An Innovative Solution to the Problem of Gun Control

For years, the debate about to which the degree to regulate the sale and ownership of guns has raged throughout the United States. For better or for worse, both gun ownership and gun violence have been popularized in American culture, and at issue are concerns about personal freedom, self-defense, and the costs to American society.

Gun Rights advocates argue that guns are necessary for hunting and self-defense, that criminals (not responsible gun owners) cause problems, and that the right to own a gun is protected by the Second Amendment. Conversely, Gun control advocates argue that gun ownership has led to record amounts of gun violence and accidental gun death, that current regulations are insufficient to keep guns away from criminals, and that the Second Amendment was designed only to create the equivalent of what is now The National Guard.

Here is my solution to this dilemma:
Legalize, in fact advocate, crossbow ownership for all civilians.

This has several advantages:
1) Accidental shootings go down
Loading a crossbow is harder than loading a gun, but easy enough to do quickly in case of an emergency. Additionally, it's much easier to tell whether or not a crossbow is loaded.

2) Getting Shot Loses It's Glory
Whether you're a cowboy or a gangsta, you may get "cred" for being shot, but not if it's with an arrow. It's humiliating to have a gigantic arrow sticking out of your ass.

3) Hunting Still Remains Strong
Hunters used bows and arrows for thousands of years before the invention of gun-powder. Hunting with a crossbow is not only a more exciting challenge, but a crossbow's comparative stealth helps hunters avoid scaring other prey away.

4) Arrows make crime more difficult
Bullets are cheap, very easy to load, difficult to find in crime scenes, and require ballistics experts to trace. Having to purchase arrows at a higher price than bullets is an expensive deterrent to unnecessary shootings. Also, the time it takes a criminal to reload a crossbow allow polices the opportunity to safely apprehend him. Finally, due to their size, arrows are easy to find by police and uniquely identify by manufacturers.

5) The Intimidation Factor
When a criminal has a gun pointed at him, he probably knows that getting shot is going to hurt. The advantage of a crossbow is that seeing the huge projectile which is about to tear into him sends a strong visual reminder about just how much pain he could avoid if he just walked away.

6) The Lethality Factor
Yes, people have died by being shot by well-placed arrows. But unless you're a masochist who stays around for more, you're likely to only get shot with one arrow, as opposed to the hail of bullets that a shooting frenzy can cause. Additionally, the force with which an arrow impacts is nowhere near the force of a bullet, especially that from a magnum.

7) Less Risk of Contagious Fire
It is significantly less difficult to surprise police with a crossbow than with a gun. Not only is a crossbow harder to conceal, but cops aren't going to be tempted to collectively shoot people 150+ times to minimize the threat they pose.