The right to bear arms.

[Davi323]

Statistics show that states with looser gun control laws have less crime than states with tougher laws.

It is also proven statistically that people who legally own guns do NOT, as a rule, commit gun related crimes. Almost every gun crime is committed by someone who does not legally own a firearm. (which means they were already committing a crime just by possessing it). Legal gun owners aren't the ones you need to be afraid of, it's those that aren't legal.

and therein lies the problem. If you take guns away from the people who aren't going to be committing crimes anyway, who is left? The only people with guns are the ones who are going to commit crimes, because they now that if they have guns, and you don't, they can do what they want, and you can't stop them. How many more crimes would be committed if the criminal knows for sure you can't defend yourself? How many crimes are prevented, simply because the would be criminal isn't willing to take the risk you might be carrying?

 

[Whistler 619]

Statistics show that states with looser gun control laws have less crime than states with tougher laws.

It is also proven statistically that people who legally own guns do NOT, as a rule, commit gun related crimes. Almost every gun crime is committed by someone who does not legally own a firearm. (which means they were already committing a crime just by possessing it). Legal gun owners aren't the ones you need to be afraid of, it's those that aren't legal.

and therein lies the problem. If you take guns away from the people who aren't going to be committing crimes anyway, who is left? The only people with guns are the ones who are going to commit crimes, because they now that if they have guns, and you don't, they can do what they want, and you can't stop them. How many more crimes would be committed if the criminal knows for sure you can't defend yourself? How many crimes are prevented, simply because the would be criminal isn't willing to take the risk you might be carrying?

That right there, is the classic "NRA" response to this type of thing. People who have unregistered guns have them because guns are so readily available that they don't have to buy them. Its the same with anything. At a depaneur ( Corner Store ) when I go, if I want a pack of gum, and its just there, no ones around, why the hell would I pay 1.99$ for it when I can just steal it, its the same concept as guns, if you have a guy who can barely afford rent or whatever, why the hell would he buy a gun when he can get it off the streets for Half Price or Free?

It is also proven statistically that people who legally own guns do NOT, as a rule, commit gun related crimes.

No shit, when you have a country with just over 300million people, and lets say about 65% have guns, that's 195'000'000 people that have guns, now no shit that 195'000'000 people are not criminals. That doesn't mean it isn't stupid to own 4 Rifles and 6 Hand Guns.

In a city like New York were there are no Wild Life, no animals running around or anything like that, there is no reason, what so ever that the Average Joe should be aloud to carry a Automatic Machine Gun. Period.

 

[Gerald Brisco]

and therein lies the problem. If you take guns away from the people who aren't going to be committing crimes anyway, who is left? The only people with guns are the ones who are going to commit crimes, because they now that if they have guns, and you don't, they can do what they want, and you can't stop them. How many more crimes would be committed if the criminal knows for sure you can't defend yourself? How many crimes are prevented, simply because the would be criminal isn't willing to take the risk you might be carrying?

Uh, Most people who commit crimes with guns are not Stopped by average Joe,

THE POLICE.

Again, To Ban guns in America would be incredibly hard, who knows what people have stashed away, But your idea that if your average man had a gun taken away criminals would just run around robbing banks is absolutly stupid. Have a gun pointed at your head your not going to defuse the situation by grabbing your gun and shooting him.

Dont tell me your average citizen runs around with a gun in his holster preventing more crimes by some type of MAD situation with criminals and people. Guys despirate enough to rob a house he's going to rob a house, Gun/Knife/Flamethrower/Sword/Nuclear warhead whatever, Making sure he's wielding something less dangerous then a gun just helps police due to having access to more firepower then crazy people

 

[SalvIsWin]

"Bad guys" are going to have guns, whether it's legal for purchase or not. I should (and do) have the right to protect myself.

On a different topic, it comforts me knowing that every citizen in this great country can own a rifle. It discourages Johnny and Ralph from stirring shit up, and Vladamir isn't going to bring drive his tanks down my streets when he knows that and door he busts down could have a very angry redneck with a shotgun behind it.

These are fine arguments until you look at some statistics, which I show in a minute after I address this:

Statistics show that states with looser gun control laws have less crime than states with tougher laws.

and therein lies the problem. If you take guns away from the people who aren't going to be committing crimes anyway, who is left? The only people with guns are the ones who are going to commit crimes, because they now that if they have guns, and you don't, they can do what they want, and you can't stop them. How many more crimes would be committed if the criminal knows for sure you can't defend yourself?

What an interesting post. I bolded the especially interesting part because statistics show the exact opposite.

In 2001, the murder rate in the USA per 100,000 people was 5.5, in Canada, per 100,000 it was 1.8. The rate of non-violent crimes between the USA and Canada is nearly identical, however the rate of violent crimes in the USA is five times as high.

In Canada 2001, the total amount of murders committed was 554. For Chicago alone it was 666. Population difference? 30 million for Canada, 3 million for Chicago. Detroit's population of one million had 400 in 2001.

How about self-protection? Statistics show that gun presence in a home raises the likelihood of a family-member committing suicide by five fold. A gun triples the probability of a homicide in the home, and the gun made with the intention of self-protection is 22 (twenty-two!) times more likely to kill a family member or friend in homicide, than it is to kill in self-defence.

Those with guns can use whatever rhetoric they want, but it's proven facts that tougher gun control leads to less crimes, not more. A lack of guns by citizens leads to less murders, not more.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I do believe in the right to bear arms. I'm hardly a gun nut and can hardly be considered right wing, but the simple truth is that there are dangerous people out in the world that don't care about my life. There are people that, if they break into my home for instance, and they intend to steal something, then they may very well decide that my life doesn't mean as much to them as the possibility of them staying out of jail. I also don't see a problem with people owning guns just for shooting them at shooting ranges or for hunting. There are plenty of good people in the world that own guns that never have, nor will they ever have, intentions of using one against another human being. A gun can very much be like a condom in some situations. I may not have to use it, but it's there if I come to need it.

However, I do think that it should be a little tougher to purchase a gun. It's not uncommon for many gun store owners to ignore state and federal regulations. Most of the time, the penalties for such violations are, comparatively, mere slaps on the wrist. I personally don't like these gun shows and feel that they should be stopped. There are no background checks at those things whatsoever. It's easier to get a gun now than it is to get a driver's license and without nearly as much responsibility and that just shouldn't be so in my opinion.

 

[Tim]

I'm not really sure on this one. I can see where both sides are coming from. Some people need/want guns or knives for protection, but to others own them with the intent of injuring or killing others. The problem here is that if you took away the guns and knives, then the stronger people would prey on the weak, and there would be no way for the weak people to defend themselves.

However, where I live (Melbourne in Australia) I don't think we need any weapons. I've never seen anybody carrying a gun or a knife around on the streets, and there have certainly been no attacks. Everyone around my area is very friendly and welcoming, so I think I've been influenced by this and think that we should not believe in the right to bear arms. However in Australia, it's near impossible to purchase a gun, which probably explains the lack of them on the streets.

But there is a law against owning guns here, and you need to get special permission to own them. I think this a good idea, we hardly hear of any shootings and therefore for us guns are not a problem. It shows here that there is a lack of gun related violence as it's not easy to obtain a gun, so I don't think the right to bear arms should be a right. It causes more harm than good.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'm pretty much with Jack Hammer here. Owning a gun in your home for self defense is fine. However, at what point in your life are you going to need 20 guns? At what point is it just overkill. And no, it's not like collecting anything else. Collecting shot glasses isn't quite as deadly as having a large set of guns. However, I could see an argument for it. If someone wants to own a bunch of guns, I can see why they would want to I guess.

However, if someone is going to have them, they DAMN well better have been checked and checked and checked again. Like JH said, it is so easy to get a gun today that it's unreal. You can buy a gun and a box of ammo at Wal-Mart. That's my issue with it for the most part. Yes, it's your right to bear arms is in the Constitution, although the part where it says "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State..." seems to be a bit abused at times, but we'll spare that argument for later.

It's fine to own a gun, but you better make damn sure that someone buying multiple guns is checked about a dozen times.