While it's true that an assault weapons ban wouldn't stop the majority of gun deaths, it would still stop a few and that's a good enough reason. Yes, people will have their guns grandfathered it, but you have to start somewhere. These kinds of guns aren't things that non-military, non-law enforcement people should have anyway.
Criminals are by nature desperate, and a desperate mind is not a rational thinking mind.
Now there is cases where clean record guys snap and go a-wall but thats hard to predict
there will always be some nutjob thats dead set on killing regardless if guns existed or not
there are other methods like combating gang violence,education, responsible gun ownership, But you will never be able to stop crazy.
I don't think criminals are so clear-cut. There are shades of grey between a total law-breaking criminal and a total law-abiding citizen. Criminals do follow most laws because they can think rationally and know that some laws are, in their minds, worth the risk of breaking. It's not that they disrespect all laws because they're criminals - there are plenty of people who don't have respect for some or all laws who aren't criminals - it's that they're weighing the risks, weighing the pros and cons, and are taking a chance. I mean, we've all broken some laws or rules at one time or another, usually because the punishment wasn't very strict and/or we weren't likely to be caught and/or we didn't think the law should apply to us in that situation. That's just what your "criminals" think, only they're willing to take biggest risks than most of us. There is still a lot of grey where you'll find your domestic abusers and other violent types who aren't as far gone as gang members, but aren't exactly what you'd want to use as your example of a law-abiding citizen. These people are also ones who we should expect, from time to time, to use guns to attack people. Most of the time they follow the law, and would probably pass a background check without a problem, but they shouldn't have access to guns.
What I'm saying is, everyday people like you and me who follow the law most of the time can be criminals and break other laws when we think it suits us. That's part of why I think lots of restrictions on guns is appropriate, because almost
anyone could be a bad egg who might do something bad with a gun. I'm not necessarily arguing for an all-out ban, but since guns rarely protect people and much more often harm people on accident it's not like we'd be putting people in jeopardy if we banned gun ownership, and it would protect us from that group of "criminals" who won't risk breaking the law for a gun. Of course since guns are so prevalent they're easy to get. One problem which I don't think gets addressed enough is that we make so many guns. If guns were rarer, if you had to order one and wait for it to be made, then there wouldn't be so many extra ones floating around being hard to track.
I agree that education is important. I don't believe in putting all our eggs in one basket. We should do all the things to reduce gun violence, including restrictions, education, combating gang violence and all the rest.