pilotday-- I agree with the Navy's reaction.
But about gun laws. The reason there are so many murders in the US (a nice fact---there will 45,000 gun related deaths in the US over the next 4 years--more than all the American deaths in the Vietnam war) is because guns are AVAILABLE!!!
Yes, people can claim that 'see, we have gun control laws but there are still murders' but the fact is that the 'bad' guys are not likely to care too much about the laws.
Pick any European country, Australia, Canada - no where near the gun deaths simply because the guns are not readily available. I'm Canadian and we, likely, have the closest similarities to American, yet there is no where near the number of gun deaths (on a per capita basis) as the US. We can still buy guns though buying hand guns is made more difficult, requiring extensive checks and buying assault rifles, while possible, is even more difficult (and I think should be banned).
I don't think we (or the Europeans) have less 'bad guys' (see Norway) but the simple availability of weapons is not there. I can't walk in to a store and walk out with a gun. Even the US background checks, where and when required are a joke.
In short, you throw a lot of guns out and people will use them.
Regardless of what side of the political spectrum you are on I believe your founding fathers are rolling in their graves at the fact that the country they created and the Constitution they wrote has been twisted to the point were over 10,000 people die a year at the hands of guns.