Why are so many people anti-gun???.?

Question

I am truly curious. Why are so many people against gun ownership? Are they afraid of the unfamiliar? Have myths and urban legends of gun deaths turned them away? Do they believe that criminals won't have guns if law abiding citizens don't? Is it rooted in traumatic experience? Do they have rational arguments?

Pro-gun or anti-gun, I want to hear your argument.

Where am I coming from?

I am pro-gun yet I support meaningful measures of gun control such as firearm safety education, background checks, and carry limitations (such as restaraunts that serve alcohol).

In working in EMS for the past 14 years I have seen my share of bullet holes, many of which resulted in a death. Hell the Appalachian School of Law shooting happened in the town I live and work in. Yet what I've seen hasn't changed my opinion.

The reason I ask the question: the other evening I allowed my step-daughter's 15 year old boyfriend to fire my AK-47 a few times. The boy had never fired a gun before so I showed him proper handling and technique such as being sure of his target and backdrop, protecting his eyes and ears, stance, etc. Well when he told his mom, she grounded him for firing a gun. When I asked her why she said she didn't want her boys "messing with guns".

I wonder couldn't curiosity and lack of knowlege be more dangerous than supervised target shooting

Answer 1

Wow, you got a lot of replies! I am also a gun owner and I too take the proper precautions when handling/storing my guns.

I was going to get on my soap box and really go off on anti-gun people, but that won't answer the question. My answer to the question is: ignorance. Most people who are anti-gun know nothing about them and the only perspective they have has been fed to them by the media. My ex-mother-in-law told my 12 year old son that "only bad people own guns." I asked him, "Am I a bad person?" He said "No" and I then asked him to really think about Grammy's statement.

Guns are a tool, nothing more, nothing less. I'm reminded of a scene in Schindler's List where a group of Polish Jews in a small village had gotten access to guns and were able to keep the Nazis at bay for a time. We all know what happened to the rest of the - unarmed -Jews. Where would the US be if we hadn't given ourselves the right to bear arms? I give you the War of 1812. That war could have very easily turned bad if we as a country were not armed.

Bottom line is that most people don't know a damn thing about guns and how much of a vital and important part of society they are. Do far too many people die because of them? Of course. But to deny the general, law-abiding populace the right to bear arms is both dangerous and foolhardy.

Answer 2

There is a tremendous amount of hyperbole out there.

The people for gun ownership use the second amendment as the sacrosanct law that all Americans can own a gun. There is a very clear indication that gun ownership is as a part of a well regulated militia. It reads: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Therefore do we bring back the draft as a part of responsible gun ownership?

That is the first chink that anti-gun people use in their argument. The reason we won the revolution was because every man, woman and child had a gun in America and knew how to use it. That is specifically why this amendment was included. The men that formed our constitution were avowed anti government people and understood that society is only possible through the controlled and judicious use of violence. They wanted the most judicial use of government and force to form this new ideal society called the USA and they didn't want the government to be the only people that had guns. Power corrupts and the government is powerful. As long as we have the power to defend ourselves even against the government - we are safe from tyranny.

Next it is almost impossible to logically reason with someone that has had a child that has been killed by a drive in an accidental shooting. Their irrefutable logic is that if the person doing the drive by didn't have a gun my child that was lying in his crib would not be dead. Well you can't argue that; she is right, her baby would be alive if not for the gun. However she is thinking that if guns were outlawed the bad guy would not have killed her child. She does not realize that this bad guy has already gone beyond the boundaries of the law by committing that little drive by shooting in the first place. The old argument that if guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns is true. Bad guys will make their own weapons of mass destruction if necessary. They aren’t stupid, only evil.

Laws are only good if they are enforced. They must be enforced by either the police or by good citizens. The only way to enforce the law against a person that already breaks the law is with force. One person with a gun can enforce the law against another person without a gun. Many police can enforce the law against a person that does not respect the laws. Guns are nothing more than a tool. They are a very effective tool of death. That threat keeps many people on the right side of the law.

I can’t say for sure, but I have never been robbed. Is it because I am 6’1” and 300 lbs.? I can’t say, but the threat of violence I offer causes most bad guys to find other prey. If everyone had a gun, the bad guys would walk a little softer as well, because they wouldn’t know who would be able to stop their actions at any time.

Answer 3

There are so many people who are anti-gun for the same reason there are so many people who are pro-gun. The simplistic nature of the gun control debate makes people believe you have to be one or the other.

Personally, I don't own a gun. I don't feel the need. I understand there are those who feel the need to have one at home for self protection. I also understand that people hunt.

I don't understand the need for semi-automatic weapons or armor piercing bullets. I don't understand the need of an individual to have enough guns to take over a small nation.

This is the problem with the debate: the gunowners believe that any regulation on any guns will just open the door to the elimination of the right to own guns at all. I don't believe this would happen, but there are the extremists on the anti-gun side of the argument who would like to see all guns made illegal.

Once the extremists on both sides quit dominating the debate, maybe a sensible gun control policy can be established. I don't see that happening any time soon because too many people get rich in this debate and too many politicians get re-elected based on their gun stance.

Answer 4

I guess it's because so many people have been or know someone who has been shot and/or killed by someone with a gun. Guns are probably responsible for more 'accidental' deaths than any other type of weapon. You certainly don't hear of anyone getting accidentally beaten with a baseball bat. If some people who own guns were more responsible when it came to storing and handling their guns, a lot of people might not be so anti-gun. Also it may be a stereotype, but it seems like more extremists than not own guns. I think most people would rather deal with a crazy guy with a knife than a crazy guy with a high powered rifle.

I think guns are ok though. It's just some people that use guns that are the problem.

Answer 5

Well, I don't care for guns either way. But I think it's unfair for those of us that use swords.
But Logically, I think men should be against guns because it makes them lazy. Instead of working at your skills in real fighting, then become lazy coz they can just pull out a gun and shoot people no matter how out of shape they are.
Also, most of the guns that criminals have are stolen from law abiding citizens. That's why eliminating the guns from law abiding citizens would help eliminate the ones that criminals have.
On the other hand, they are pretty cool when people like Jackie Chan and Will Smith use it. But they're totally over rated. We should go back to using staffs and sticks and swords and knives. You can look way cooler using those than a gun.

Answer 6

"I know : 'Guns Don't Kill People.' But I suspect that they have something to do with it. If you point your finger at someone and say, 'Bang, bang, you're dead,' not much actually happens."
Molly Ivins
Yes it's true you can strangle somebody with a coat hanger but with guns the argument seems to go from "yo mama" to you're dead too fast to think.
I come from a police family. I do not want to get caught in the cross fire. Most people think they are above average drivers. I assume most gun owners thnk they above average marksmen.
I am not talking about the right of hunters and such to own shotguns and rifles and target shooting pistols. Legitmate sporting weapons should be availble to the non criminal populace. But it seems like gun owners object so vehmetly to the simplist of checks. showing ID. A two day waiting period for a background check. Come on, any person i've ever met that hunted anything knew the time to the minute when the season opened. Why would they wait until the last minute to get a gun?
What do you mean myths and urban legends?
In 1993, the FBI counted 24,526 murders ( 13,980 by handguns )
yet only 251 of these were justifiable homicides by civilians using handguns.
This is only one percent of all murders!
Ever been in a big city E room on a saturday nite? That's not an myth. that is a fact in blue and black and red.
According to a 1992 review of the scientific literature, most studies find that gun density is positively associated with the murder rate.
The National Institute of Justice, for example, reports a study of U.S. cities which found a positive correlation between gun ownership levels and felony gun use and felony murder.
How do you think crimials get guns now. They steal them from householders who have bought them for "home defense". So many people put guns in the stupidest places. Burgerls will walk past cheap jewlry to take a gun. They can get $500.00 for the cheapest handgun on the street.
We can't make it impossibe for criminals to get guns, but we can make it more difficult and expensive.
I belive people who say they lock up their guns. But what about all these other people whoes kids are shooting each other. Where i live last year this family had a sleepover one 8 year old boy shot another.
In the United States, most youth handgun deaths are homicides�with children and teens involved as both victims and offenders. If children are killing, and being killed, by handguns every day in the United States, how are they obtaining the weapon?b Most have easy and ready access in their own homes. A 1998 National Institute of Justice survey of high-school students found that, for students carrying a gun, 52 percent indicated that they had been given or loaned the weapon by a family member or had taken it from their home without their parents' permission.4 And what type of gun were they carrying? When a gun was carried outside the home by a high school-aged youth, it was most likely a semiautomatic handgun (50 percent) or a revolver (30 percent).5
Many people don't take such care of their guns.
Then their is my favorite- the murder suicide
"The most common type of murder-suicide actually occurred between two intimate partners in which a man or a woman killed their significant other and then killed their children," she said. "Nationally, over 90 percent of murder suicides involved firearms."

Answer 7

Anti-gun people are either immature or ignorant. Anybody with sense knows that guns don't kill people, people kill people. Pick up a history book!!! People have been killing each other since the beginning of time. It doesn't matter if it's a gun, sword, bow, stick, rock, or bare hands, humans will find a way to kill each other.

When will people grow up and stop blaming inanimate objects? Guns are not evil, the internet is not evil, books are not evil, cars are not evil, oil is not evil, corporations are not evil. These are all just tools. Any good or bad is the result of a human being making a choice. Anybody that blames an inanimate object and tryies to ban it is either a child or stupid. Here's an idea, why don't we ban bad people, instead of the tools they use?

Answer 8

Because people think that they can reduce crime rates by outlawing guns instead of dealing with the conditions that cause it. (Poverty,drugs,ect)
Guns are only tools and in the hands of a good person they can do good things. However in the hands of bad people they do bad things.

Guns don't kill people, PEOPLE kill people

Another point is that ALL oppressive society's have attempted to limit civilian access to firearms. The nice thing about Guns is that with them anybody can kill anybody and everyone is equal.

In feudal japan the samurai controlled everyone because they weree skilled warriors. Then Foreign merchants gave the Japanese guns. Now anybody could Fight anybody and the balance of power was changed. Natural the samurai were disappointed so they called the guns dishonorable and cowardly. They always talked about honor but in the end they wer only bullies, the guns leveled the playing field.
With Guns somebody who is weak can defend himself from somebody stronger than him. A woman who would get raped can now just shoot that bastard.

God made big men and small men, Strong men and weak men, Colt made them all equal

Answer 9

Because people are too pussy to settle their disputes with words or just an old fashion fight. People want to take lives. Whether is over gambling, drugs, trespassing, or just being a retarded sniper killing Innocent civilians. Then you have kids finding guns all the time. You have blind men accidentally shooting their wives.Vice presidents shooting their friends in the face. Ridiculous. I spent a year in Okinawa where there are no guns on the island except for military and police personnel. You would be amazed at how peaceful it is there. The only crime you see is military personnel getting drunk and fighting at bars and clubs. Their gangs there are teenagers that ride their moped around in the middle of the night revving their engines loudly and in sync. Its pretty damn annoying, but no one has shot them. People say that you need guns for hunting. Learn to use a bow and arrow. lol Americans are the only people who go hunting on a full stomach.

Answer 10

Most anti gun advocates are from the "Big City". They are afraid of them becasue they don't know about them. All they here is " A man was shot today in the lower east side" or " Some gang bangers shot each other up last night.." It is due to plain ignorance and peer pressure. They are against hunting and fishing etc.. because that's what people like Paris Hilton and Cher say so it must be right.