http://bostonglobe.com/opinion/2013/...kEM/story.html
In 1998 MA instituted much "stronger" gun control laws, and was hailed for having the toughest gun laws in the country.
"The 1998 legislation did cut down, quite sharply, on the legal use of guns in Massachusetts. Within four years, the number of active gun licenses in the state had plummeted. “There were nearly 1.5 million active gun licenses in Massachusetts in 1998,” the AP reported. “In June [2002], that number was down to just 200,000.” The author of the law, state Senator Cheryl Jacques, was pleased that the Bay State’s stiff new restrictions had made it possible to “weed out the clutter.”
It appears that the English experience with disarming citizens has repeated itself, with gun and other violent crime rising significantly from 1998.
Maybe weeding out "the clutter" wasn't such a great idea after all.