Do you own a gun?

[Option1]

<< But if that same person wishes to deprive other Americans of their firearms, I think they should be executed. >>

Now there's a rational and reasonable person who obviously should own as many guns of any type that he chooses. I would trust this person implicitly - wouldn't you?

SHEESSSHH

Another great argument that supports gun control!

Neil

 

[Zenmervolt]

<<

<< ...
People don't kill people, guns kill people...

ZV >>

Actually as the NRA has pointed out so often "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." And that is far and away the best reason I could ever put forward for keeping guns, the most effective tool for killing, out of the hands of people.

Neil
(Yes, I did realize your initial post was sarcasm) >>

You make a good point, but the people who want to use a gun to kill someone will find a way to get a gun, legal or not. If a burgler comes into my home at night, I'd like to have some recourse other than asking him to please leave. I mean, why not outlaw pocket knives, steak knives, bread knives, etc. After all, people can use them to kill people. You'll probably say that they aren't the most effective and that therefore we don't need to worry. But if we get rid of guns, then somehting else becomes the most effective. And once we get rid of that, something else will become the most effective, it begins to spiral into something that quickly becomes absurd.

ZV

 

[ai42]

My case modded computer will save me! Spent the extra 12 bucks for bulletproof plexiglass, why not! My computer will save me, yes my computer Muhuhahaha!

 

[jbod]

For instance anybody who has a gun collection and keeps cleaning their guns all the time...

I only fondle my guns after a shooting... They need a good rubbing every now and then.

Just because people own guns doesn't mean they sit around thinkg who it is they want to kill next.

That argument stinks and you know it. Only criminals think and act this way. Besides if I am going to protect my property, I need to think like they do. Get into the disturbing parts of my psyche and actually realize that people may in fact want to take my possesions, and maybe my life.

I want to be prepared.

 

[gogeeta13]

<<

<< NIne year olds walk around packing heat. Schools require metal detectors


I was meant to be comming to the US for a year's study soon (my middle year of uni is meant to be in the states), but i may well re-consider that. Although guns in the UK are not great the only gun i have to worry about anybody pointing at my face at college is maybe a m8's BB gun, now their fun but i don't see the real urge to carry a real gun and kill real people, just doesn;t make sense


Alex >>



Funny, but your crime rate in the UK is higher than ours, and you're afraid to come here? That's a laugh.

I'd rather take my chances here in a country that doesn't send people to jail for life simply for using deadly force to protect their homes and lives like your country does. >>



Well, in the USA our airports dont have soldiers armed with SMGs every 15 feet. And we can park our cars in the street without the likey chance of getting it stolen.

 

[wQuay]

<< And that is far and away the best reason I could ever put forward for keeping guns, the most effective tool for killing, out of the hands of people. >>



Actually, if I really wanted to kill someone, a gun would be my last choice.



<< But if that same person wishes to deprive other Americans of their firearms, I think they should be executed. >>



The above comment is clearly absurd, but if the authorities ever come to my door to confiscate my guns, I'll shoot em.

 

[jbod]

^^ This is getting absurd.

 

[StageLeft]

Q] You make a good point, but the people who want to use a gun to kill someone will find a way to get a gun, legal or not. If a burgler comes into my home at night, I'd like to have some recourse other than asking him to please leave. I mean, why not outlaw pocket knives, steak knives, bread knives, etc. After all, people can use them to kill people. You'll probably say that they aren't the most effective and that therefore we don't need to worry. But if we get rid of guns, then somehting else becomes the most effective. And once we get rid of that, something else will become the most effective, it begins to spiral into something that quickly becomes absurd.[/i] >>

This isn't necessarily true at all. If a criminal wants a gun and it's hard to get they ARE less likely to use one. If what you say is true then how come not all criminals are using fully automatic weapons? In most cases an uzi is better than a handgun for an armed robbery so why not use it? Because they are hard to get. If everyone is carrying around a gun legally (even people who are bad and about to commit a crime but have not yet done so) and they decide to commit a crime the gun is already on them. No need to go around spending time to look for one.

Lets take your getting rid of guns idea and reverse it. Instead of banning firearms how about we make all firearms legal? Yes, I think we should be selling UZIs and 50 cal machine guns all over the place. Why don't we do that if "guns are not evil"? It's because its gets bloody ridiculous. Do you think full autos should be just as easy to get as handguns and if not why not?

 

[Carbo]

<< Well, in the USA our airports dont have soldiers armed with SMGs every 15 feet. And we can park our cars in the street without the likey chance of getting it stolen. >>


Our airports are armed encampments now. Stolen cars are as common as mosquitoes in Florida, too.

 

[StageLeft]

<< Our airports are armed encampments now. Stolen cars are as common as mosquitoes in Florida, too. >>



True. UK's airports have been like that to counter terrorism from groups like the IRA. It has NOTHING to do with crime in the country as a whole, just as the new armed guards in US airports are not ther because the nation is suddenly less from regular crime.

 

[LordMaul]

Several.

 

[Spamela]

<<

<< And that is far and away the best reason I could ever put forward for keeping guns, the most effective tool for killing, out of the hands of people. >>



Actually, if I really wanted to kill someone, a gun would be my last choice.



<< But if that same person wishes to deprive other Americans of their firearms, I think they should be executed. >>



The above comment is clearly absurd, but if the authorities ever come to my door to confiscate my guns, I'll shoot em. >>



this argument is clearly absurd. what chance does an armed citizen have against military weapons?

ok, a group of armed citizens - most of the gun owners i know are fat, middle-aged, and way out-of-shape.

 

[Jzero]

<< Actually I did learn about guns when I was a penile-disadvantaged child at the age of 9.

The reason I make the distinction between semi-auto and auto, is that people portray semi's the same as an automatic weapon. There is a big difference.

How many people here know the difference? >>



Semi-Auto--When you pull the trigger, the gun discharges, the next round is loaded into the chamber and the firing pin is re-cocked.
Fully-auto--When you pull the trigger, all the above occurs AND the gun will continue to discharge and repeat.
IOW, Semi-Auto, one-click = one shot.
Fully-auto, one-click = many shots if you hold the trigger.

Semi-Auto basically saves you the trouble of having to cock after every shot.

 

[Carbo]

<< What ridiculous nonsense. And highly ironic nonsense at that. You claim you have balls, yet fear everyone around you just because they may be armed. How sad. >>

Yeah. How ridiculous I am to fear irrational, inebriated, and gun toting strangers in close quarters.
What the hell could I be thinking?

 

[Amused]

<<

<< <<Just remember folks, the cities with the highest gun related crime rates are those cities with the tightest controls on guns. >>

How dare you bring actual facts into the discussion. You clearly forget that the emotional non-arguments against guns are easliy superior when deciding this issue. I mean, come on. People don't kill people, guns kill people. All by themselves in fact. Guns are malicious little devices that actively and independantly seek to destroy life, love and all that is beautiful.

ZV >>



Nice little fact. Of course it ignores the other fact that the US on a per-capita basis dwarfs the hell out of Canada in gun-related crimes. The US & Canada share highly similar cultures. The likely difference? The fact that in Canada there is not a gun for every citizen in the country.

We've all heard the argument that "If you make it harder to get guns only criminals will have them.". On a short-term basis that may in fact be true. The real problem is that the US is so flooded with firearms that to institute more laws to remove them from society will just mean that a higher ratio of them are in criminal hands. What the US needs is:

1) Stricter laws such as those in Canada
2) This coupled with a major decrease in the number of guns in the US

If you impose 1) alone the "criminals will be the only ones with guns" argument may come to pass, so 2) has to be imposed at the same time. I don't know how to do it and nobody else really does either. What we can safely say is that until the US does something it's gun-crime will continue to be world famous. Constitutional right to bare arms isn't much of a consolation when you're bleeding from a gut-shot that you just received in a botched robbery. This is something that far fewer Canadians will ever have to worry about. >>



Your logic falls flat when one realizes that the Swiss and Israelis have a higher percentage of gun owners per capita than the US, yet a lower gun related crime rate than Canada's.

 

[IJump]

No, but I think everyone should know how to handle a weapon properly.

 

[jbod]

Thanks Jzero, but that was a rhetorical question....

 

[mdennison]

Yes! Few in Oklahoma don't have guns. Have to have one for every season

 

[SpecialEd]

I have a Nintendo Light Zapper.... does that count????

maybe I should register it with the authorities....

 

[Carbo]

<< Another fascist who feels the need to control everyone because they just might possibly hurt him. Yep, that's right, folks. Instead of punishing only those who have proven to be dangerous or irresponsible, these types of folks would rather punish the other 98% of us who have never, and would never harm anyone for any reason other than self defense. Speaking of self defense, they don't believe in it. They rather you be unarmed and helpless, because for some unknown, twisted reason, this makes them feel safer. >>

The one's who prove themselves to be dangerous or irresponsible do so by using the damn gun in the first place. That's the problem. We know after the fact that good ol' Joe was a psychopathic loner waiting to explode.

 

[Amused]

<<

<< What ridiculous nonsense. And highly ironic nonsense at that. You claim you have balls, yet fear everyone around you just because they may be armed. How sad. >>

Yeah. How ridiculous I am to fear irrational, inebriated, and gun toting strangers in close quarters.
What the hell could I be thinking? >>



Funny, I'm highly rational and sober, yet you'd seek to leave me defenseless for no other reason than your irrational fears. And yes, your fears are irrational, for less than .01% of legal gun owners ever commit a gun related crime, and fewer than that percentage of CC permit holders ever commit a gun related crime.

You fears are about as rational as clutching your purse tighter when passing a black man on the street. It's called stereotyping, and I thought that intellectual liberals such as yourself were above that kind of thing.

 

[Jzero]

<< Thanks Jzero, but that was a rhetorical question.... >>



Uhhh....
Oh.
hehe

More of a "How many of you 'gun-owners are murderers' types actually know what a gun IS?"
oops

 

[lawaris]

should I ??

 

[StageLeft]

<< Your logic falls flat when one realizes that the Swiss and Israelis have a higher percentage of gun owners per capita than the US, yet a lower gun related crime rate than Canada's. >>

This is the exact reason i was comparing the US and Canada - because their cultures are very similar. Once you start putting different nations into the mix with highly different cultures comparing them is totally and utterly useless. For instance in Switzerland yes a lot of people have guns. Of course since most of these people were forced to join the military and receive training and have had background checks and whatnot you can't compare them to some joe who went to a store and waited 72 hours for his handgun in the US.

 

[Amused]

<<

<< Another fascist who feels the need to control everyone because they just might possibly hurt him. Yep, that's right, folks. Instead of punishing only those who have proven to be dangerous or irresponsible, these types of folks would rather punish the other 98% of us who have never, and would never harm anyone for any reason other than self defense. Speaking of self defense, they don't believe in it. They rather you be unarmed and helpless, because for some unknown, twisted reason, this makes them feel safer. >>

The one's who prove themselves to be dangerous or irresponsible do so by using the damn gun in the first place. That's the problem. We know after the fact that good ol' Joe was a psychopathic loner waiting to explode. >>



Fine. I believe you to be a thief. You may not have stolen anything yet, but you might.

I also believe you to be a serial killer, even though you've done nothing to prove that yet. Therefore I'll be locking you up and limiting your freedoms immediately.

<sigh> It's too bad more schools don't make Ayn Rand required reading.