"Very restrictive gun laws have had no positive effect in lowering violent crime. "

Not a lot, when someone can go to a gun show 2 states away, use fake I.D., and buy batches and re-sell them illegally. That's no reason not to limit purchases as best we can. (Gun shows ARE common ways to get around waiting periods).

Even totally legal purchases in one state can fairly easily be diverted to illegal sales, just as 'legal' semi-auto guns are fairly easily converted to full auto.

If I saw gun advocates leading campaigns to seriously address these issues, I wouldn't be quite so concerned, but the prevailing 'wisdom' seems to be that ANY restriction just starts up down the slippery slope to restricting us to BB guns.