Your 2nd Amendment

[SugaCrcl]

Here is a more recent article, fellas:

LINK
I know that here in North Carolina, we have federally licensed gun dealers that has to run background checks on anyone who wants to buy a gun (the Brady Law). Then after the sale, there are forms to sign; licenses and all that.

[REGNIRUTH]

what's the point of even owning a gun, when there are so many restrictions on it's use? if you shoot someone, even in self-defense, you might still end up in jail. because what if you end up killing the person?

Modern guns are so lethal, especially with some of the really destructive ammunition they are making these days. On any average human person all it takes is one bullet.

People get so carried away, they don't realize how powerful these things are. especially the guns that are available these days, I see (semi-autos)Ak-47s, M16s, DE .50 pistol, model 500 revolver all available at a local Dunhams sports store here in Michigan.
It bothers me that such guns are so easily available. WHY would anyone need a frickin M16? heh, collecting them is one thing, that's cool, if you want to have a collection of antique weapons and modern weapons just for show.

In terms of self-defense, your just increasing the risk for yourself and other people around you. also if it's the area you live in that isn't deemed safe, like Detroit for example, try moving away to a safer place. That way, you'll be safe and so will your neighbors.

People underestimate the responsibility of owning guns.
so It really might be a good thing that nobody should be allowed to have them.

[Atlantis]

People underestimate the responsibility of owning guns.
so It really might be a good thing that nobody should be allowed to have them.

The sad fact is, though, that if you look at history, practically all governments in the history of the human race have either started as tyrannies or devolved into them. Freedom is the exception in history, not the rule. The draftsmen of our Bill of Rights were extremely well aware of this and wrote in the second amendment to act as a reset switch should tyranny ever come to our shores.

Owning guns isn't about hunting, or sport-shooting, or even home defense, in the end. Owning guns is about keeping the ultimate power of the nation in the hands of the people. That is why civilian ownership of M16s is legal here. Yes, it's a responsibility, but a free country depends on responsible citizens.

"People should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people."

[Flake]

also if it's the area you live in that isn't deemed safe, like Detroit for example, try moving away to a safer place. That way, you'll be safe and so will your neighbors.

Thing is, in my world if I want to live in the "safe" part of town, I'd need to triple my income, just to rent a tiny flat..until then, I'm kinda in "The Hood".

so It really might be a good thing that nobody should be allowed to have them.

People who aren't allowed to have them will still get them if they want them..

I could probably get one and I'm not even a shady sort of guy, fuck knows how childishly easy it is if you happen to know scary people..

[light]

I wish they could just hand out guns for free once you hit like 14 or 15, if everyone had a gun there would be no crime in the world at all.

[Flake]

Thanks for that Light, just as constructive and helpful as usual.

You have totally added a new and interesting dimension to the discussion..Oh wait...

[Blue]

Gun control is good and all the arguments against it are pretty first year philosophy student sounding and generally infantile.

Regulation is good. And even then, only to a minor extent.

[Jasonwclark]

Trying to control the flow of small arms through legislation, is about as asinine as trying to control the flow of drugs through legislation - Especially in this country, where we produce and sell easily 10 times as many of these things as our next closest competitor. People who want guns will still be able to acquire them, regardless of what the Supreme Court rules, and by restricting legal access, we’ll likely just push the trade underground and make it more profitable for the criminal element.

We should consider ourselves lucky that we’re not swimming in M16s and Kalashnikovs like much of the rest of the world.

[VulgarDragon]

Screw it. Let's just arm all our cats and there will be no crime.

[Zaknafain]

the crime rates in europe are always below the ones from the states... europe has somewhat strict gun control laws. of course gun control isn't the only thing that influences this statistic. but if guns are supposed to keep you safe, they are doing a pretty bad job.

guns are primary supposed to kill people not to protect people. it never made much sense to me how a gun is supposed to help me.
I don't think I will ever own enough money to risk my life for it by drawing a gun in front of an armed robber. Would you do so?

of course I can imagine scenarios where a gun would save my life, but I can think of many more occasions, where a first aid kit would save my life and yet I'm not carying one around. Stop beeing afraid of everything. One day you ARE going to die.

(though carying a first aid kit around could really help to make your life a bit longer)

statistics:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cr...rms-per-capita
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cr...lts-per-capita

[REGNIRUTH]

Trying to control the flow of small arms through legislation, is about as asinine as trying to control the flow of drugs through legislation - Especially in this country, where we produce and sell easily 10 times as many of these things as our next closest competitor. People who want guns will still be able to acquire them, regardless of what the Supreme Court rules, and by restricting legal access, we’ll likely just push the trade underground and make it more profitable for the criminal element.

We should consider ourselves lucky that we’re not swimming in M16s and Kalashnikovs like much of the rest of the world.

You got a point, brings up that old effort of prohibition on alcohol way back in the day. Sparked underground brewing and plenty of smuggling.
so Then banning guns really may not be good in those terms, but still, some people just don't deserve guns.

However, I may have gone off a bit on Gun Control, I still see no point in owning a gun. Too many restrictions, makes shooting someone not worth it.
seems the like the best one should do is just threaten to shoot and hopes that person will back off. which I assume most people would do.
But still some people just have stupid means of owning a gun.

the crime rates in europe are always below the ones from the states... europe has somewhat strict gun control laws. of course gun control isn't the only thing that influences this statistic. but if guns are supposed to keep you safe, they are doing a pretty bad job.

guns are primary supposed to kill people not to protect people. it never made much sense to me how a gun is supposed to help me.
I don't think I will ever own enough money to risk my life for it by drawing a gun in front of an armed robber. Would you do so?

of course I can imagine scenarios where a gun would save my life, but I can think of many more occasions, where a first aid kit would save my life and yet I'm not carying one around. Stop beeing afraid of everything. One day you ARE going to die.

(though carying a first aid kit around could really help to make your life a bit longer)

good one, i agree with some of your questions toward owning a gun.

[s.ketch]

what's the point of even owning a gun, when there are so many restrictions on it's use? if you shoot someone, even in self-defense, you might still end up in jail. because what if you end up killing the person?

In my state its legal to shoot someone if they are in your home (uninvited), within 20 feet of you and are facing you. Yeah you might have to fill out some paper work and go to a local police station, but you wont get in trouble. Guns like any weapon, are a last resort.

I have guns in my home because my house has been broken into before. If I can avoid shooting someone, I will. We have also had many break ins, in my area where upwards of 4 armed men would kick down a door and raid a home. I would much rather have a gun, than a melee weapon or die. If they would pass a bill like "everyone with a proper gun license doesn't have to give up their gun for 5 yrs after the ban date" that would be fine. That would give the police the time to clean up a lot of guns off the street. I would also like to see a large increase in local police budgets and more officers on the streets.

Of course like with everything, its easier to take away a freedom than it is to teach people to handle the responsibility. Ban violent video games, ban rap music, ban alcohol, ban drugs, ban guns, ban graffiti. People, as a whole take the easy way out. I guess "punishing many because of the few" is just the nature of the beast when living in a large population of people.

[Dose206]

So back to my original thoughts, no semi-automatic, automatic, machine, or submachine. Single shot people, if someone's breaking into your house all it takes is one shot.

Bullshit.

I'll say it again, bullshit. I've personally seen people hyped up on nothing more than adrenaline take multiple shots to the head with bullets made to fuck people up and keep on skipping for at least 20 minutes. Now tell me that the crazed junkie whos hopped up on speed is gonna go down with one bullet. Unless you carry a Desert Eagle or a shotgun from about 5 feet or less you're fucked.

I'll quote from a magazine I just bought a few days ago, "Officer Smith was dispatched on a disturbance call. Upon arrival, he attempted to interview a known drug dealer who was present on the scene. The suspect verbally threatened the officer, picked up a weapon and charged him in a threatening manner. Realizing that he was in grave danger, Officer Smith drew his department-issued Beretta, fired two shots and the holstered his firearm. The suspect sustained two hits to the chest and continued his drug-driven rampage, killing Officer Smith. Although the officer's name was changed here, this, sadly, is a true story." The magazine was the March issue of Tactical Guns and Gear and the author of the article is David Kenik.

Now, tell this Officer Smith that all it takes is one shot. Better yet, tell his family. The problem is this, people who make outrageous claims about guns and gun safety who actually know nothing about guns and gun safety. The truth of the matter is if it takes all 15 9MM rounds that you have in the magazine of your handgun to take down a home invader, every round is worth it as long as your family is safe.

The key here is education. If everybody who was legally allowed to own and operate a firearm had to be trained and certified, we'd be safer. Of course guns would still fall into the wrong hands, but that's sadly unavoidable and at least the law abiding citizens would all know how to use their guns.

Children should be taught about gun safety and the dangers of firearms early on. Take away guns in homes with children, make the parents lock their guns up high? What's wrong with locking them up down low? Who ever heard of solving a problem by avoiding it all together anyway?

And no semi-automatic guns? Are you crazy? Do you expect me to take a muzzleloader when it comes to home defense? What if a guy breaks into my house at the front door. He has literally 3 feet until he is at my son's door and maybe 10 until he's at mine and my wife's bedroom door. If my first shot missed (cause I'm scared, it's dark, I hoped to scare him off) I've got a fraction of a second before he's into my son's room with a knife and it's going to take much more than that to load another round. Even if it's not a muzzleloader the time it takes me to pull back the slide or cock the hammer is too much, that invader could have potentially already killed my son. That's unacceptable.

So, you take your crazy ass half cocked gun control measures and implement them in your home all you want but stay the fuck out of my life with that shit.

[The Crazy Dude SRD]

I'm sorry but I have to step in and say my peace about this... Simply put, this is not going to work in any era. Even if you were to round up all of the registered guns and unregistered guns, the ability to manufacture a firearm is in all aspects childsplay. All it takes is a metal tube that is sealed at one end that holds gunpowder and some sort of projectile and a fuse or firing pin and you have yourself a crude gun. Although all modern textbooks don't have gunpowder's compound... it is still easy enough to create and obtain.

And then theres even those who can cause harm even without guns... Bows and arrows still are as effective as they were hundreds to thousands of years ago, good ol' fisticuffs (you can kill a man by breaking the bridge of the nose and then palmstrike the base of it pushing it into the man's brains as well as several pressure points that can have an adverse effect to bloodflow.), knives, swords, traps, name it and you can manipulate it into a weapon... (even a well sharpened pencil or a pen). A catapult slinging a massive boulder can still do some major damage to a tank.
Pretty much all I'm trying to say is that any fool who has the knowledge can and will be able to do what they will.

Its the fear proccess that governments that are trying to gather power to their favor will always resort to. Disarm and disable their citizens so that their biggest threat isn't that big... Further with propaganda and a pinch of deceipt and you have yourself the fourth reich.

I fear that they will be really pushing it especially due to the recession and upcoming depression that will force people to have to resort to violent means to provide for their families or themselves.

[Smarty]

The truth of the matter is if it takes all 15 9MM rounds that you have in the magazine of your handgun to take down a home invader, every round is worth it as long as your family is safe.

Now I'm not from the USA and we don't have guns here. My own house has been 'invaded' 3 times, twice the guys got caught with forensics. What strikes me about your post is what the hell do you think your home is being invaded for!? Its just stuff, probably insured. You would kill a guy for £1000 worth of junk, I doubt anyone is in real danger unless your making it hard for them to do by waving a gun around.