they want to stop *don't* think the way they do.