After viewing yet another story of a dick head shooting up a public building in America where at the last count (as im aware) an unfortunate 9 year old girl was killed (god rest her soul) that old question was raised in the back of my head "why are guns still legal in America?". Now before any gun nuts start ranting I just want to point that out I love guns and shooting when used responsibly and I believe guns are a neccessary evil to defend against the dicks of the world (and a world without the need for guns would be amazing). However I cant see any argument for any member of the public to own a gun or any member of the public who has reason to own a gun, to do so in their own home. Yes the american constitution says it is every americans right to bear arms but this law was created to allow the americans to defend against the English which is fair enough but surely in modern times where the threat of an invading army is pretty much eliminated within a country with nuclear capabilitys. Surely the law should be every citizen has the right to procure arms in a defence of the realm situation?
i understand where you're coming from, but I believe in one's right to defend themselves, especially from the government. that's why i cannot support a total ban on gun ownership. yes, it should be difficult and stringent to obtain a gun, but not impossible.
If you want to allow your government to decide at what point your right to defend yourself is "old fashioned," good luck.
Hitler said the same thing. Turn in your guns and I will take care of you. America is no different than the rest of the world, giving enough time the government will become the enemy of the people it governs.
All the bad guys and dickheads of the United States will get guns weather they are legal to own or not, so I don't see any argument or reason why law abiding citizens shouldn't own them in their homes. Besides, try to tell the majority of Americans that they can't own guns in their own homes and they'll just laugh at you.
Whos to stop some whack job from filling up metal cylinders full of disassembles fireworks, BB-ball bearings, and rat killer .. packing it into a book-bag vest and taking out 20 people with a suicide bomb?.. you can buy fireworks easier than guns..
I personally don't want to put my life when I'm at home in the hands of the cops when some fool is trying to break in and he has a gun, illegaly obatined or not. By the time the cops get there it's a homicide scene for the family or whoever that depends on cops to come and save them!! lol, I can say that I have been shot at and shot in the arm by a drunk ass idiot one time who had no business with a gun, but I luckily had my Glock .40 caliber and a 12 guage shotgun, and my friend had an H&K .45 caliber with a 25 round magazine(clip) and we were out driving around and stopped in a rural area where the drunk shot at us and hit me with a round in my upper arm, luckily it was a small caliber gun he had, but we went to leaver and driving off this fool came running and me and my buddy had to unload approx. 45 rounds in his direction..never went back , don't now if he got hit or not and do not care.. I went to the ER , got the small bullet taken out and the end of that.. Getting shot hurts, but hurts more when the bullet cools down in you from being hot and stinging at impact , then it cools down and that's when it hurts!!! Dunno why, but thats real, ask anyone who has been shot!! Even after being shot by a fool , I still think that the cops and the US government are not the ones that need to have the only guns. An unarmed populace is an easily controlled populace!!
Exactly true, and to me much of the US government is already the enemy of the people, especially the DEA and the IRS etc.. No guns = no freedom even in the US!
Because, guns are used in self defense more than offensively. There is reason enough. You just are not thinking about shooting back, which you should be. That's why we are americans, we still have (limited) control over what happens to US and ME. What are you going to do if someone has a gun illegally and start shooting at people. Call the police? You will bleed out before they get there.
If you read the framers other things, that amendment was created to insure safety against any corrupt government. First of all, I dare you to try to outlaw guns in america.... As whats his face (japanese general) said during world war II, "I would never invade america, there would be a rifle behind every blade of grass". What makes our homeland untakable is our spirit and willingness to defend it. Unfortionatly it's been taken from the top by our own government, and that's even more reason to retain our guns. There is no way to get all the guns, and if you tried to make guns illegal in america, you would see states succeeding, and armed militas everywhere. And I know I'd be in one of em, defending the constitution of the united states of america from it's governmental usurpers. Maybe if more people had guns, someone could have put one in this guys head before he killed anyone. *edit* as the (overused, but accurate) saying goes, when you outlaw guns, only the outlaws will have guns. (that is, if you SUCCEED in outlawing guns... because in the US trying to do this makes you an outlaw, and the whole country will be out for your blood) *edit2*also, due to it being one of our only remaining manufacturing areas, and something that we do very well, don't expect to see guns going anywhere any time soon, this is a corporate-ized nation, and all...
The second amendment argument is quite valid, most legal scholars and past precedent fall squarely on the right of the common citizenry to keep arms. However, the argument that the primary reason to do so being to protect "us" from the "government" is moot, don't ya think? Consider a well armed group of citizens, (by that I mean armed with plenty of the guns we're allowed to own) and plenty of ammo. How long will that last against B-2 bombers, Apaches and C-130 Specters? About as long as it takes to read this. I feel the thing to avoid, is the emotional response of the OP. We read of yet another horrible tragedy, and a knee-jerk response is "we need to get rid of guns". Sounds alot like how drug laws are written. LSD was outlawed partially with the help of Art Linkletter using his celebrity to push for illegalization after his daughter died while tripping. In the rush to denounce the terrible acts of rare individuals, lets not throw out the freedoms of the rest of us individuals. Making alcohol, guns, drugs, or free expression illegal has never in the history of mankind made them unobtainable. Often, exactly the opposite.
Yet most guns deaths are not by self defense, though i due support the private ownership of guns there has to be a better way to deny ownership to criminals/would be criminals. Or better yet, take the Chris Rock approach and raise the bullet prices well beyond there current rate. Obviously you need bullets for a gun to be effective, so raise the price on ammo and surely the gun violence would dramatically drop. For instance a person defending their home would gladly pay say $500-$1000 for a single box of bullets, home safety is priceless. Now, on the other hand, the would be criminal wouldn't have the money nor the desire to spend such monies on mischievous adventures.
I'm not sure I can follow that logic. Criminals don't have access to expensive drugs or weapons now? The criminally minded are about the only ones that have access to weapons that are illegal such as full automatic and large capacity magazines. I'm not following... To contrast gun availability with criminality... compare the US to Switzerland. Nearly every able bodied male serves in the military and upon fulfillment of his duties takes his weapon home, along with a box of ammunition that is inspected periodically. A former member of the military is considered a member of the militia essentially for life. Switzerland has one of the lowest rates of violence anywhere, including gun violence. According to wiki, they had 34 killings or attempted killings in 2006. Not bad for a nation full of guns. So, is it possible that violence (with guns or otherwise) is more of a cultural issue than an issue of access to weapons? Personally, I feel its more an issue to live peaceably, and teach peace. There are other ways to solve problems than violence.
Did you even read the part about the bullets?! Criminals do has access to expensive drugs and weapons, obviously. My point is that you need bullets for guns to be effective, and since bullets are so cheap criminals really don't care about wasting them. In other words criminals,cops or whomever will be way more selective of who they shoot if their putting down 50k for every magazine. You are ignoring the fact that Switzerland has very very little poverty, especially compared to the US.
