USA and their guns, whats it all about?

Question

Apparently the excuse always seems to be 'its in the constitution'. Im from the uk and we find it unbelievable everytime theres a another school shooting no attempts are ever made about regulating the firearms. Or is it the NRA are so big that they have an absolute control. You see these guys with M16 with grenade launchers saying its for 'home defense'. Surely a baseball bat would be sufficient. And im not some do gooder, ive handled many firearms myself.

Some good responses but that whole thing about protecting yourself from the government and being able to form militias., c'mon! Compare yourselves to australia as a former colony of england. The two countries couldn't be any different. Aussies are about as laid back as they get.

The issue outlined below about protecting your home and family i agree with. In england if someone breaks into your home and starts robbing the place, legally you are not allowed to do anything about it. People in the uk will know of the famer tony martin who blew some scubag away with a pump action who was robbing his house for the 10th time. He went to prison.

But someone saying guns dont kill people, people kill people. im not sure i agree with, the gun helps. Shouting bang boom ratatat , boom at someone isn't really going to do much damage. Unless youve got a bad ticker.

Little point to satans little helper. Maybe your right. But saying unbalanced people commit the crimes you kind of put a nice conclusion to the arguement. You're saying, and i agree with you, that the problem is the people. Maybe you guys had a little to much freedom over there. Ive been to the USA and there is no shortage of 'unbalanced people'.

Answer 1

Ah ignorance at it's best. Guys with M16's with grenade launchers? Where do you come up with this sh*t? Have you ever been to America? Well, I’ve been to England, and I remember all of the fear and hype about all of the IRA bombings. Why don't you guys ban bombings? Oh, you already did? Well, why are they still going on? Don't criminals always obey the law? No? Well why would it do ANY good to ban firearms? The answer, as so poignantly pointed out by TnMtnMan, is that banning anything doesn't work. The constitution is not an excuse. It is a little thing called freedom, which I can't expect you British to understand since you have never had it. People commit crimes, and they will continue to do so no matter what laws are passed. Guns are inanimate. They cannot do anything on their own. Unbalanced PEOPLE are responsible for crimes, not guns, cars, bats, knives or any other inanimate object. Wake up and enter reality. The way to reduce crime, is to strive toward creating a more mentally and socially balanced society, not forbidding the ownership of firearms, which only would affect law-abiding people. The NRA is right on target.

Answer 2

The excuse is, indeed, that it is all in the Constitution. However, that is an erroneous belief. The constitution gives the right to bear arms so that a well-organised militia can be maintained. Sort of ties into the common defense provision.

The fact is that many Americans like the protection of a firearm. That culture will not easily be changed.

Unfortunately it is not just gun laws which let us down. did you here in the UK of the case in North Carolina where someone was stopped from shooting by some quick-witted security guards? It turns out he was taken to a mental hospital some time before that. They had him committed, a psychiatrist agreed that he should be involuntarily committed. It was just a matter of getting another psychiatrist to agree and a judge to sign off on it. Then the person agreed to treatment volunarily, so the State dropped the commital proceedings. That meant that he appeared on no register and was legally able to purchase a gun which nearly caused loss of life.

Answer 3

Baseball bats don't protect you much if the guy comming at you has a .45!

The constitutional right to bear arms was included so we could protect ourselves from the government. That's so far back, maybe it seems silly now.

Our gov't does regulate the sale of arms. There's a waiting period and registration process. If our government did more and sent, for example, big trucks to come by to pick up our guns, only the good, law obiding people would turn them in. That leaves all the bad guys holding guns.

Seems to me, the UK has a history of bombs so you guys aren't all peacefull, loving and all that, you've just gotten more creative at ways to kill people.

Furthermore, the UK is about the size of the state of California. I don't imagine that per capita, the crime rate is any worse in the US than the UK. - less murder by gun, obviously, but overall. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Answer 4

It's a joke. NRA is a money machine. Profit at all costs and forget about the consequences. Sure the Constitution gives people the right to bear arms but it says nothing about whether or not to regulate who gets those arms. Do we want the mentally ill with guns? Yes, because the US don't care. It's not regulated. They also use the argument it keeps the government in check. Well, the US government has enough weaponry to toast and gun yielding NRA dude. They also say it's needed for hunting. Well, today guns and hunting are so sophisticated... You go in with a gps device to hunt a deer? What's the challenge?

Answer 5

funny how all the american answers think guns are a good idea and a right! what about the right to live without fear from the nutter down the road who's daddy has a big gun which he left on the kitchen table?
If you americans want to carry guns, fine, but then don't start being all upset when one of your citizens goes on the rampage and kills "innocent" people.
If you don't have a gun, you can't shoot anybody, and since when did being armed protect you from governmental control? or police violence? if anything, the carrying of arms makes everyone more fearful, not less.
If, and it is not likely to ever happen, I were made to go to the usa, I would be wearing a bullet proof vest, cos some nutter will be carrying a gun whilst doing his shopping, and it's either protect myself or defend myself, and I don't think I will ever carry a gun voluntarily.

Answer 6

America's got an obsession with guns that goes way back to cowboys and indians, and as of yet theyre hasn't been a president brave enough to challenge this. Britains gun culture is growing aswell.

Answer 7

There are many reasons. First, we have a "Wild West" heritage that encourages gun ownership. I believe that we do have a right to own guns but we lack decent controls. I also feel that a population of gun owners is a good restraint against a military takeover of the government.

Answer 8

good answer mtn man,,the average person wouldnt think that gun control and the total ban on them only paves the way for the govt. to turn a democrocy into a socialist regime over nite,,the problem is that the average person thinks that guns are evil,,and that hunting animals is wrong,,the last time i went boar hunting i wished i had brought something bigger when a 600lb boar came rushing out of the palmetto at me,,the ithica police pump with slugs got it done but it was close as his massive body slid to a stop just a few feet from me,, his gleaming white 6 inch tusks would have ripped me to shreads now thats effective gun control,,,to me gun control means hitting what you aim at,,,and the gun never kills,,its the person behind it,,fix the person,,not ban the guns,,in georgia the politicians finally did something good,,they created a law whereas you ,,the honest law abiding tax payer can defend your self and your loved ones and property with deadly force when you ,property,loved ones lives are threatened,,,including in your car,,,these other countries havnt figured it out yet,,they are like sheep led to the slaughter,, violent crime in some areas is up over 300%,,whereas when the populace had guns the criminals thought twice or didnt carry out the crime if they thought they might die,,rosey odonell is the biggest gun control nut next to barbra boxer{ lib.dem.congresswoman california},,both of them carry{conceled}and their body guards have huge hand cannons too,,whats up with that?caint pratice what you preach?

Answer 9

I think Michael Moore has made a good living out of asking this very question. If you see the bit in Bowling for Columbine where he tries to interview that great American hero, Charlton Heston, you'll see why there's no chance of the US gun laws being changed any time soon.

Answer 10

When you take the weapons away from the people, the government is in total control. We are a government of the people and we aim to keep it that way. We are also an army of 300 million. It's just a natural bred mistrust of any government that keeps the 2nd amendment alive.