Should people be able to own guns?

[Bluerang1]

No, no, no. It makes America the more scary to think of living in. Guns help at home. Not around town.

 

[Timbjerr]

Guns are a tool created by humans out of their utter sloth. What happened to the good old days where if you wanted to kill someone, you'd do it with your own two hands or perhaps a blunt object? Killers and murderers nowadays are too lazy. >_>

Yeah...banning guns won't do much good. Murderers will still find a way to kill people even without their magical handheld killing devices. :P

 

[Åzurε]

Banning guns bad. It's unfortunate, but people with bad intentions tend to use them. If they think the other person has a gun too, well, I at least would be infinitely more reluctant to go into their homes in the hopes of stealing or killing.

 

[Esper]

Ban 'em. The really determined criminals will still get their hands on guns/kill people/commit crimes, but the moderately determined criminals will be deterred thus leading to fewer crimes/deaths.

Also, this video.

 

[.Gamer]

I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed. I mean, as long as you aren't retarded or a felon you can own a gun. I have no problem with that. In places like New York where you can't own a gun, criminals still have them, so its clearly not effective. Luckily, in America, we have a constitution that prevents them from being taken away.

 

[Kenpari]

I believe people should be able to own guns for self-defense or hunting/shooting practice. Though I'm toward the side of limiting what kind of guns they can have. Not everybody needs a heavy machine gun in their closet.

 

[Sneeze]

If we outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns. ~ Unknown

Guns should be legal for self defence, if a someone breaks into your house with a gun, and you are unarmed you don't stand a chance. Something being illegal doesn't mean it disappears from the face of the earth, it just makes it hard to obtain, anyone who wants a gun enough can easily get one nowadays. They should be legal so your average law abiding citizen can defend themselves should they need too.

 

[Rich Boy Rob]

If we outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns. ~ Unknown

Guns should be legal for self defence, if a someone breaks into your house with a gun, and you are unarmed you don't stand a chance. Something being illegal doesn't mean it disappears from the face of the earth, it just makes it hard to obtain, anyone who wants a gun enough can easily get one nowadays. They should be legal so your average law abiding citizen can defend themselves should they need too.

I know at least until late last year in the UK, attacking someone who broke into your house made you the felon. (Then there was a huge outcry when a man was jailed because he attacked the man who was holding his family at gunpoint with a cricket bat but that's another story).

As for guns in general, I think they should stay banned. Farmers, build an electric fence. Hunters, become farmers. Policeman, buy a tazer (I mean what good is a dead convict, that's basically the death penalty). The only people who should be allowed guns should be the military.

 

[Åzurε]

I mean what good is a dead convict, that's basically the death penalty. The only people who should be allowed guns should be the military.

By that logic, the opposing side in a military conflict has done something worthy of death by being deployed there.

Cops don't (in general [i hope {XP}]) like to just shoot people. policemen fire guns in self-defense, against criminals who don't want to be apprehended, and are willing to use a gun themselves to stay un-caught. There are disadvantages to using tasers. Among them is the range issue.

 

[PokemonLeagueChamp]

Damit, when the zombie apocalypse comes, I gotta be able to fight for my life!

Seriously though, Americans have the right to bear arms because of the Revolutionary War days, so that should a government become too corrupt or a dictatorship is put in place, we can rise up and take them out. Of course, if the government is backed by the military, we'll get our rear ends kicked. But that, and self-defense against such things as murderers and robbers, as well as for hunting, are why gun-owning is legal.....so long as you get a license and your gun is registered.

 

[Sneeze]

Electric fences don't really help against animals that can dig...

And yeah, a tazer is hardly gonna help against someone who's gone crazy with an assault rifle in a shopping centre. Police needs guns for some situations.

 

[Legobricks]

I think a stiletto not exceeding XYZ dimensions should be allowed to be kept on person in public for personal defence. Owning a firearm is not an especially viable form of self-defence as most such crimes are things like muggings which will be within an arm's reach; an average pistol can be effective up to I think 150 metres, highly redundant and possibly rather dangerous to bystanders.

As for things like war, sport, hunting, culling, removal of vermin, that's all fine and well for guns by me. I don't believe the average policeman however should be entrusted a firearm; better left to specialised firearms units.

 

[Lucy Lu]

The only people who are allowed to have guns are police and soldiers. No one else. I am sorry I am scared of guns. I don't think I will ever touch one. There are too many people getting hurt/killed over not knowing how to hold a gun. And some many bystanders are getting shot with no reason. Because someone has a gun...they should be outlawed to normal citizens. Only the law enforcement should have them. But the Amendment does say you are allowed to "Bear Arms". Still though...ugh. I hate guns. ;_;

Okay, well on tv...seeing a gun won't bother me. Just seeing one real life...I have a problem.

 

[Yusshin]

I'm with Lucy; the only people who should be legally allowed to have a gun should be the policemen and soldiers. Possession of a gun otherwise shoud be an indictable offence.

As for needing guns for defence against rabbits or w/e, there are always old-fashioned traps, anti-rodent sprays (basically, a smell that would scare them off thinking it's a predator), and the electric fence. I'm sure there are tons of other ways to scare off pesky rodents, too. Insects have pesticide; crows have scarecrows. There's gotta be something other than guns to scare off a pack of rodents.

Guns cause so much fear and violence. So many people are harmed, robbed, etc. by them. I despise guns.

 

[FreakyLocz14]

Wow all the unconstitutional sentiment in this thread amazes me.

We can't just pick and choose what constitutional rights people should have and ignore parts of the Constitution we don't agree with. That sets a dangerous precedence.

 

[Yusshin]

I think they should have initially put in the constitution that soldiers and policemen have the right to bear arms - not every crazy citizen that walks in the door, passes a test of age, and demands a gun.

I believe the constitution is errored for having not developped that thoroughly enough. Meh.

 

[FreakyLocz14]

I think they should have initially put in the constitution that soldiers and policemen have the right to bear arms - not every crazy citizen that walks in the door, passes a test of age, and demands a gun.

I believe the constitution is errored for having not developped that thoroughly enough. Meh.

No, there was a reason why the Framers made it so average citizens can carry guns. The term well-regulated militia is interperted to mean that average citizens need to be armed in case the government grows opressive and they need to rise up and overthrow it. Without that they are vulnerable to opression.

The U.S. Supreme Court has also recognized that people can own firearms and keep them in their home for protection against criminal invasions on their home and the people that reside within. In D.C. v. Heller the Court struck down a D.C. ordinance that said all firearms has to be disassembled and rendered inoperable to be in compliance with the law.

 

[Guillermo]

I'm with Lucy; the only people who should be legally allowed to have a gun should be the policemen and soldiers. Possession of a gun otherwise shoud be an indictable offence.

As for needing guns for defence against rabbits or w/e, there are always old-fashioned traps, anti-rodent sprays (basically, a smell that would scare them off thinking it's a predator), and the electric fence. I'm sure there are tons of other ways to scare off pesky rodents, too. Insects have pesticide; crows have scarecrows. There's gotta be something other than guns to scare off a pack of rodents.

Guns cause so much fear and violence. So many people are harmed, robbed, etc. by them. I despise guns.

You've got to be kidding me, right? Gun violence is, as Salem said, as low as low can be. Even police officers don't need guns, 90% of the time. Really, the only time I know a police officer has needed a gun was when someone was coming at him with a knife, and even then the gun was not needed. The guy was never shot. There's more knife violence and fist violence than anything else. Are you going to ban people from having hands? They can kill, so there you go. There's more direct suicide than there is murders of other civilians involving guns.

As for your whole trap idea, a lot of animals are smart enough to maneuver around them. Scarecrows don't always work, and as I said earlier, the electric fence would not work. Having an electric fence around your farm is just stupid, really. Why would anyone do that? That has the potential to do more damage than a gun does.

About the whole robbing thing, too. It doesn't matter if you used a gun, a knife, your fists, pepper spray, or what. If someone jumped out and said, "Give me your wallet" and you didn't know some form of defense, then you would.

 

[Sneeze]

As for needing guns for defence against rabbits or w/e, there are always old-fashioned traps, anti-rodent sprays (basically, a smell that would scare them off thinking it's a predator), and the electric fence. I'm sure there are tons of other ways to scare off pesky rodents, too. Insects have pesticide; crows have scarecrows. There's gotta be something other than guns to scare off a pack of rodents.

Guns cause so much fear and violence. So many people are harmed, robbed, etc. by them. I despise guns.

What about organic food that doesn't need to be coating in pesticides, and most, if not all traps aren't instantaneous and are inhumane, a trap is gonna be a pretty painful death, a well placed bullet isn't.

And the latter point is the very reason we need guns, so you can defend yourself against these people, as I said in a previous post, if guns are illegal people will still get them through the black market, and then there's always corrupt police officers to worry about.

 

[RTHookers]

Yeah, more addicted people to counter strike killing their moms because "They camped in the toilet!".

Anyway, if a thief comes in, shoot him in the leg and he's incapacitated. Useful.