Should guns get banned?

[septbride2002]

and how do you know who the parents of your kids friends don't have guns? ....you don't and it is not your right to ask!

B.S.! It is my child playing in their house - I have every right to ask if there is a gun in the house. And if they refuse to answer (which is their right) then it is my right to decide my child can't play there.

~Amanda

 

[meandtheguys2]

Whose to say I won't just turn the gun around and beat them senseless with it?

Well, as long as you have a plan!

 

[chadfromdallas]

Yes guns should definately be banned! Its nice living in the UK with no worry about guns, whenever I am in the USA its always at the back of my mind that people have handguns and I dont like it at all!

This thread needs more comments from outsiders. I'd like to hear more comments about life without guns.

 

[disneyworld!]

B.S.! It is my child playing in their house - I have every right to ask if there is a gun in the house. And if they refuse to answer (which is their right) then it is my right to decide my child can't play there.

~Amanda

right.......I feel that way with smoking and drinking which kills more on a daily basis then guns do.......
sorry will not waste my time with .......

 

[Tartan Tigger]

Victoria Clydesdale, Emma Crozier, Melissa Currie, Charlotte Dunn, Kevin Hasell, Ross Irvine, David Kerr, Mhairi McBeath, Brett McKinnon, Abigail McLennan, Emily Morton, Sophie North, John Petriee, Joanna Ross, Hannah Scott, Megan Turner and their teacher, Gwenne Mayor, were all shot dead in their classroom at Dunblane, Great Britain.

How did gun control help them?

Gun control in Scotland came too late to help these innocent 5 year olds but since gun control came in we haven't had a repeat. As someone who lives 20 minutes from Dunblane and knew a child caught up in that terrible tragedy then I wholeheartidly agree with the ban on handguns we have here.

 

[septbride2002]

I don't understand why handguns and hunting rifles are different. A criminal can still kill people with a hunting rifle. If there are no handguns, say, for the sake of argument that they all disappeared, the criminals will use the hunting rifles. People will use hunting rifles in their homes in the place of handguns for protection.

Knives are also used to commit crimes....are they next? What about the new wave of criminals using needles filled with who-knows-what? No more needles either? People can build bombs in their kitchens and we're worried about banning certain types of guns??

If someone wants to commit a crime and/or kill people, they're going to do it whether there is a handgun available or not. Our big problem is that these people are out on the streets and not locked up for a good long period of time before they're "rehabilitated" and sent back out into society.

Here is my opinion on the issue, keep in mind it is just my opinion

Yes a rifle can be used by a criminal - but it is not easily concealed. If I see a guy heading for me with a rifle I know to run the other way. Someone with a hand gun in his jacket may be able to get up to me and shove it in my back w/o me seeing it coming. Now we can argue scemantics on it all - this is just my opinion.

A knife is a close weapon. Meaning the guy would have to get close enough to me to use it. Where as a gun he could shoot me from 10, 20, 30 feet away. There was a woman on Oprah who survived 65 stab wounds from her exhusband. I doubt she would have survived 10 gun shots.

With those 2 examples - I as a victim have a greater chance, I feel, of survival.

~Amanda

 

[wvrevy]

In 2002, there were 30,242 gun deaths in the U.S:

* 17,108 suicides (56% of all U.S gun deaths),
* 11,829 homicides (39% of all U.S gun deaths),
* 762 unintentional shootings (3% of all U.S gun deaths),
* and 300 from legal intervention and 243 from undetermined intent (2% of all U.S gun deaths combined).

Read that again.

You are nearly twice as likely to die by a gun either in an accidental shooting or by turning the gun on yourself than you are to be killed via homicide. All the crap about "only the criminals will have guns" is just that: crap.

Here's another FACT for ya': While handguns account for only one-third of all firearms owned in the United States, they account for more than two-thirds of all firearm-related deaths each year. A gun in the home is 4 times more likely to be involved in an unintentional shooting, 7 times more likely to be used to commit a criminal assault or homicide, and 11 times more likely to be used to attempt or commit suicide than to be used in self-defense.

And another: A gun in the home increases the risk of homicide of a household member by 3 times and the risk of suicide by 5 times compared to homes where no gun is present.

And another: Comparison of U.S. gun homicides to other industrialized countries:
In 1998 (the most recent year for which this data has been compiled), handguns murdered:

* 373 people in Germany
* 151 people in Canada
* 57 people in Australia
* 19 people in Japan
* 54 people in England and Wales, and
* 11,789 people in the United States


And another: More Americans were killed with guns in the 18-year period between 1979 and 1997 (651,697), than were killed in battle in all wars since 1775 (650,858).

Rant and rave about how much you like guns all you want. The FACTS are not on your side in this argument.

 

[septbride2002]

right.......I feel that way with smoking and drinking which kills more on a daily basis then guns do.......
sorry will not waste my time with .......

Then you can choose for you kids to not hang around families that smoke and drink. That is you looking out for your child. Which by the way - there is no smoking in my house, and very little drinking. And yes it is your right to ask a Mom - do you and your dh smoke? Especially if you don't want your child around it. And if you asked me I would more then happy to answer you.

~Amanda

 

[dcentity2000]

Why should we make life easy for the would be criminal?



Rich::

 

[disneyworld!]

Why should we make life easy for the would be criminal?



Rich::

gee all the criminals I know don't use guns!

 

[meandtheguys2]

OK, how about homicides in general in those countries, per capita? Wondering where your stats are from?

FWIW, if I wanted to kill myself or someone else, a handgun might be the easiest of choices, but I would find a way even without one.

 

[wvrevy]

I don't understand why handguns and hunting rifles are different. A criminal can still kill people with a hunting rifle. If there are no handguns, say, for the sake of argument that they all disappeared, the criminals will use the hunting rifles. People will use hunting rifles in their homes in the place of handguns for protection.

Knives are also used to commit crimes....are they next? What about the new wave of criminals using needles filled with who-knows-what? No more needles either? People can build bombs in their kitchens and we're worried about banning certain types of guns??

If someone wants to commit a crime and/or kill people, they're going to do it whether there is a handgun available or not. Our big problem is that these people are out on the streets and not locked up for a good long period of time before they're "rehabilitated" and sent back out into society.

I'm sorry, but I've always thought this argument as ridiculous. The next logical step in your argument is to say "well, hands could choke someone, so should they be banned too" This is the pitiful attempt at "logic" put forth by those that want to see street sweepers and other fully automatic assault rifles available to the general public.

Here's a tip for those trying to make this argument: it takes SKILL to kill with a knife, and it takes SKILL to kill with a rifle, for the most part. Any moron can pick up a handgun and start blazing away from close range, since you can never see him coming. Trying to equate guns (which have killed hundreds of thousands in the past decade alone) to knives is just a pitiful attempt to defend the indefensible.

 

[septbride2002]

In 2002, there were 30,242 gun deaths in the U.S:

* 17,108 suicides (56% of all U.S gun deaths),
* 11,829 homicides (39% of all U.S gun deaths),
* 762 unintentional shootings (3% of all U.S gun deaths),
* and 300 from legal intervention and 243 from undetermined intent (2% of all U.S gun deaths combined).

Read that again.

You are nearly twice as likely to die by a gun either in an accidental shooting or by turning the gun on yourself than you are to be killed via homicide. All the crap about "only the criminals will have guns" is just that: crap.

Here's another FACT for ya': While handguns account for only one-third of all firearms owned in the United States, they account for more than two-thirds of all firearm-related deaths each year. A gun in the home is 4 times more likely to be involved in an unintentional shooting, 7 times more likely to be used to commit a criminal assault or homicide, and 11 times more likely to be used to attempt or commit suicide than to be used in self-defense.

And another: A gun in the home increases the risk of homicide of a household member by 3 times and the risk of suicide by 5 times compared to homes where no gun is present.

And another: Comparison of U.S. gun homicides to other industrialized countries:
In 1998 (the most recent year for which this data has been compiled), handguns murdered:

* 373 people in Germany
* 151 people in Canada
* 57 people in Australia
* 19 people in Japan
* 54 people in England and Wales, and
* 11,789 people in the United States


And another: More Americans were killed with guns in the 18-year period between 1979 and 1997 (651,697), than were killed in battle in all wars since 1775 (650,858).

Rant and rave about how much you like guns all you want. The FACTS are not on your side in this argument.

Great facts - thank you! We lost a friend to a gun shot - he was a police officer and in a struggle the drug dealer got a hold of his gun and killed him. It was tragic - he was 24. There is no need for anyone to have a hand gun.

~Amanda

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Yes guns should definately be banned! Its nice living in the UK with no worry about guns, whenever I am in the USA its always at the back of my mind that people have handguns and I dont like it at all!

Oh brother. Yep we are all just running around, brandishing our weapons looking for people to shoot. You know bad guys do have other means of killing people, easier, simpler means.

 

[chadfromdallas]

You know bad guys do have other means of killing people, easier, simpler means.

It really doesn't get much easier than pulling a trigger...

 

[dcentity2000]

gee all the criminals I know don't use guns!

Love the sig by the way

Homicides in Europe and the USA are comparable overall according to Interpol; neither is runaway.



Rich::

 

[DawnCt1]

Correct me if I am wrong, but haven't most school shootings we have heard about involved rifles?

Concealed under trench coats! Maybe we need to ban trenchcoats.

 

[meandtheguys2]

Thanks Rich.

 

[jen_uk]

Oh brother. Yep we are all just running around, brandishing our weapons looking for people to shoot. You know bad guys do have other means of killing people, easier, simpler means.

yes but if you stab or strangle someone for example you have to get very close to them making it much harder not just physically but emotionally as well, shooting someone is simply pulling a trigger! Plus it seems that any idiot can get a gun in the USA! And if any of those people on Jerry Springer have one then that scares me!

 

[orangeblossom]

Hell no....I'm sorry but the 2nd Amendment guarantees me my right to have a gun (and I'm quite a good shot.) If we let that Amendment go by the wayside, which one will the politicians take from us next and how will we stop them?