Very interesting links, WB. Sorry to say I'm not surprised, but it is certainly telling.
It only stands to reason that, when you take away peoples ability to defend themselves, you make them targets for the wolves in their midst. And then you disarm those who are supposed to help protect them? As the article stated, the police now have to fear that the kid on the bicycle might have an automatic weapon. And he would use it, too. Knowing that there's damned little the police could do to stop him!
No, gun control, and turning over our safety to a government committee, are not the way to go. Licensing weapons, restricting certain weapons, mandatory training and testing, these are all doable and things which no reasonable person can protest against. When criminals know that any person they might confront could be armed, and trained to use the weapon, they must think twice about attacking people. Those who don't think, such as drug addicts, deserve whatever fate overtakes them. Better they should be wounded, or even killed, than those law-abiding citizens who are their prey.