Should guns get banned?

[MrsKreamer]

I'm not saying it wouldn't happen - but dang - lets at least make it HARDER for them. Right now it is so easy I could probably obtain a hand gun illegally if I wanted to.

~Amanda

Yep, just like I can walk down the street to buy crack. They have banned drugs now for years, but even though I don't use illegal substances, I can still obtain and abuse them.

 

[dcentity2000]

Yep, just like I can walk down the street to buy crack. They have banned drugs now for years, but even though I don't use illegal substances, I can still obtain and abuse them.

If it's easy your police are at fault.



Rich::

 

[septbride2002]

So your saying the criminals will target those without weapons if they're smart. So if they knew everyone didn't have one that would open more people up to crime right. Thanks for proving my point.

But the majority of those types of people wouldn't be carrying a hand gun anyway - I may have proven your point but I think I also proved my own. Most stupid criminals (and we all know they are out there) wouldn't bother to worry about whether a person had a weapon or not. I would not feel like having a hand gun on me would make me feel any more protected then not having one. Plus how do I know that my own weapon will not be used agains me. Like my friend Nick. RIP Nick.

~Amanda

 

[ncgolfer]

But the majority of those types of people wouldn't be carrying a hand gun anyway - I may have proven your point but I think I also proved my own. Most stupid criminals (and we all know they are out there) wouldn't bother to worry about whether a person had a weapon or not. I would not feel like having a hand gun on me would make me feel any more protected then not having one. Plus how do I know that my own weapon will not be used agains me. Like my friend Nick. RIP Nick.

~Amanda

Sorry about your friend, but I feel much safer with my gun with me.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

If it's easy your police are at fault.



Rich::

OH PLEASE.

And for those that are saying something should be done to those who do not protect their weapon in their homes from others, there are criminal charges for just that.

 

[MrsKreamer]

If it's easy your police are at fault.



Rich::

nope...my police are understaffed. the schools here are horrible. there is more money selling drugs and living on welfare, then getting a job.

 

[dcentity2000]

Sorry about your friend, but I feel much safer with my gun with me.

I do feel safer armed, but your police whould be able to replicate that feeling.



Rich::

 

[orangeblossom]

Do you need it though?

Why not own one but have it kept in a legal safehouse by authorised officials like over here? You can take it out to fire but not to abuse

Nice to know another marksman by the way



Rich::

I guess because I would like to know that if I were to be threatened I could put my skill to use.
Personally, I would have never learned but my dad encouraged me to after watching me play video games. He thought I would be good at it and I was.

 

[septbride2002]

nope...my police are understaffed. the schools here are horrible. there is more money selling drugs and living on welfare, then getting a job.

And who's fault is it that your police are understaffed? Or that your school district is bad?

~Amanda

 

[Miss Jasmine]

But the majority of those types of people wouldn't be carrying a hand gun anyway - I may have proven your point but I think I also proved my own. Most stupid criminals (and we all know they are out there) wouldn't bother to worry about whether a person had a weapon or not. I would not feel like having a hand gun on me would make me feel any more protected then not having one. Plus how do I know that my own weapon will not be used agains me. Like my friend Nick. RIP Nick.

~Amanda

Amanda, my DH is a police officer. He goes into EVERY situation KNOWING it is an armed encounter because he is armed. Unfortunately, what happened to your friend can happen. Police officers are trained to protect their firearm at all costs, but there are times they are overpowered. It's scary, but I would rather know my DH is out there with his firearm than without it.

 

[dcentity2000]

nope...my police are understaffed. the schools here are horrible. there is more money selling drugs and living on welfare, then getting a job.

Then your Government is at fault and the understaffing and underfunding must be addressed



Rich::

 

[septbride2002]

OH PLEASE.

And for those that are saying something should be done to those who do not protect their weapon in their homes from others, there are criminal charges for just that.

You are right Miss Jasmine - but most often those charges don't come up until there is a dead child. Not to mention the criminal charges don't seem to be stopping people from leaving their loaded guns laying around.

~Amanda

 

[ncgolfer]

I do feel safer armed, but your police whould be able to replicate that feeling.



Rich::

Do you have a 24 hr a day personal policeman. I don't so sorry, but no they couldn't.

 

[dcentity2000]

Do you have a 24 hr a day personal policeman. I don't so sorry, but no they couldn't.

Actually, at the moment I do feel as safe if not safer and I'm being treated for, among other things, paranoia!



Long live the police!



Rich::

 

[septbride2002]

Amanda, my DH is a police officer. He goes into EVERY situation KNOWING it is an armed encounter because he is armed. Unfortunately, what happened to your friend can happen. Police officers are trained to protect their firearm at all costs, but there are times they are overpowered. It's scary, but I would rather know my DH is out there with his firearm than without it.

And I am thankful that Nick's partner was armed and was able to kill the guy who shot Nick. I am all for police officers having guns - I would prefer that criminals didn't. Nick and his partner were in street clothes trying to make a drug bust - it went bad. Yes it happens, I'm just sad his boy will never know him.

I hope your DH always returns safely home to you.

~Amanda

 

[MrsKreamer]

Actually it is a lifestyle that is taught here. My DH has family members that do this, and have passed it on to their kids. People in my neighborhood do the same. It is the people of this country, not its government that needs to instill values. It's called personal responsibility. Just b/c I have access to a gun(which I do) doesn't mean I go commit crimes. I grew up in poverty, trust me it would have been easier to let the government take care of me. I was taught to be good, and work hard.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

And I am thankful that Nick's partner was armed and was able to kill the guy who shot Nick. I am all for police officers having guns - I would prefer that criminals didn't. Nick and his partner were in street clothes trying to make a drug bust - it went bad. Yes it happens, I'm just sad his boy will never know him.

I hope your DH always returns safely home to you.

~Amanda

Awhhh thanks. And I am sorry about the loss of your friend, Nick. So sad that a little boy is growing up without his dad.

 

[Eric95403]

But the number of guns isn't changing all that much. It is society that is getting screwier!

So we have a screwier society with access to more firearms? I'm feeling safer with that assessment.

If the gun is available...it is more likely to be used. A norteno and sureno are walking down the street. Since they are rival gang members, each having hits to kill on site when you see a member of the opposite gang. Both draw down...since no training was involved in their acquisition of the firearms..they miss all rounds fired. Several bystanders are hit and some killed. There are issues too numerous to list here (why were they involved in the gangs, etc..) but it comes down to..if they didn't have the guns, nobody would have been shot. They would have fought with their fists...like the old days when people had disagrements. That scenario happens everyday in America.

Yes people are the problem. Guns are not. But people with problems that have access to guns becomes all of our problem if we are in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can't protect myself if I don't know it's coming. How many times have you actually had to protect yourself with your own personal handgun? Insurance policy..I know.

 

[Tinkerbelle739]

I have nothing to add to the conversation, but that has got to be a record 139 responses in 2 1/2 hours!

WOW, hot topic!

 

[wvrevy]

Wow, I go away for half an hour and have WAY too much to address

1 - The argument comparing guns to drugs isn't valid. Drugs are grown and manufactured all over the country, as well as being brought in from abroad. The problem with the "War on Drugs" is that it doesn't address the root cause of the import business (that being the poverty of the farmers that are growing the drugs outside the country) nor the fact that drug use, for the most part, is a victimless crime. It's a tough sell telling somebody that the government knows more about what you should do with / to your own body than you do, particularly when they're so hypocritical about alcohol and tobacco. Sorry, but the analogy doesn't stand up.

2 - A concealed weapon is not a deterrant. Period. It is, however, a great danger to the person carrying it, as well as any bystanders should that person ever feel threatened enough to use it. Again, the statistics I quoted weren't made up out of whole cloth; a handgun is 22 times more likely to be used against it's owner (including in suicides) than it is to "defend" from an attacker. Argue with your emotions all you want, the facts all say differently.

3 - I had never picked up a gun in my life before entering basic training. I qualified as expert on my test in basic. (I've got the ribbon to prove it.)Why ? Because I've played a video game in the last 20 years, that's why. Don't give me that crap about how it's harder to kill someone than anyone thinks...ANY teenager that's played a video game could do it 9 times out of 10 from 20 yards or less.

4 - So, banning guns won't work ? Then why has it in other countries, including our VERY close neighbor to the north ?