Should guns get banned?

[Mickey's Monkey]

Originally Posted by PrincessTeddyBear
Should the average person be banned from having guns? Yes. There is no need for a gun. And the points where people won't be able to defend themselves? Why do you need a gun to defend yourself? There's otherthings that you can do to defend yourself if someone was attacking you.

It's nice to see Supergirl weighing in on the debate. How easy is it, exactly, to catch those bullets when the criminals are shooting their guns at you?

 

[Bracho]

I don't think anyone needs a military rifle to hunt Bambi but I don't want my right to have a gun for protection taken from me. There has to be a middle ground...

 

[shortbun]

The criminal doesn't care if there is a handgun ban. That's why they are called criminals. If they want a handgun, they will get a handgun. Ban or no ban. The evidence is patently obvious in the UK.

Yes, they steal them from law abiding citizens who keep them in their homes to "protect" themselves and end up arming criminals. Ironic isn't it!?

 

[jen_uk]

The criminal doesn't care if there is a handgun ban. That's why they are called criminals. If they want a handgun, they will get a handgun. Ban or no ban. The evidence is patently obvious in the UK.

You make it sound like all criminals are armed with guns and I can assure you this is not the case! Yes a few criminals will always be able to get their hands on guns but the number is very small, as I said before I cant think of any crimes that have been commited here using a gun. When a gun is used it always makes national news, that shows how rare it is!

 

[dcentity2000]

The criminal doesn't care if there is a handgun ban. That's why they are called criminals. If they want a handgun, they will get a handgun. Ban or no ban. The evidence is patently obvious in the UK.

Bans make it harder to get guns. If this is not true, it is an issue for the police to be very embaressed about.



Rich::

 

[JimB.]

Bans make it harder to get guns. If this is not true, it is an issue for the police to be very embaressed about

Bans make it harder for law abiding folks to get guns, not the criminals.

& yes, the police should do more, but there is only so much they can.

If you could keep guns away from criminals, there would be nore perceived need by some to ban handguns, now would there?

 

[YepsenCP]

You make it sound like all criminals are armed with guns and I can assure you this is not the case! Yes a few criminals will always be able to get their hands on guns but the number is very small, as I said before I cant think of any crimes that have been commited here using a gun. When a gun is used it always makes national news, that shows how rare it is!

Ummm..... No. Having lived in both St. Louis and now Chicago, I can surely tell you that there are NUMEROUS gun-related crimes out there that don't even make the morning news let alone "National News."

There are many more criminals with guns than most of us would like to think... Good luck getting them to give them up.

 

[YepsenCP]

Bans make it harder to get guns. If this is not true, it is an issue for the police to be very embaressed about.Rich::

Ummm.... No, again. They make it harder for a novice criminal to get a gun maybe. But why do you think that can't always track the bullet to to owner?
Ever watched The Soprano's, or any other Maffia Movie for that matter?
Fiction, yes, but based in fact. These people get unregistered guns, regardless of legality... No waits, no backround checks, just cash = gun. This and plenty of amo to go with it. It's not as hard as the suburbanites would like to think.

See, do you think if an underground gun dealer will hear about a ban, then turn all his guns into the police? I'm willing to bet not.

All of this while the rest of us wait for our backround check to clear.

 

[hucifer]

I think it comes down to the definition of a criminal. Basically, a criminal interferes with the rights of another person or their property.

If guns are banned, and I still own one (and choose not to use it), in the eyes of the government, I am a criminal and should be incarcerated.

So on Sunday, I was a law-abiding citizen. Monday, when the gun law was passed, I suddenly became a criminal without doing a thing different. This law is based on fear. The fear that I will use it against another human, whether or not I ever will. And someone else's fear has just turned me into a criminal.

 

[LoraJ]

I think it comes down to the definition of a criminal. Basically, a criminal interferes with the rights of another person or their property.

If guns are banned, and I still own one (and choose not to use it), in the eyes of the government, I am a criminal and should be incarcerated.

So on Sunday, I was a law-abiding citizen. Monday, when the gun law was passed, I suddenly became a criminal without doing a thing different. This law is based on fear. The fear that I will use it against another human, whether or not I ever will. And someone else's fear has just turned me into a criminal.

But isn't owning a handgun to begin with based on fear?

 

[hucifer]

But isn't owning a handgun to begin with based on fear?

It can be, but lots of people own them for simple target practice. Many people buy them with no intention of using them against another human, no matter what the circumstance. They may consider shooting the floor to scare away home intruders, thus protecting themselves and their property without ever using it against a real criminal.

 

[dcentity2000]

Bans make it harder for law abiding folks to get guns, not the criminals.

LOL, if THAT'S true you have a rubbish police force!



Rich::

 

[dcentity2000]

But isn't owning a handgun to begin with based on fear?

It can be; it can also be based on a desire for power, a desire for having "one up", a desire to commit crime or simple desire to practice a skill.



Rich::

 

[Mickey's Monkey]

Yes, they steal them from law abiding citizens who keep them in their homes to "protect" themselves and end up arming criminals. Ironic isn't it!?

That's the ONLY place they get their guns? Wow. I did not know that.

 

[Mickey's Monkey]

Bans make it harder to get guns. If this is not true, it is an issue for the police to be very embaressed about.



Rich::

But they will still get them. That's the point. Drug laws supposedly make it harder to get drugs. We see how well that is working. I guess the police should also be embarrassed about car thefts, robberies, etc. All of those things are illegal, yet they still occur. What makes you think a gun ban will make it easier for police to keep those that want guns in check?

 

[Mickey's Monkey]

But isn't owning a handgun to begin with based on fear?

Maybe. But, so?

 

[dcentity2000]

But they will still get them. That's the point. Drug laws supposedly make it harder to get drugs. We see how well that is working. I guess the police should also be embarrassed about car thefts, robberies, etc. All of those things are illegal, yet they still occur. What makes you think a gun ban will make it easier for police to keep those that want guns in check?

It'll make it easier to arrest them - a brand spanking new law to break

I have a plan. You try to score some drugs and when you do, tell us how easy it was!



Rich::

 

[Mickey's Monkey]

It'll make it easier to arrest them - a brand spanking new law to break

I have a plan. You try to score some drugs and when you do, tell us how easy it was!



Rich::

Well, I'm pretty sure that it's a lot easier, as a law abiding citizen, for me to get drugs than it is, for me to legally obtain a gun. Also, if there were a gun ban, I'm sure my local crack dealer can get me a gun as easily as he can get me drugs. Still not seeing how a gun ban would solve anything.

Again, from the BBC:

"The Centre for Defence Studies at Kings College in London, which carried out the research, said the number of crimes in which a handgun was reported increased from 2,648 in 1997/98 to 3,685 in 1999/2000."

 

[TDC Nala]

Yes they can be friend's with a police officers child - only because I believe a police officer would be overly responsible with their weapon.

The young man who shot up the school in Minnesota last month, didn't the gun he used belong to his grandfather, who was a police officer?

 

[dcentity2000]

Well, I'm pretty sure that it's a lot easier, as a law abiding citizen, for me to get drugs than it is, for me to legally obtain a gun. Also, if there were a gun ban, I'm sure my local crack dealer can get me a gun as easily as he can get me drugs. Still not seeing how a gun ban would solve anything.

Again, from the BBC:

"The Centre for Defence Studies at Kings College in London, which carried out the research, said the number of crimes in which a handgun was reported increased from 2,648 in 1997/98 to 3,685 in 1999/2000."

See, that's where we disagree. I feel that a decent ban when enforced will make it harder to obtain something as there aren't, I dunno, shops selling it on the high street and so on

Firearm abuse has risen here in the UK, mostly down to the fact that prison life is softer, punishments more lenient and police presence is non-existent - we're not enforcing it well enough.

On the other hand, we've got nice economic growth, no more Dunblane occurences and we haven't collapsed in a heap, so we have to be doing SOMETHING right



Rich::