Weapons. Yes or No? Why?

[DragonflyWing]

Its going to need to start with a mass removal of guns from American society but how will that be done?

I honestly don't think that this could be done without starting a massive revolt...I honestly think there would be civil war if the government attempted to remove all guns, unless it was done over the course of decades like a previous poster suggested. Even then, I'm not sure.

Forgot to add - head members from gun associations/companies should not be allowed to sit in the senate or influence government! I think it's madness.

I don't mean to laugh at you, but do you realize just how much lobbyists from EVERY special interest group/industry influence the government? There is absolutely no impartiality, morality, or fairness in the government, everyone is pushing their own agenda. It really all depends on which group is willing to spend the most money to get people to vote in their favor. I agree that it's sick.

 

[Lina]

Bit like this

 

[vaniilla]

It's a really sad world we live in for that to happen It really makes you wonder why people put up with it

 

[Sarahkka]

Its going to need to start with a mass removal of guns from American society but how will that be done?

I honestly don't think that this could be done without starting a massive revolt...I honestly think there would be civil war if the government attempted to remove all guns, unless it was done over the course of decades like a previous poster suggested. Even then, I'm not sure.

Forgot to add - head members from gun associations/companies should not be allowed to sit in the senate or influence government! I think it's madness.

I don't mean to laugh at you, but do you realize just how much lobbyists from EVERY special interest group/industry influence the government? There is absolutely no impartiality, morality, or fairness in the government, everyone is pushing their own agenda. It really all depends on which group is willing to spend the most money to get people to vote in their favor. I agree that it's sick.

Laugh away. In less than three generations, we have interracial marriage, civil rights, women's rights galore, environmental legislation that would have been unheard of a half century ago, and huge progression in human rights globally. Is this world (or the USA, or any country for that matter) perfect? Of course not. We have a long way to go. But the surest way to entrench the status quo is to give up before even trying. Cynicism only gets you so far. You have to challenge things to make a difference.
I have seen big changes in my lifetime and I'm not even 40 yet. I can't wait to see what sort of beautiful world my kids' generation might create for themselves.
And the USA should know from revolutionary spirit! You guys practically defined it in the 60s. So check that cynicism and get inspired by what has already happened against the odds. Gun control is an issue that the States is long overdue in addressing. You guys booted slavery, classism, and colonialism way before it was socially easy/acceptable to do so. Gun control is not going to cause a civil war. Seriously? You equate the right to pack a handgun with something as ethically huge as abolition?
It is totally possible to make this change, and within a few decades or less. Bigger things have already been achieved.

 

[Andypanda6570]

What people need to understand is NOT every American wants a gun in their home or even wants to own a gun, you can't lump us all together .

We have a black president and people may laugh at me, but I am so proud of this. I am so proud of how far we are progressing. When I was a kid growing up in the 80's gays and lesbians were shunned or made fun of. Now with my kids and most if you say oh he is gay they just look at you and say SO.......I think that is great, my 3 boys don't even have an issue with it, it is so more accepted , I love that.

My kids hang out with everyone, black, white, spanish, asian and so on. When I was a kid everyone didn't do that. If a black person even walked in a white neighborhood it would be a problem, now it is nothing. I am proud of that also.

So I know on this gun issue people will come together and make good decisions regarding it. It is our norm concerning guns, we are just used to them, I don't understand everything about other countries but I would not lump all the people in that country together and say they all think that way, that is wrong.

This country has come a long way on important issues and I am proud of that, we now will tackle gun control and I will be proud of that also.
No America is not special we are like any other people, we don't think we are special and entitled .

 

[DragonflyWing]

Its going to need to start with a mass removal of guns from American society but how will that be done?

I honestly don't think that this could be done without starting a massive revolt...I honestly think there would be civil war if the government attempted to remove all guns, unless it was done over the course of decades like a previous poster suggested. Even then, I'm not sure.

Forgot to add - head members from gun associations/companies should not be allowed to sit in the senate or influence government! I think it's madness.

I don't mean to laugh at you, but do you realize just how much lobbyists from EVERY special interest group/industry influence the government? There is absolutely no impartiality, morality, or fairness in the government, everyone is pushing their own agenda. It really all depends on which group is willing to spend the most money to get people to vote in their favor. I agree that it's sick.

Gun control is not going to cause a civil war. Seriously? You equate the right to pack a handgun with something as ethically huge as abolition?
It is totally possible to make this change, and within a few decades or less. Bigger things have already been achieved.

I personally don't equate gun control with abolition, but I know many people that do, and I truly believe that it could come to war if the government decided to confiscate all guns at once. I think a very gradual change could potentially be successful in the long run, but there is a lot of tension in the US surrounding many of the recent and upcoming changes in laws and government, and I fear it's a powder keg. A sudden sweeping federal gun control law could be the match.

 

[Elephant5740]

Europeans and Canadians have always disagreed with Americans on primarily two things:
heath insurance and guns. As much as we are alike (we all are fourtunate enough to live in constitutional democracies) I doubt we will ever come to agreement on these issues. I believe in my constitutial right to bear arms, and for those of you in disagreement (mostly not from US) i would like you to know that i am a very kind person who is simply upholding my rights as an American. For that only, do not be so disrespectful about my beliefs on why someone should own a gun in the USA as i do not believe in 100% of your laws either but at least i have the tolerance to understand we all grew up differently. Each and every one of our experiences (both good and bad) have shaped our attitudes and opionions. I'm sorry if you think a gun is the worst thing to own because it's so dangerous. Stab wounds occur for times more than gunshot wounds in the US. So tell me, those that think guns are so bad, are you going to tell me next that it's wrong to keep knives in my home? You must not have much to worry about if all you are trying to do is change the way honest, hardworking, law abiding citizens choose to live.

 

[Pearls18]

Knives are important utensils, they have a purpose that is not to harm someone, we own knives to cook....you own a gun to injure somebody. If you hunt, shoot recreationally fair enough, but if you purely own a gun for self protection you can't compare it to somebody owning knives for cooking, I don't have knives to protect myself. That's what I have a lock in my door for.

 

[Elephant5740]

Knives are important utensils, they have a purpose that is not to harm someone, we own knives to cook....you own a gun to injure somebody. If you hunt, shoot recreationally fair enough, but if you purely own a gun for self protection you can't compare it to somebody owning knives for cooking, I don't have knives to protect myself. That's what I have a lock in my door for.

Of course, people have locks on doors for protection, but since when does that alone deter someone from not breaking in? You, again, are missing my point, Marine. Guns are for protection in addition to locks and alarms or whatever you use to keep safe. I'm so happy for you that you feel protected by clicking a lock on your door but some people just don't have that luxury. I live in a very safe neighborhood and hope to never have to use my gun but i don't want to depend on locks alone to protect my household if there ever was someone to break in or wait on the police to get there after an alarm goes off. What is it to you that I own a gun that gets you so uptight? Geezo. Cool it and let it be.

 

[Pearls18]

Why do I need to cool it? You asked if we thought it was bad you had knives in your house and I answered....? I don't care that you have a gun? I'm just in the debating section debating some of the arguments in here I don't agree with.

 

[xemmax]

Europeans and Canadians have always disagreed with Americans on primarily two things:
heath insurance and guns. As much as we are alike (we all are fourtunate enough to live in constitutional democracies) I doubt we will ever come to agreement on these issues. I believe in my constitutial right to bear arms, and for those of you in disagreement (mostly not from US) i would like you to know that i am a very kind person who is simply upholding my rights as an American. For that only, do not be so disrespectful about my beliefs on why someone should own a gun in the USA as i do not believe in 100% of your laws either but at least i have the tolerance to understand we all grew up differently. Each and every one of our experiences (both good and bad) have shaped our attitudes and opionions. I'm sorry if you think a gun is the worst thing to own because it's so dangerous. Stab wounds occur for times more than gunshot wounds in the US. So tell me, those that think guns are so bad, are you going to tell me next that it's wrong to keep knives in my home? You must not have much to worry about if all you are trying to do is change the way honest, hardworking, law abiding citizens choose to live.

Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by already convicted criminals? Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by people who hold firearms illegally?

 

[Elephant5740]

So you say knives are utensils and guns are used primarily to injure someone, right? If a burglar breaks into my home (remember i live in the US so undoubtedly he will have a gun) the thought that "he wants to injure me" is what i think exactly. We agree that guns = injure. What do you suggest i use to protect myself against his weapon?

 

[Elephant5740]

Europeans and Canadians have always disagreed with Americans on primarily two things:
heath insurance and guns. As much as we are alike (we all are fourtunate enough to live in constitutional democracies) I doubt we will ever come to agreement on these issues. I believe in my constitutial right to bear arms, and for those of you in disagreement (mostly not from US) i would like you to know that i am a very kind person who is simply upholding my rights as an American. For that only, do not be so disrespectful about my beliefs on why someone should own a gun in the USA as i do not believe in 100% of your laws either but at least i have the tolerance to understand we all grew up differently. Each and every one of our experiences (both good and bad) have shaped our attitudes and opionions. I'm sorry if you think a gun is the worst thing to own because it's so dangerous. Stab wounds occur for times more than gunshot wounds in the US. So tell me, those that think guns are so bad, are you going to tell me next that it's wrong to keep knives in my home? You must not have much to worry about if all you are trying to do is change the way honest, hardworking, law abiding citizens choose to live.

Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by already convicted criminals? Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by people who hold firearms illegally?

MOST gun realated crimes in the US are commited by people who use illegal firearms and yes, some are already criminals. If you are not a convicted criminal or have any warrants, or not mentally unstable you can obtain a firearm legally - you get fingerprinted, picture taken, require to take classes, etc. The unfortuante thing is there are bad people out there that do not care about the law and use guns to do horrible things. Because of those people, us law abiding citizens need a way to protect ourselves. Sure, i wish no one had a gun but that is not ever going to happen. Bad people are going to have them and good people should have a right to protect ourselves. All these gun control laws do is take more rights away from resposible citizens because criminals do not care about breaking the law. They already do that!

 

[Pearls18]

My issue isn't the fact you have a gun, my husband is an infantry soldier and wants to own a gun for recreational use...we don't have problems with guns (in countries with sensible legislation) my issue is what this thread is about, weapons in homes. I think it is paranoid to think you need a weapon in your own home, people today are so paranoid because the media inflate things so much, if you actually look at the statistics for how often people first of all break into homes- that's minimal, but secondly and most importantly actually want to cause harm to people that will be much smaller again, most burglaries will happen when people are out of the home. I take precautions in that I lock my doors, I like to have my phone next to me, but I do not think about how I could potentially hurt someone who comes into my home....because I'm not expecting anyone to! It just seems to me Americans, and I'm talking about the friends I know, not all 300 million lol, are so scared whether it's about crime, communism, socialism there's always something they a re irrationally afraid of and I just think chill out. I don't care that you have a gun in your house, I feel sorry for you that you feel the need to have one, and then sorry for every family affected by a shooting due to the "gun culture".

 

[Pearls18]

Europeans and Canadians have always disagreed with Americans on primarily two things:
heath insurance and guns. As much as we are alike (we all are fourtunate enough to live in constitutional democracies) I doubt we will ever come to agreement on these issues. I believe in my constitutial right to bear arms, and for those of you in disagreement (mostly not from US) i would like you to know that i am a very kind person who is simply upholding my rights as an American. For that only, do not be so disrespectful about my beliefs on why someone should own a gun in the USA as i do not believe in 100% of your laws either but at least i have the tolerance to understand we all grew up differently. Each and every one of our experiences (both good and bad) have shaped our attitudes and opionions. I'm sorry if you think a gun is the worst thing to own because it's so dangerous. Stab wounds occur for times more than gunshot wounds in the US. So tell me, those that think guns are so bad, are you going to tell me next that it's wrong to keep knives in my home? You must not have much to worry about if all you are trying to do is change the way honest, hardworking, law abiding citizens choose to live.

Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by already convicted criminals? Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by people who hold firearms illegally?

MOST gun realated crimes in the US are commited by people who use illegal firearms and yes, some are already criminals. If you are not a convicted criminal or have any warrants, or not mentally unstable you can obtain a firearm legally - you get fingerprinted, picture taken, require to take classes, etc. The unfortuante thing is there are bad people out there that do not care about the law and use guns to do horrible things. Because of those people, us law abiding citizens need a way to protect ourselves. Sure, i wish no one had a gun but that is not ever going to happen. Bad people are going to have them and good people should have a right to protect ourselves. All these gun control laws do is take more rights away from resposible citizens because criminals do not care about breaking the law. They already do that!

The problem is though gun laws are so lax that is is easy for gun traders to trade illegally, I'm sure reputable gun dealers do everything you have said, but just this week I watched a documentary (Panorama) where a woman (journalist) walked into a Texas gun fair and bought a gun showing no ID, the same high calibre gun used in Sandy Hook, all the fella asked was is she American! This simply does not happen in the UK. This was at a widely advertised gun fair in Texas.

 

[xemmax]

Europeans and Canadians have always disagreed with Americans on primarily two things:
heath insurance and guns. As much as we are alike (we all are fourtunate enough to live in constitutional democracies) I doubt we will ever come to agreement on these issues. I believe in my constitutial right to bear arms, and for those of you in disagreement (mostly not from US) i would like you to know that i am a very kind person who is simply upholding my rights as an American. For that only, do not be so disrespectful about my beliefs on why someone should own a gun in the USA as i do not believe in 100% of your laws either but at least i have the tolerance to understand we all grew up differently. Each and every one of our experiences (both good and bad) have shaped our attitudes and opionions. I'm sorry if you think a gun is the worst thing to own because it's so dangerous. Stab wounds occur for times more than gunshot wounds in the US. So tell me, those that think guns are so bad, are you going to tell me next that it's wrong to keep knives in my home? You must not have much to worry about if all you are trying to do is change the way honest, hardworking, law abiding citizens choose to live.

Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by already convicted criminals? Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by people who hold firearms illegally?

MOST gun realated crimes in the US are commited by people who use illegal firearms and yes, some are already criminals. If you are not a convicted criminal or have any warrants, or not mentally unstable you can obtain a firearm legally - you get fingerprinted, picture taken, require to take classes, etc. The unfortuante thing is there are bad people out there that do not care about the law and use guns to do horrible things. Because of those people, us law abiding citizens need a way to protect ourselves. Sure, i wish no one had a gun but that is not ever going to happen. Bad people are going to have them and good people should have a right to protect ourselves. All these gun control laws do is take more rights away from resposible citizens because criminals do not care about breaking the law. They already do that!

I feel that the distinction you are making here between criminals and law abiding citizens is a fallacy though. Everyone is a law abiding citizen by default until they commit a crime and become a criminal. It isn't an 'us' against the 'bad people' situation. Anyone is capable of committing a crime under the right circumstances and when everyone has a weapon then that, to me, is the danger. I don't need to be convinced that many people will own a gun and never use it, I accept that, but we can't keep distinguishing between 'us' and 'them' in this way - it isn't realistic.

I'd love to see stats on how many gun related deaths are caused by known criminals and how many are caused by those in legal possession of a gun.

 

[Andypanda6570]

Europeans and Canadians have always disagreed with Americans on primarily two things:
heath insurance and guns. As much as we are alike (we all are fourtunate enough to live in constitutional democracies) I doubt we will ever come to agreement on these issues. I believe in my constitutial right to bear arms, and for those of you in disagreement (mostly not from US) i would like you to know that i am a very kind person who is simply upholding my rights as an American. For that only, do not be so disrespectful about my beliefs on why someone should own a gun in the USA as i do not believe in 100% of your laws either but at least i have the tolerance to understand we all grew up differently. Each and every one of our experiences (both good and bad) have shaped our attitudes and opionions. I'm sorry if you think a gun is the worst thing to own because it's so dangerous. Stab wounds occur for times more than gunshot wounds in the US. So tell me, those that think guns are so bad, are you going to tell me next that it's wrong to keep knives in my home? You must not have much to worry about if all you are trying to do is change the way honest, hardworking, law abiding citizens choose to live.

Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by already convicted criminals? Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by people who hold firearms illegally?

MOST gun realated crimes in the US are commited by people who use illegal firearms and yes, some are already criminals. If you are not a convicted criminal or have any warrants, or not mentally unstable you can obtain a firearm legally - you get fingerprinted, picture taken, require to take classes, etc. The unfortuante thing is there are bad people out there that do not care about the law and use guns to do horrible things. Because of those people, us law abiding citizens need a way to protect ourselves. Sure, i wish no one had a gun but that is not ever going to happen. Bad people are going to have them and good people should have a right to protect ourselves. All these gun control laws do is take more rights away from resposible citizens because criminals do not care about breaking the law. They already do that!

No these gun control laws will make it so that normal people like you and me can't have assault weapons, we don't need them, there is no reason for a regular person to have these weapons.
Do I believe it is our right to own a gun, yes and if you want to , you should.
Not an arsenal of assault weapons, those should only be owned by law enforcement and military . Yes, it is our right to own a gun, but not these types of weapons, it is ridiculous.

Just because people want change on gun control, people panic and start saying our rights are being taken away, this is crap, they are not.
I am a proud American my dad was and in his heart still is a Marine, he fought for this country, since he was 17 he has been a Marine, he is 74 now.

I believe in your right to own a gun, but not assault weapons and there has to be stricter laws, it is crazy . Those poor kids are all dead because some asshole got into his mother's assault weapons and blew away innocent children and adults, and the first one to die was his mom.

She knew this boy was not right, whatever was wrong with him, they should not have been in the house and if the gun laws were stricter she would have never had them in the first place.

Yes , if someone comes into my home I would probably shoot them if I had a gun, but not to kill them probably in the leg or arm and a regular gun could do that as well as shoot to kill if necessary. You don't need an assault weapon in your home to kill an intruder, that is ridiculous.

My God if Sandy Hook didn't teach us anything then I feel horrible about that.
Just cause I want stricter gun laws doesn't mean I am un-american it just means I am fed up and sensible ..

 

[Sarahkka]

MOST gun realated crimes in the US are commited by people who use illegal firearms and yes, some are already criminals. If you are not a convicted criminal or have any warrants, or not mentally unstable you can obtain a firearm legally - you get fingerprinted, picture taken, require to take classes, etc. The unfortuante thing is there are bad people out there that do not care about the law and use guns to do horrible things. Because of those people, us law abiding citizens need a way to protect ourselves. Sure, i wish no one had a gun but that is not ever going to happen. Bad people are going to have them and good people should have a right to protect ourselves. All these gun control laws do is take more rights away from resposible citizens because criminals do not care about breaking the law. They already do that!

Not true. My diagnosed schizophrenic cousin had no trouble buying the handgun he ended his life with. That was in Washington State only a few years ago.

Unfortunately, his story is all too common. Lack of gun control causes unnecessary deaths. Simple as.

 

[TriChick]

Europeans and Canadians have always disagreed with Americans on primarily two things:
heath insurance and guns. As much as we are alike (we all are fourtunate enough to live in constitutional democracies) I doubt we will ever come to agreement on these issues. I believe in my constitutial right to bear arms, and for those of you in disagreement (mostly not from US) i would like you to know that i am a very kind person who is simply upholding my rights as an American. For that only, do not be so disrespectful about my beliefs on why someone should own a gun in the USA as i do not believe in 100% of your laws either but at least i have the tolerance to understand we all grew up differently. Each and every one of our experiences (both good and bad) have shaped our attitudes and opionions. I'm sorry if you think a gun is the worst thing to own because it's so dangerous. Stab wounds occur for times more than gunshot wounds in the US. So tell me, those that think guns are so bad, are you going to tell me next that it's wrong to keep knives in my home? You must not have much to worry about if all you are trying to do is change the way honest, hardworking, law abiding citizens choose to live.

Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by already convicted criminals? Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by people who hold firearms illegally?

MOST gun realated crimes in the US are commited by people who use illegal firearms and yes, some are already criminals. If you are not a convicted criminal or have any warrants, or not mentally unstable you can obtain a firearm legally - you get fingerprinted, picture taken, require to take classes, etc. The unfortuante thing is there are bad people out there that do not care about the law and use guns to do horrible things. Because of those people, us law abiding citizens need a way to protect ourselves. Sure, i wish no one had a gun but that is not ever going to happen. Bad people are going to have them and good people should have a right to protect ourselves. All these gun control laws do is take more rights away from resposible citizens because criminals do not care about breaking the law. They already do that!

Many of these requirements are for the first-time buyer of the weapon. This does not include many gun shows, private sales, inheritance, etc.

 

[TriChick]

Europeans and Canadians have always disagreed with Americans on primarily two things:
heath insurance and guns. As much as we are alike (we all are fourtunate enough to live in constitutional democracies) I doubt we will ever come to agreement on these issues. I believe in my constitutial right to bear arms, and for those of you in disagreement (mostly not from US) i would like you to know that i am a very kind person who is simply upholding my rights as an American. For that only, do not be so disrespectful about my beliefs on why someone should own a gun in the USA as i do not believe in 100% of your laws either but at least i have the tolerance to understand we all grew up differently. Each and every one of our experiences (both good and bad) have shaped our attitudes and opionions. I'm sorry if you think a gun is the worst thing to own because it's so dangerous. Stab wounds occur for times more than gunshot wounds in the US. So tell me, those that think guns are so bad, are you going to tell me next that it's wrong to keep knives in my home? You must not have much to worry about if all you are trying to do is change the way honest, hardworking, law abiding citizens choose to live.

Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by already convicted criminals? Are all gun related crimes in the US committed by people who hold firearms illegally?

MOST gun realated crimes in the US are commited by people who use illegal firearms and yes, some are already criminals. If you are not a convicted criminal or have any warrants, or not mentally unstable you can obtain a firearm legally - you get fingerprinted, picture taken, require to take classes, etc. The unfortuante thing is there are bad people out there that do not care about the law and use guns to do horrible things. Because of those people, us law abiding citizens need a way to protect ourselves. Sure, i wish no one had a gun but that is not ever going to happen. Bad people are going to have them and good people should have a right to protect ourselves. All these gun control laws do is take more rights away from resposible citizens because criminals do not care about breaking the law. They already do that!

I feel that the distinction you are making here between criminals and law abiding citizens is a fallacy though. Everyone is a law abiding citizen by default until they commit a crime and become a criminal. It isn't an 'us' against the 'bad people' situation. Anyone is capable of committing a crime under the right circumstances and when everyone has a weapon then that, to me, is the danger. I don't need to be convinced that many people will own a gun and never use it, I accept that, but we can't keep distinguishing between 'us' and 'them' in this way - it isn't realistic.

I'd love to see stats on how many gun related deaths are caused by known criminals and how many are caused by those in legal possession of a gun.

I completely agree with this. Nancy Lanza was a law-abiding citizen, as was her son Adam prior to the moment he murdered 27 people. Seung-Hui Cho was a law-abiding citizen until he committed mass-murder at Virginia Tech (using a gun he, interestingly enough, legally purchased despite having a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation in 2005 which diagnosed him as mentally ill and unstable). These are just two examples of the many law-abiding citizens who crossed the line into insanity and took their weapons with them.

While I'm on the fence about gun control, I've always found the argument of "the best way to fight gun violence is to better arm people" to be a bit of a head-scratcher.