americans, defend your right to own guns?

Question

having lethal weapons in your house seems something that would belong more in 15th century england than 21st century america, you have more gun crime than anyone else, i dont know about developing countries but definetly in the free world. so come on america, why do you have guns? no answers saying it is our right as americans coz i know that i wanna know why you as a person want them not the reasons you were brainwashed with at school

i am more than prepared to listen to peoples opinions even if they differ from mine, i know you have the right to own guns, i know its in your constitution so stop telling me that. tell me why you think you should have weapons not why your government thinks, why you think. some of you say to protect yourselves from the government, well we dont have guns, the french and germans dont have guns, are we supposed to assume we are at risk? should i go buy a gun now incase tony blair goes all rogue on me? 230 years, well government took complete control of britain in the 17th century, i dont know about the rest of the world but i know thats longer than 230yrs. as for my racist question that shows you nothing, that is a question based on feelings from the world cup what on earth does that have to do with you carrying a gun, the fact that so many of you got so defensive makes me thnk that you know its wrong, just too proud to admit it.

re-read the question, you might see i said that you have more gun crime than any country in the free world

i should have named the question defend your ******* constitution

Answer 1

My father, who never owned a gun, said people carry guns because they are afraid of something. And courage is not the absence of fear it is the abitily to face the fear with faith that all will be well.....one of my most profound moments as a child.

Answer 2

It has nothing to do with brainwashing and from the wording on your question you are going to disagree with whatever we come up with so.....I'll give you mine. I do not own a gun by the way.
However it is my constitutional right to own one.
Should I feel the need to own one to protect my life and property, then that is my right.
Should the government get out of control (very unlikely) it is my right to own a firearm to join the forces to take it back to a free society
Should the United States ever God Forbid be invaded then I think our military will enjoy have an extra 300 million instant soldiers
I also like to target practice.
I'm not one to hunt, but defend the rights of hunters

When our constitution was written only 230 years ago (a minute in history) We had the world to look at to see what we did not want. One of those was the governments ability to oppress the people. Just about every nation on earth has had to deal with that at one time or another. Yes, it brings a few problems, but ensures our freedom.

You may not agree with my reasoning, but I really could care less.

Answer 3

I live in a very rural area and we use guns regularly to hunt and kill snakes. Since, if I were to dial 911 it would take at least 20 minutes for the local sheriff to reach us I would not hesitate to use a gun to protect my family as well.
You are correct about gun crime but that is mostly in urban areas.
I think if you will do more research it is Switzerland who can claim to have a gun in almost every household and children are taught from a young age how to use them. Switzerland has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. I guess the deterrent being knowing that the home a criminal is entering is armed.

Australia recently collected guns from private citizens and if you check the data on that one crime has risen 50% since then.

Many Americans think that if the government were able to take our guns they would be taking away many of our constitutional rights including our "DUTY" (for that is how it is worded) keep control of our government which is based on the premise "by the PEOPLE for the PEOPLE" IF we gave up our guns how could we do this?
The problem in America is not the ownership of guns but the "responsibility of ownership" More education and tougher laws for those who misuse guns are what is needed here.

Answer 4

In theory the State has no right to tell me how to defend my life and those of my Family. That is my God given right.

What part of the rights of those who choose not to be armed have legal and responsible firearms owners violated by legally owning firearms?

Someone said that firearms should be reserved to the police and military personnel. Why are these people armed in the first place? Because there are criminals out there who use firearms to commit crimes at ordinary citizens. Why do you want them to be the only one to fight an armed criminal? Don't I have a the right to fight them off if the personally attack me? Isn't it better for a legal firearm owner to have a gun in their hand than the telephone with the police on the other end when someone is going to kill them in the next 10 seconds?

Picture this, you're the Charlse Manson type and you have two homes infront of you. The first family you are sure has a gun in the house and the second family you know will not have one, which house do you violate and attack? Having the firearm doesn't guarantee you will win if attacked criminally but it gives you that chance.

Every time someone is killed by a firearm there's this public outcry to remove the gun from legal private firearms owners. Why isn't there a protest to disarm all the police or soldiers when a police or a soldier who rapes kills a whole family . Military and police personnel are just people too. They do not have the special genes that makes them immune to criminal activity. You say Training? Alot of private legal firearms owners have better training and MINDSET than most of those in the armed services.

This really happend to me. I was in a firearms conventions with my cousin who was just along for a ride . There was a line to where those with firearms must check in their equipment. Well some idiot at the back of the line (believe or not it was a police officer in civilian clothes) accidentally misfired his service pistol once towards the ground (I don't know why the officer was holding it) everybody on the line scattered for safety in all directions taking cover. And not one of the legal firearms owners drew their weapon, not one. After uniformed officers were able to sanitize the situation my cousin told me he was expecting people to start drawing their firearms and possibly start shooting. Well that didn't happen. I would say there were about 50 to 60 legally armed private citizens around that area. Unfortunately there is a discrimination against legally armed citizens.

Why do I own legal firearms? It's for the same reason I wear a seatbelt when I drive. Personally, Its because I'm responsible and love my family dearly. I don't believe in fighting, gosh I even think boxing should be banned. But I also don't believe in dying when criminally attacked without a fight.

It's better to have a firearm and not need it, than to get in a situation where in you need one and not have it.

Answer 5

Humans worldwide have a fundamental right to protect themselves, their families and their property. A firearm is merely a tool that might be used to accomplish this goal, should your life or property be threatened.

In USA, the right to keep and BEAR ( CARRY!! ) these tools is guaranteed by the constitution, although in recent years this right has been eroded to a large degree.

"...you have more gun crime than anyone else..." I doubt this statement VERY seriously. Consider the 'trouble spots' in the world where humans carrying firearms are mass murdering their fellow citizens. That statement is untrue.

Why do I want firearms?...First, I enjoy them. I feel that by being familiar with firearms, and practicing safety in their use, is personally rewarding. The skills learned in using and caring for firearms are valuable in OTHER fields as well. Secondly, buying the RIGHT firearm can be a profitable investment. Some of my collection have gained value MUCH faster than the stock market.
Thirdly, I consider it EVERY persons DUTY to be able to defend themselves in time of crisis. You can't do ANYTHING unless you have the proper tools.

Taking guns away from citizens will NOT take them away from outlaws, or those who intend personal harm to others. Outlaws will IGNORE any legislation against firearms, while a law-abiding citizen will not, leaving the law-abiding citizen defenseless against an army of armed thugs.

Firearm ownership is NOT for everyone. There are people who have 'anger management' problems who should be excluded from gun ownership. There are evil people who should be excluded, as should mentally incompetents and violent crime offenders. But an average citizen should have the right to own and bear arms if he so chooses.

Brainwashed?...I think not!...You may have my firearm when you pry it from my cold dead hands!!

Answer 6

First, we as Americans have the right to bear arms, because it is a liberty solidified in the original draft of our Constitution and has remained there ever since. To understand why it was included in the Constitution, one must look at the early history of America. In order for the American colonies to gain independence from tyrannical Britain, we had to fight to become our own nation. Often fighting was done by state and colonial militias, because there was a lack of strong central (federal) government with an army. It was regular citizens fighting the Brits in their backyards and farmlands. They needed their own weapons to do this. Today many would argue that since we now have a stronger central government with a very well organized and equipped military that citizens no longer need guns. However, by citizens having the right to bear arms, this provides a system of checks and balances against possible tyrannical federal government. To our generation this may seem far-fetched that our federal government would become so corrupted that it would turn on its own citizens in a form of dictatorship. Or that the federal government would not be able to provide the means to protect our country in case of attack. However, if world history provides any lesson to us, it is that no single nation or culture has survived forever. The organization of the U.S. government and its system of checks and balances is so far the most modern attempt of society that is designed to constantly evolve in order to survive while providing and protecting its citizens’ rights. One of those crucial rights being the right to bear arms.

Answer 7

Hitler could not have slaughtered millions of innocents without disarming them first. It's tragic to see millions today deluded by the false logic that gun=bad, blindly perpetuating fascist ideals of control and coercion. Paired with this, "danny boy"'s racist question about the Portuguese speaks volumes.
The right to own firearms is not unique to Americans; though laws differ widely from place to place, human rights are universal. If you don't want to have a weapon, fine, but violating another's right to self-defence is wrong.
As for the brainwashing issue, I'm afraid that's projecting. The very system that wants us powerless also popularises opinions that individualism and independence are just quaint notions best left in the past. Murderers, rapists and thieves (especially those in public office) can hardly thank such do-gooders enough for believing exactly what they want us to.
[For the record, I am an atheist and anything but patriotic-- hardly the "cold dead hands" stereotype our asker is clearly looking for!]
http://www.isil.org/resources/introduction.swf

Answer 8

Obviously if you don't have guns in society there would be less shootings. The problem is not guns, its people. Crime exists everywhere regardless of gun availability or not. I have guns ( I will refrain from any mention of the constitution just for you, you obviously do not understand our mindsets over here) because they are cool, they are fun to shoot and I enjoy the feeling of targeting and pulling the trigger.
Likewise since guns are legal and available here it would be stupid to be the only feller that did not have one push come to shove.
I also have guns so that if we are ever invaded, or if my family was ever attacked by ANYBODY I could blow them away. This deterrent is very effective to alot of crime that would exist if guns were only in the hands of people that have unlawful intent.
Contrary to your statement they do not teach gun rights in school, they may have years ago but not now.
Our nation is turning into a mob of left wing whack jobs that think all crime can be solved by compassion and hugs. Anti gunners are a real cancer in our society and need to understand that they are what is ripping our country apart.

Answer 9

The best reason that I have heard (and agreed with) about our rights as Americans to have guns, is that the original framers of the constitution were struggling from under a monarchy, right, where they had no rights, and they knew that the government of their new country had the potential to become out of control and totalitarian, too.
So they provided that we could have guns, because the government needs to know that if they get out of hand, we can rein them in. The gist of this theory is that WE, as citizens, shouldn't be afraid of our government; our government should be afraid of US.

This argument took a while to grow on me, because it sounds like I might be preaching this from my compound in Idaho, if you feel me, but it is spot on.

PS I don't own a gun, have never used a gun, and I support gun control laws like the UK has. I was explaining to my daughter as we watched An American Werewolf in London that in 1980 the police didnt carry guns there. She could't believe it. I told her we live in the least civilized of the "civilized" nations...

Answer 10

The right to bear arms is fundamental to Americans. It is written into our Constitution/Bill of Rights. By owning our own guns, we prevent our government from taking control of us. We (the people) should be the ones controlling the government. If you look at what's going on in other parts of the world (Africa/Mid-East) you will see examples of countries that are enslaved by their own governments. It is one of the reasons we broke away from England, and one of the reasons our government has been continuous for the past 230 years, which I might add is longer than any other country in the world....

Answer 11

I am an American;I don't always support my Commander-In-Chief,in terms of the decisions he has made,but I do support the troops &
the job they are doing overseas...
As a citizen,I do not own a firearm (would like too,but cost is an issue),but I DO support those who own a firearm,and those who have a membership in the NRA...
However-I DO NOT support the notion that you should be able to own semi or full-auto weapons...Who needs a machine gun to
deer hunt? PLEASE...
I DO support the waiting period for getting a firearm (if one is
purchased legally,that is)...law-abiding citizens have nothing to
fear from being made to wait,and the outlaws,beggars & theives
will simply bypass the whole process and acquire their weapon
illegally.
So,BOTTOM LINE:As Americans,I believe it is a PRIVILIGE,not
a RIGHT to own a firearm.
That's just my opinion...Yours may vary (and probably does)...