Guns don't kill people, people kill people... .... ... ...?

Question

and Monkeys kill people, if they have a gun.

A line from one of Eddy Izzard's comedy skits..

What are your thoughts on gun control?

P.S. This in no way states my view on gun control so please don't come after me.. I'm just curious of how others think.

Answer 1

It is amazing how polarising this question is. As soon as gun control is raised all logic goes out of the window.

First, I do own a gun, I have no problems with gun ownership, within limits. And some of these should be

if anyone owns a gun they should be trained how to use it properly and safely. At one time, figures indicated that more untrained people were killed with their own guns than with someone elses.

is there really a need for assault weapons? It also comes back to the first point, training. If you discharge an assault weapon and miss, the bullet keeps on going, and going, through brick walls and anyone in the way. The 'collateral damage', i.e. innocent bystanders getting killed, will happen.

a secure place to keep it. How many times do we read of accidents that take a life? Children finding a gun and playing with it?

It all comes down to responsibility. And unfortunately, in these days, many people refuse to accept responsibilty. The reason why we get so many frivilous law suits, 'they should have told us that a thousand foot cliff was dangerous', 'they should have told us that the thousands of volts in the transformer were dangerous' 'they should have told us that guns can kill'. As long as people refuse to accept their responsibility, guns will be more dangerous than they need be. If we treat them with respect and as the dangerous things they are it could improve the situation.

But, so many refuse to use logic. Either, guns must go or there should be no control, no one is prepared to explore middle ground. It may be in the constitution, but guess what, the constitution is not set in stone, the right to bear arms is itself an amendment. It can and has been amended so that, as an argument, is a bust. If people are not prepared to accept the full responsibility of owning guns, then it has to be legislated. The number of innocent people killed in the US each year is unacceptable so something has to change.

It is so much easier to kill with a gun than a baseball bat or knife or.. and so on. If you get mad with someone, as in road rage, and have a gun, there is more likely to be violence than if you had a tire iron. So people do kill people but guns make it easier

I own a Glock19C with a concealed carry permit, I got it when I was being stalked. My husband owns hunting rifles and hand guns, including his service weapon as he is a police officer, so don't attack me as anti-gun campaigner. I am being a realist, we need to be logical and look at how we can improve the situation as it is not working currently.

Answer 2

My thoughts:

All law-abidizing citizens should have the right to own a gun.
Citizens shouldn't have the right to own certain types of assault weapons any more than they should have the right to own plastic explosives or fissionable material.

There are way too many guns in the hands of criminals, most received via corrupt gun dealers and straw buyers. In many states, it is easier to get a gun dealer's license than a liquor license. If someone is found to have illegally sold a gun, they should be in prison for 10 years for each offense, period.

Gun manufacturers should distribute their guns through responsible dealers and should have some sort of dealer certification program involving inspections by the mfr (some manufacturers have started to do this). If the dealer is found to have made illegal sales, sloppy paperwork, poor inventory control etc., the mfr. would cut them off permanently. Simple as that. Why would a mfr. want their product distributed by a sloppy, unprofessional, irresponsible dealer anyway?

Many states have strict gun control, but in actuality their gun control laws are only as strong as the weakest laws in the neighboring states. In many southern states, it is the easiest thing in the world to obtain a pawnshop gun dealer's license.

Hence the findings in NYC that most of the crime guns seized by the police originated from out of state (mostly in the south).

Answer 3

First let me say that I am a dem. Also let me say that I am an x 25 year Marine. I believe that anyone who has a clean record with the law, should be allowed to own a gun. But, not a full auto military style gun, such as, AK47, grease gun etc. Nor do I think you should be allowed to own such things as bazookas. The general public has no need for a military style full auto weapon. You can't hunt with them so why have them?? I know there are diff rules for collectors and thats fine so long as they have a lic.

Answer 4

I own several guns and have only killed a few animals while hunting. I do have a few handguns for home and family protection. I feel if guns are outlawed, this would give criminals a free license, as their guns are not properly licensed anyway. I would have to be killed before I give up my gun.

Answer 5

I think every American should have a gun, and a fully stocked munitions dump somewhere in the house, simply because I am a hardcore advocate of thinning the herd, and, everyone knows that homes with guns are more likely to experience a gun death than homes without.

with that thought in mind, wouldn't it be grand if The Republican Party gave out free handguns and a box of bullets to everyone who votes GOP in 2008?

Answer 6

If a nut want to kill some one, gun control laws won't stop them. And there is truth to the "if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns". If you took everyone's guns away, the evil in society will still figure out a way to get them.

Answer 7

If more guns made society safer (you know, as in the bumper stickers that read "Society is safer when criminals don't know who's armed"), then the US would be the safest nation in the entire world with the lowest crime rate and the fewest gun-related deaths per capita.

I'll leave opponents of gun control to investigate that one on their own.

Answer 8

this is why guns need to be monitored to make sure the people who have them don't use them to kill people or accidently shoot themselves or others.

no guns for monkeys

(micheal moore asked about this when someone decided to put a gun with a shoulder strap on a dog and it went off.
very bad dog. I hate it when dogs shoot their owners)

Answer 9

Gun Control= Hitting what you aim at!

Answer 10

I am against gun control. The people of America are allowed to have guns. Even if they were controlled, it would not stop criminals from getting them.