US gun culture is 'corrupting the world'

[goldengyarados]

Please. Are you seriously trying to equate prohibition with banning guns? The average person likes to have a drink fairly often. The average person does not feel the need to commit homicide, or shoot anything for that matter. My point is that the only reason prohibition didn't work was because of the sheer scale of demand for alcohol. This demand far exceeds to the demand to own a lethal weapon.

But I didn't even need to say all that in order to demonstrate how poor op's argument is. Yes, of course it is inevitable that there would be an illegal market for guns, but you cannot deny that the number of guns would decrease were they banned. It's quite simple : Less guns=less gun crime=less homicides. Look at the homicide rate in any country that has made firearms illegal and you will see this. What you're saying is that because it's hard to ban guns, you shouldn't even try? It might take 100 years, but the US homicide rate would decrease, and I would no longer have to hear about the latest american school shooting every other week on the radio.

 

[Silais]

Please. Are you seriously trying to equate prohibition with banning guns? The average person likes to have a drink fairly often. The average person does not feel the need to commit homicide, or shoot anything for that matter. My point is that the only reason prohibition didn't work was because of the sheer scale of demand for alcohol. This demand far exceeds to the demand to own a lethal weapon.

But I didn't even need to say all that in order to demonstrate how poor op's argument is. Yes, of course it is inevitable that there would be an illegal market for guns, but you cannot deny that the number of guns would decrease were they banned. It's quite simple : Less guns=less gun crime=less homicides. Look at the homicide rate in any country that has made firearms illegal and you will see this. What you're saying is that because it's hard to ban guns, you shouldn't even try? It might take 100 years, but the US homicide rate would decrease, and I would no longer have to hear about the latest american school shooting every other week on the radio.

Your response does not change the fact that the United States' homicide rate is not nearly as high as people like to claim that it is. By the way, guns are not simply used for homicide; people collect them, and use them for hunting. I live in the Midwest; hunting is a massive part of our culture here. To justify a claim that we should ban guns simply because they can wound and kill people is, in my opinion, a poor argument. Should we ban other items that can wound or kill people even if they are used in other ways? Should we ban cars because people get into accidents that can wound or kill people? A firearm becomes a weapon when someone turns it against another with the mentality to do harm. Without the criminal intent, that weapon is a tool.

Did I say I was equating prohibition with gun control? No. I stated that similar instances would occur; a larger black market would grow, and there would be no real change in the amount of guns being sold to criminals and people who wish to go under the table to receive items and services they feel they need or deserve.

 

[goldengyarados]

Your response does not change the fact that the United States' homicide rate is not nearly as high as people like to claim that it is. By the way, guns are not simply used for homicide; people collect them, and use them for hunting. I live in the Midwest; hunting is a massive part of our culture here. To justify a claim that we should ban guns simply because they can wound and kill people is, in my opinion, a poor argument. Should we ban other items that can wound or kill people even if they are used in other ways? Should we ban cars because people get into accidents that can wound or kill people? A firearm becomes a weapon when someone turns it against another with the mentality to do harm. Without the criminal intent, that weapon is a tool.

Did I say I was equating prohibition with gun control? No. I stated that similar instances would occur; a larger black market would grow, and there would be no real change in the amount of guns being sold to criminals and people who wish to go under the table to receive items and services they feel they need or deserve.

Yeah, the homicide rate is most probably exaggerated, I'll agree with you there. I apologise If I was previously unclear, but I am not in favour on a ban on all guns, I just think that the gun licensing laws should be far stricter in the US. Where I live (England) you can still obtain a gun license, so you can still hunt, but they given out far more selectively. I have to disagree with you on the latter portion of your argument, the primary purpose of guns is to kill, this is not the case with any other tool. You simply cannot trust the general population with such dangerous weapons. If you give someone the means to massacre people, some will take that opportunity, this is an inevitability of human nature. So sure, maybe some people can't collect guns, but is it not preferable to reduce needless loss of human life? Are you claiming all humans are all going to become saints who would never dream of committing multiple homicides if given the means? Because I'm afraid that the entirety of human history is not exactly on your side here.

 

[Livewire]

What happened to Lane is disgusting and tragic, however, I wouldn't go so far to say that U.S. gun culture is 'corrupting the world'. That's a little sensationalist to me, it's just whipping up emotion. It's pretty much a domestic issue right now. I do think he's mostly right, though, the fact that you buy firearms without background checks is astounding to me. There needs to be sensible regulations and limitations - nobody of a right mind is calling for an outright ban to firearms, so lets be sensible here and not jump to wild conclusions.