It is illegal for a convicted felon to own or possess a gun. If a felon (on probation, or otherwise), were to walk into a store where guns are sold, he would not be able to LEGALLY purchase a gun. All 50 states have a records check that a felon would have and would be denied.
The popular belief is that felons will purchase or “get” their weapons through legal means. Contrary to popular belief, felons do not purchase or get their weapons legally. They are felons, after all. Their access to weapons is strictly through illegal actions. He/she will buy a weapon from another felon or steal it from a law abiding citizen. It is even possible he will trade something valuable for a weapon. What we as law abiding citizens consider valuable would be something like money or gold. The felon (criminal) may consider drugs valuable.
How would society suggest we stop this possibility? Make guns illegal.
Is this the right answer? No. It does not matter if guns were made illegal to possess. Criminals would still be able to get guns. Take New York for an example. Gun ownership is strictly regulated, and STILL there are shootings and other violent crimes using guns.
Here is another possible scenario. Make guns illegal, and maybe, JUST MAYBE the felons (criminals) do not have access to guns. So they use a knife instead. Do we then make knives illegal?
One person stated that to ease the crimes committed with guns would be to decrease the unemployment rate. That is easier said than done. There are those who would rather NOT work for a living and support themselves. In addition, illegal aliens are everyday consuming those jobs that are available that the average person feels is below them. Decrease the homeless population? That is also easier said than done. Some are truly unable to fend for themselves due to mental issues or other handicap. Some just refuse to work for a living, knowing that they can panhandle and make more money in a day than many realize. There are also those who pretend to be homeless, just to make money panhandling.
In short, we as Americans have the God Given Right to “keep and bear arms”. Taking that right away from us, just to keep guns out of the hands of felons is futile. Our police departments are truly “understaffed” to handle the populations they patrol. In Knox County, Tennessee alone, there are 4,000 county officers to triple or more times the population. Police officers cannot be in two places at one time.
Stiffer penalties need to be levied against the felons caught with firearms. Instead of giving a felon twenty two years for “felon in possession of a firearm” after he has committed murder, give him life or the death penalty. A majority of the felons that are released from prison, will only commit another crime later, and unfortunately, in prison they have had time to figure out how to commit the crime “better” for him the second time he is caught. However, how many crimes did he commit in the first place, BEFORE he was caught, and NOT charged with?