A lot of people use this term, and it is almost always confused, either by the user or by the hearer or by both. No country on earth 'bans guns' in the technical sense. Not the UK, not China, not Australia, not even North Korea... they all have armed military, armed police, armed security protecting their political and financial elite, and other members of privileged society who have guns. Guns are not totally 'banned' anywhere. When people say 'we should ban guns', they are not calling to disarm the military or the president's Secret Service or S.W.A.T. or the folks protecting their favorite multi-millionaire musicians and movie stars. They are calling to disarm everyone else. When people say 'that politician wants to ban guns', they are not suggesting that politician will disarm the military or the President's Secret Service or S.W.A.T. teams or the folks protecting banks and nuclear reactors. They are voicing a concern that the rest of us will be disarmed. Guns are effectively but not technically 'banned' in nearly every country on earth except the US. Its just that some countries issue gun permits to a lot more people with much more lenient requirements, and some countries only issue permits to people who literally serve the government in an armed capacity. But there is no legal difference- in all cases across the spectrum, guns are banned except by govt permission everywhere but the US. In the US, citizens have the right to bear arms (own and carry guns). A 'gun ban' simply means they wouldn't anymore. That's all. The govt still would have guns, and anyone with govt permission would still have guns, just like every other country on earth. A 'gun ban' just means 'the people the govt doesnt want to have guns can't have guns.' When you call for the requirement of a permit to own guns, you are calling for a 'gun ban.' When you say 'gun ban', you are merely describing the banning of the average citizen's right to own guns. This is the only thing the term can objectively mean, until some country somewhere actually gets rid of all guns ...and that aint ever gonna happen.
