Gun Control in America

[Samboy]

I think they should have a caliber limit, if there is not one in place already. Having a smaller caliber handgun will decrease accuracy, and hopefully increase safety with those that people carry.

I was walking to the local shops the other day, when a guy from a certain security company jumped out of a security van. I couldn't help but notice the gun at his belt. He had a Magnum! I'm not an expert, but I could tell as this was a large gun that is was over 40 cal. I guess this is legal, but why not have a smaller gun?

I'm not sure how things are in America, but usually security guards and policemen carry small Glock handguns in Australia. Even though he was licensed to carry one, isn't that a little too large for the job?

Currently it is illegal to carry guns in public without a special license in Australia. I know America is different, and that's why there are so many "Virginia Techs" happening. This happens very little in Australia for the very reason that we can't publicly carry guns. Some may argue, but it must count for something.

 

[AceJP]

Good point you have here, but I would yell and use something edgeless. I hope I never experience such a thing, but I know I would never own a gun for these reasons. Well if I will ever be robbed I'll be an easy victim...I might get shot...

When I was 16, I was robbed at gun point while working at Taco Bell.
The guy wanted money, and since it wasn't my money, I gave it to him and let him go.
Scariest. thing. in my life.

But to be honest, if that happend again in my home, where my wife is,
I wouldn't even let him get out "give me your money"
it would be "Give me- BANG BANG BANG"

Because I would never even let him have a chance at hurting my wife, whether he ment to or not. He invaded my home. And for those who dont have a home to protect yet (home = famliy, livelyhood, everything you've worked for; not neccessarily possessions) I can understand how you might not agree with this perspective. I never could have imagined how protective I feel now about my home when I was 16.

I think they should have a caliber limit, if there is not one in place already. Having a smaller caliber handgun will decrease accuracy, and hopefully increase safety with those that people carry.

It was my understanding that the smaller the caliber, means less fire power and easier to aim.
Higher the caliber, the more kick/recoil the weapon has hence harder to be acurate.

I may be wrong though.

And the police in Riverside County (CA) carry glocks or revolvers.

 

[Minkoff]

You wouldn't have to have a gun for protection against people with guns if the people werent allowed to have guns in the first place!

I didn't get far into this because I have to go to work soon (I'll catch up in the rest of the thread there) but this sentence stuck out to me.

ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?

That's simply NOT TRUE. the reason people want guns to be legal is to counterbalance the people who have them illegally. ENTERING PEOPLES HOUSES AND STEALING SHIT IS ILLEGAL. if people are doing that I DONT THINK THE LAW IS GOING TO STOP THEM FROM HAVING GUNS. in fact crimes would probably GO UP because they wouldn't have to worry about any guns on the defensive end.

if someone's a criminal that's not going to change. a LARGE AMOUNT of guns used by criminals like this ARE ILLEGAL ANYWAY (not registered, black market, etc) so the law isn't going to stop them.

stop thinking in your fantasy world and use some real logic

Currently it is illegal to carry guns in public without a special license in Australia. I know America is different, and that's why there are so many "Virginia Techs" happening.

WHAT. I seem to recall ONE virginia tech

 

[Venetia]

YES! Let's take away everyone's guns but the military's and the police's!

--Oh shit, I retract that statement. I just lost my freedom of speech because johnny law is pointing his lawmaker in my temple and I don't have anything to protect myself with.

Give me liberty or give me death ...... I guess I get death!

>_>

 

[Kraft]

If guns became illegal, and everyone didnt have them, people would still end up getting them.

If someone wanted to do a shooting, such as Virgina Tech, and they were committed on doing it, they would have no problem getting a weapon.

AND what about hunting?

How many people around the US hunt?

I would assume, most of them use guns (and bows)

Are you going to take all of them away?

If you were, then a huge chain reaction would occur...

Take away guns >>
Deer, elk, etc... animal population would grow >>
Because of that population growth, so would the population of bears, cougars, wolves... etc... >>
Because of that, wolves would start attacking people, peoples lifestock, etc...

And people wouldnt be able to do anything because they cant kill them.

Yes I know that probably isnt the best, but it illustrates the point.


I myself love hunting. it is really fun, and I really enjoy doing it.
I would hate it if people took away that right.

Also, America is a free country, and the right to bear arms is in the Bill of Rights.

If that was taken out, what would be next?
The Right to Religion? Freedom of Speech, or Press?

 

[bradleydfc]

Theres no way to win with this argument. The only way I could think possible is that the death penalty is introduced for anyone caught carrying a gun...

It may seem unfair, but I bet a heck of a lot less people would carry guns. It may seem extreme, but the problem is extreme too. It's a matter of fighting fire with fire now.

 

[Minkoff]

If you were, then a huge chain reaction would occur...

Take away guns >>
Deer, elk, etc... animal population would grow >>
Because of that population growth, so would the population of bears, cougars, wolves... etc... >>
Because of that, wolves would start attacking people, peoples lifestock, etc...

And people wouldnt be able to do anything because they cant kill them.

um. i'm with you on the idea that guns shouldn't be illegal but this argument is just fucking horrible

Theres no way to win with this argument. The only way I could think possible is that the death penalty is introduced for anyone caught carrying a gun...

yeah good idea man.......lets KILL EVERYONE with guns
before they kill us..

It may seem unfair, but I bet a heck of a lot less people would carry guns. It may seem extreme, but the problem is extreme too. It's a matter of fighting fire with fire now.

what. the problem isn't EXTREME now. HEY ONE GUY USED A GUN TO KILL SOME PEOPLE AT SOME SCHOOL IN ONE FUCKING INCIDENT doesn't mean that the entire fucking country's gun crime rate SUDDENLY SHOOTS UP EXPONENTIALLY

you people don't realize that the virginia tech thing WASN'T A BIG DEAL. it WAS ONE ISOLATED INCIDENT that HASN't HAPPENED BEFORE AND LIKELY WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN

 

[LosAngeles]

it WAS ONE ISOLATED INCIDENT that HASN't HAPPENED BEFORE AND LIKELY WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN

Dream on!

Well we had such an incident("Amoklauf in Erfurt" 26. April 2002) as well(only this one so far) and the result was a strictening of the Weapon Law(which is already one of the strictest)which became effective in January 2003.
I don't understand why your government can't achieve this.
At least a strictening!

 

[Minkoff]

I don't understand why your government can't achieve this.

Because it cares about the rights of its citizens.

 

[LosAngeles]

I understand. Because it's written in the Bill of Rights and you will say that it cares about the safety as well because it allows guns to protect yourself.
According to my common sense it's not safer, but I'm running out of arguments, so I have to let you take this point.

 

[AceJP]

you people don't realize that the virginia tech thing WASN'T A BIG DEAL. it WAS ONE ISOLATED INCIDENT that HASN't HAPPENED BEFORE AND LIKELY WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN

school shootings have happened at leaste a few times before this...
If school shooting wasn't what you were talking about, what was it?

 

[Venetia]

In light of school shootings ...

I think that we should focus more on counseling children and providing a more inviting and focused environment for kids in school and folks in college. Better access to psychologists, whether on the campus or otherwise, and less apathetic teachers and school officials. More focus on training for spotting abuse and mental health issues. Overtime pay for instructors who take time out of their day to pinpoint kids w/ problems and offer personal time to help them. Training seminars for parents who need to learn more about finding/fixing problems in the home. We give tickets for speeding in cars and have to attend driving classes--why not give tickets to parents who really neglect their children and they receive these empathy seminars?

Education is the great absolver. A kid's usually not going to be 100% fine all the way up until the day they shoot the hell out of everyone--they're going to display some level of mental wrongness.

Perhaps if the Columbine kids' parents had sat down and talked to them more, perhaps if Cho's (guy @ VT) professors had stopped and spoken with him and tried to find outlets for his aggressive behavior (because he had quite a history ... IMO he should have been Baker-Acted a long time ago) ... Perhaps those things might'nt have happened.

You take away the guns and they'll just stab someone. You take away the knives and they'll strangle. Anything can be a deadly weapon, and just because guns are deadly on a wider scale, taking them away isn't going to solve the root of the problem: mental health issues.

So long as people don't reach out and try to help other people, there will always be those that lash out violently.

Besides, cars kill W-A-Y more people than guns. So does alcohol (drunk driving and OD'ing). Why not outlaw that? Because you can't outlaw everything that can kill a person. The right to defense is a basic human right that should not be squelched. When it is, bad things happen to defenseless people.

 

[Minkoff]

school shootings have happened at leaste a few times before this...

A "few times" is NOTHING compared to the fucking MILLIONS OF SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY THAT HAVE NEVER HAD SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN.

I don't think you people realize that this kind of shit isn't like a WEEKLY THING. It's PRETTY FUCKING RARE.

 

[Vinderex]

I think that gun control is overdone. Of course I don't like the idea of M16s being open to the public, but I think everyone should have the right to carry a pistol unless of course they abuse it. The people who use guns to break the law don't care whether it's legal or not, so stricter gun control wouldn't do anything. I think that less strict gun control would actually prevent crimes.
Other than of course the police and other officials, the way things are now, for the most part only criminals have guns, and almost everyone else is defenseless. Less strict gun control would give potential crime victims a way to defend themselves.