Gun Control (please Help)

[ykickamoocow 0]

OK guys. Im doing a rather large assignment on gun control and i need other people's perspective on this subject. Unfortunantly the demographic i know consists of Australian teenages so it wont be a all that accurate. This made me think of this forum which has lots of different age groups, different countries and different genders as members. Im going to put up afew questions and could you please find alittle bit of time to answer them. Thankyou

1. What is yours age?

2. What is your gender?

3. Do you live in a country where they have tight gun control laws (like England) or a country with fewer laws in the area of gun control (USA).

4. What is your personal opionion on gun control? Is it a good or a bad thing? Explain your answer.

Thankyou to anyone who responds to these questions and feel free to debate the issue if you feel like like you normally would.

[jackgarrett 0]

1. 23

2. M

3. Australia

4. Good

[AutoRacer5 0]

1. What is yours age?

2. What is your gender?

3. Do you live in a country where they have tight gun control laws (like England) or a country with fewer laws in the area of gun control (USA).

4. What is your personal opionion on gun control? Is it a good or a bad thing? Explain your answer.

Thankyou to anyone who responds to these questions and feel free to debate the issue if you feel like like you normally would.

1. 17

2. Male

3. USA

4. Gun control is good for some guns. We need to restrict automatic assault rifles, like AK-47s, and we need to restrict guns to felons a lot more.

Guns don't kill people. If they did, I can blame misspelled words on my pencil.

[pumpdoc 2]

49

male

USA

this is the 'tough' one, i've been around guns most of my life and enjoy them tremendisly, that said i look at guns as something to both have fun with(target and skill) and as a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands.

Stat's have shown that in area's with concealed carry right's, violent crime is down, the bad guys don't know who's going to fight back!!!

Counter to the world wide belief, you just can't walk into a store and walk out with the weapon of choice here, in California there has been a waiting(2 weeks) period for handguns for as long as I can remember and for rifles for for the last 6-7 years.

Automatic weapons have been strictly regulated since the '30's and while it's harder to get semiauto rifles now they represent less than 1% of violent crime.

N.R.A. member for over 35 years................

[duest 0]

1. What is yours age?

23

2. What is your gender?

Male

3. Do you live in a country where they have tight gun control laws (like England) or a country with fewer laws in the area of gun control (USA).

Yup, Australia

4. What is your personal opionion on gun control? Is it a good or a bad thing? Explain your answer.

I think it is a good thing. Having spent 2 years in the Army Reserves I understand how much fun shooting can be. Having said that, I also met some slightly less than balanced people there and I

[Autumnpuma 0]

35

Male

USA

Well, ykick, this is a difficult question. I'll really do my best to help, however. Please ask me any questions you want if you need me to clarify a point.

To understand my view, you should know that I believe an armed and trained populace is the best defense against an oppressive government (native or otherwise). It's the 'armed and trained' part that will explain my views on gun control.

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed."--United States Constitution, 2nd Ammendment.

Notice the area in bold? That part is crucial because it sets the 'stage' for the rest of the ammendment. Our Founding Fathers intended for our right to bear arms to be as 'a well regulated milita'. This means the federal government has the constitutional right to define 'well regulated'. Gun control, boys and girls, is perfectly legal and is upheld by the Constitution. Now is banning certain weapons what I would advocate just because the constitution allows it?

No.

I advocate no bans on any weapon. I advocate government paid training/safety classes at local Community Colleges or Police stations before being allowed to purchase handguns and certain rifles (excluding antique firearms). I advocate our existing California waiting period for gun purchases and federal registration for all gun purchases. I would also institute a 'militia roll' that gun owners could join to bring us in line with what our founders had in mind by 'militia'.

I also am a N.R.A. member (12 years) and some of my views do not always go well with my fellow members however, I agree with pumpdoc. Every word.

Here's some pics to establish a small bit of credibility and to show-off a few nice milsurp rifles...

[amjay 0]

1. What is yours age?

23

2. What is your gender?

Male

3. Do you live in a country where they have tight gun control laws (like England) or a country with fewer laws in the area of gun control (USA).

Malaysia... super tight gun control

4. What is your personal opionion on gun control? Is it a good or a bad thing? Explain your answer.

Thankyou to anyone who responds to these questions and feel free to debate the issue if you feel like like you normally would.

in my opinion its a darn good thing...

down here normal citizens are not allowed to hold guns... usually from what i know those who have licence for guns are the top guys (minister, politicians, top firm chairmans etc).... apart from tht only security firms, police and the armed forces have guns in fact cops are not allowed to bring their guns home unless authorised... safe to say about 1 % of the population or even less than tht... if anyone else is found with a gun or even suspected of having a gun they can be charged under the internal security act (or ISA) which allows the police to arrest on the scene and keep u under detention for as long as necessary for their investigation without trial ...

while this might sound a lil against human rights... it was a necessity as at the time of independence as communism was a problem and this law helped curb it.... now however the law is maintained as it allows police to catch suspected terrorists or crminals and hold them while investigations go on rather than have them flee the country...

i said earlier gun control is good coz i just dun like the idea of my neighbour having a gun... i wouldn feel safe to even let my dog wonder in my yard...

[monza gorilla 1]

43 year old male from England. Gun control? Yes, there should be some form of control, but the knee jerk reactions of politicians over here have not made any material difference to the state of play. Nutcases will still get guns. Bad guys will still get guns.

[pumpdoc 2]

43 year old male from England. Gun control? Yes, there should be some form of control, but the knee jerk reactions of politicians over here have not made any material difference to the state of play. Nutcases will still get guns. Bad guys will still get guns.

Ecxactly, when does one with criminal intent give a flying **** about laws or regulations.............

Mike those look like some of the fine rifles that Big-5 sells

[YHR 0]

I'm a male, living in Canada, who has just witnessed our government waste 2 Billion dollars on an ineffective gun registry.

Stats indicate gun crimes did not go down. All the guns used in the crimes were unregistered. Go figure, criminals don't register guns.

Asking law abiding citizens to register their guns, and then hiring a staff to manage the data collected is an absolute waste of time and money.

Ordinary citizens do not need automatic weapons. Just so I am very clear on this, my mind is made up, closed ,no need to debate. No one can present any argument to me that will demonstrate the need to own an automatic weapon in a generally civilized law abiding society.

Simple inexpensive solution

Make automatic weapons illegal to own, sell or transport. Put in heavy penalities. 10 years, no parole for being in position of a weapon. Life for selling them.

The money you would spend on a national gun registry should be funneled into law enforcement, and Border control.

So yes I am in favour of gun control, but only on automatic weapons and assault ammunition.

A nation who's population has the right to own a gun, ends up strong and free. We all know that power corrupts. If guns are banned completely then all the power is transfered to politicians and the military. Once this happens, you then have the recipe that will allow corruption and a military coup. I am not saying it will happen,but I m saying you have built a system that can allow it to happen, and that is a bad idea.

A lightly armed free populus presents a mighty big stick, not only for national security, but for domestic policy!!!!!!

[Kennye 0]

1. What is yours age?

49 (but younger than PUMP )

2. What is your gender?

Male

3. Do you live in a country where they have tight gun control laws (like England) or a country with fewer laws in the area of gun control (USA).

Yes, New York, USA

4. What is your personal opionion on gun control? Is it a good or a bad thing? Explain your answer.

I think there needs to be some form of gun control. There needs to be a waiting period to purchase any type of gun, Calif/NY and a few other states have that in place. This will allow a background check on the individual before handing him a potential weapon.

The real problem here in the US is that all states do not have this waiting period. As much as I hate big government and think they interfere to much already. If it became a federal law, gun sales and gun running to strict states would decrease and make it harder for criminals to get guns.

I do not want to see banning of all guns. I have a few rifles from my hunting days with my Grandfather. Have not hunted since he passed away, but two of them were his and are my last connection to him.

Former member of NRA, when they went overboard, I went south....

[Max Mosley 2]

I'm a 24 year old male from England.

Guns don't kill people. If they did, I can blame misspelled words on my pencil.

I like that.

To understand my view, you should know that I believe an armed and trained populace is the best defense against an oppressive government (native or otherwise). It's the 'armed and trained' part that will explain my views on gun control.

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed."--United States Constitution, 2nd Ammendment.

I disagree with this argument. I'm not sure a well armed populace was much use against Saddam Hussein (instead they are causing infinitely more trouble now!) whereas Ukraine was seized more successfully through peaceful protest. The best defences against oppression are education, free speach and a proper democratic system with checks and balances. Often oppressive governments have at least some popular support especially initially so an armed population will do little good, whereas the above might imho.

In any case I think the chances of this being relevant in the US or Australia are minute (because my "best defences" are in use!). The real issue is whether gun control would reduce crime. Tbh I don't know. I would have instinctively said yes but perhaps the evidence is more mixed than we think. Crime statistics are notoriously unreliable and I suspect one can "prove" just about anything, and hence nothing, with them. At the end of the day I would just rather be in a country with no guns, certainly until someone shows conclusively what their effect is. I find it very hard to imagine ever wanting to carry one, even to protect a future family - I'd be more worried about my kids getting hold of it.

[Jenson_Rules 0]

1. 17

2. Male

3. The United Kingdom Of Great Britain.

4. Here I go...

1st, lets have a little statistic... on average the amount of people killed each year by guns in the USA are 11,000 +, Canada is around 500+ and here in old blighty, a measely 79 on average per year. That says a lot already doesn't it?

To argue against this, we do only have a population of 59,000,000 whereas America has about triple that thus one would expect a greater amount of gun related murders, however, 11,000 is a HUGE amount. One has to think tighter gun laws are far better.

We must not think banning guns for the public and stuff like that would eradicate the amount of gun crime however because I do believe the killer has it in him already and they would simply just get a gun off the black market.

I think tight laws are very good, infact I think they are brilliant.

And I agree with Murray, having guns to protect your family is terrible, what if the children got hold of them. Would you relly want that? I know I wouldn't.

So in other words, guns are bad, the Americans are pathetic scaredicats and have to have guns so they can shoot whatever scares them whether it be another man or a poor defenceless grizzly bear, which I would root for over an American, Infact I say give the bears guns so they can go hunt down the americans that used to hunt them.

[Autumnpuma 0]

Mike those look like some of the fine rifles that Big-5 sells

The Enfield was from Big-5, Mauser and Swiss were from an internet distributor. I like shooting those 'antique' rifles. They have a history to them that the newer ones just don't have.

Edit: Actually, now that I'm thinking on it, the Enfield came from Turner's...

[YHR 0]

I'm a 24 year old male from England.

I like that.

I disagree with this argument. I'm not sure a well armed populace was much use against Saddam Hussein (instead they are causing infinitely more trouble now!) whereas Ukraine was seized more successfully through peaceful protest. The best defences against oppression are education, free speach and a proper democratic system with checks and balances. Often oppressive governments have at least some popular support especially initially so an armed population will do little good, whereas the above might imho.

In any case I think the chances of this being relevant in the US or Australia are minute (because my "best defences" are in use!). The real issue is whether gun control would reduce crime. Tbh I don't know. I would have instinctively said yes but perhaps the evidence is more mixed than we think. Crime statistics are notoriously unreliable and I suspect one can "prove" just about anything, and hence nothing, with them. At the end of the day I would just rather be in a country with no guns, certainly until someone shows conclusively what their effect is. I find it very hard to imagine ever wanting to carry one, even to protect a future family - I'd be more worried about my kids getting hold of it.

I agree with you on this.

Your comment about Saddam Hussein is open to debate. Comparing Iraq to the Western world, can not be done. There are too many differences in the culture that make it impossible to single out one particulair item for comparison. I could argue that Suddam Hussien and people like him are the very reason you want your population armed. The regime in Iraq is a perfect example of the "Government Military" forcing itself against the will of the people. Truth is, in Iraq, the only thing that will work may be strong armed tatics to control all the different factions until education has a chance of enlightening the populus. It is a very difficult situation, that has no easy answers.

[Kennye 0]

We must not think banning guns for the public and stuff like that would eradicate the amount of gun crime however because I do believe the killer has it in him already and they would simply just get a gun off the black market.

And I agree with Murray, having guns to protect your family is terrible, what if the children got hold of them. Would you relly want that? I know I wouldn't.

I agree here JR, but the person does not need a gun to kill, if the guns are removed from the equation, a knife or baseball bat (cricket bat ) can just as easily take it's place. Although I would guess murders would falll dramatically because most people that kill with guns are cowards and would not be able to look the person in the eyes as they kill them.

A close friend of mine ex-NYPD now FDNY called me two weeks ago about his friend and ex-partners 10 year old son. He found his fathers NYPD off duty revolver hidden in a basement closet while looking for the ball his mother took away earlier that day and shot himself through the eye. He had to get a ladder to climb up to the top shelf of the closet. He never knew what hit him, he was buried on May 6th. His father will never be able to forgive himself for leaving a loaded gun in the house without being locked up. One forgetful moment will haunt him for the rest of his life. This is someone trained to use fire arms, not Joe stupid living in U'allcomebacknow Arkansas.

I agree with both you and Murray here, the first thing you are taught with gun safety is never keep the gun loaded and never keep the shells in the same place as the gun.....

[AutoRacer5 0]

And I agree with Murray, having guns to protect your family is terrible, what if the children got hold of them. Would you relly want that? I know I wouldn't.

It's called locking them up. Making sure that they are unloaded. Have the shells in a different spot. Have one gun hidden so that if someone breaks in, they're gone.

So in other words, guns are bad, the Americans are pathetic scaredicats and have to have guns so they can shoot whatever scares them whether it be another man or a poor defenceless grizzly bear, which I would root for over an American, Infact I say give the bears guns so they can go hunt down the americans that used to hunt them.

defenceless? with one right in front of you, it aint defenceless.

I'll use an old analogy:

There are 10 houses on a street, 10 criminals, one to each house. 1st one goes in, tries to rob, shot and killed. 2nd guy goes in, tries to rob, shot and killed. 3rd one goes in, tries to rob, shot and killed.

4th-10th robbers? They're gone!

Pathetic? who broke away and defeated the best trained army in the world, while we were a bunch of rag-tag farmers? That's us.

Bears would just eat the guns. *inserts Carlos Mencia noise here*

[Max Mosley 2]

Your comment about Saddam Hussein is open to debate. Comparing Iraq to the Western world, can not be done. There are too many differences in the culture that make it impossible to single out one particulair item for comparison. I could argue that Suddam Hussien and people like him are the very reason you want your population armed. The regime in Iraq is a perfect example of the "Government Military" forcing itself against the will of the people. Truth is, in Iraq, the only thing that will work may be strong armed tatics to control all the different factions until education has a chance of enlightening the populus. It is a very difficult situation, that has no easy answers.

That, and the fact that the widespread ownership of guns in Iraq didn't make a difference, is my point. In fact the guns' main effect has been to hasten Iraq's descent into civil war and anarchy. I suspect this is a general pattern: once you give licence to anyone who feels oppressed to use violence its difficult to argue against animal rights extremists or Islamic terrorists etc. In the west we should rely instead on education, free speach for all and checks and balances in a proper democratic system imho.

It's called locking them up. Making sure that they are unloaded. Have the shells in a different spot. Have one gun hidden so that if someone breaks in, they're gone.

I think, at least where I live and at least with my sure-to-be-super-intelligent family, my kids working out where my gun's hidden is more likely than somebody breaking in. More importantly the consequences could be far worse in the former case. If they're locked up at home they're much less of a deterrent too. Why not just install better alarms, directly connected to the local police?

[Autumnpuma 0]

Response time from the Police will always be too slow. That being said, your gun should be your last defense against a home intruder. Far better to protect your home wisely by securing all windows and sliding glass doors, installing bright lights near every entrance and establishing a 'safe' point for all family members to run to in the event of a break-in. That 'safe point' should ideally be where your emergency kits and the like are stored (as well as your firearm).

As to storing your firearm: If you have children in the house, it's far better to keep your arms securely locked up in a combination-lock safe. Ammo should be in a separate box, if possible, also with a combination-lock. Having a loaded firearm ready to 'blast' an intruder greaty increases the likelyhood of your children finding said gun and using it. If you must have your firearm loaded and readily available, there are a number of good strategies in hiding that gun and the ammo, all of which I'll not relate here; but are available with research.

The best gun control is personal responsibility, education and common sense.

[monza gorilla 1]

Pathetic? who broke away and defeated the best trained army in the world, while we were a bunch of rag-tag farmers? That's us.

Had some help from the French, I believe, but that's history.

The best gun control is personal responsibility, education and common sense.

Indeed. Unfortunately I have a very low opinion of the average human being, and I wouldn't trust very many of them (with a firearm) as far as I could spit a rat (present company excepted of course).

[Max Mosley 2]

Indeed. Unfortunately I have a very low opinion of the average human being, and I wouldn't trust very many of them (with a firearm) as far as I could spit a rat (present company excepted of course).

Indeed. Until its clear what effect guns actually have I'd rather take my chances in a relatively gun-free society. Home intruders are not a big worry for me really and I would worry more if I expected guns to be involved.

[Autumnpuma 0]

Indeed, Russ.

I don't have hard figures to back this statement up, but I believe most gun crimes aren't committed by members of the NRA. I'm sure a few are, but any organization draws it's fair share of nutcases. My point in this statement is to say that, contrary to popular propaganda, the NRA membership is filled with responsible gun owners. There are a great many of irresponsible people in the world, but in America, the vast majority of legal, NRA-member gun owners are responsible. I go to my local range fairly frequently and I've only seen one irresponsible gun owner (who was quickly sent on his way by the range safety officer).

Also, alot is being said about America and our guns, but nothing about the Swiss. Perhaps some could post about them and their policies? As I understand it, the percentage of Swiss citizens that own firearms is greater than the percentage of Americans who do (judged against total population). Aside from that, my knowledge is a bit lean

[Max Mosley 2]

Would you trust this man with a weapon?

The weak or the strong, who got it goin on

You're dead wrong

The weak or the strong, who got it goin on

You're dead wrong

Ladies and gentlemen...

There's several different levels to Devil worshippin: horse's heads,

human sacrifices, canibalism; candles and exorcism

Animals havin sex with 'em; camels mammals and rabbits

But I don't get into that, I kick the habit - I just,

beat you to death with weapons that eat through the flesh

And I never eat you unless the ****in, meat looks fresh

I got a lion in my pocket, I'm lyin, I got a nine in my pocket

and baby I'm just, dyin to c#ck him

He's ready for war, I'm ready for war

I got machetes and swords for any faggot that said he was raw

My uz' as, heavy as yours, yeah you met me before

I just didn't have as large an arsenal of weapons before

Marshall will step in the door, I lay your head on the floor

With your body spread on the bedspread, red on the wall

red on the ceilin, red on the floor, get a new whore

Met on the second, wet on the third;

then she's dead on the fourth - I'm dead wrong

The weak or the strong, who got it goin on

You're dead wrong

The weak or the strong, who got it goin on

You're dead wrong

[Autumnpuma 0]

If he can prove he's committed no prior crimes and passes a rigid gun safety course, I see no reason why not. Poems and songs are made to sell books and albums and should not be used to draw a conclusion about the writer.

Edit: I would, however, question the society where that drivel would be popular (my own, no doubt!).

[Max Mosley 2]

Alas he has indeed committed crimes, although relatively minor ones! On a more serious note, so you might say this is the key and so not minor at all, songs are also made to reflect on human nature.