How many people out their believe that we need better gun control laws?

Answer 1

No, 28,000 laws are more than enough.

Answer 2

I agree with Politiacally Wrong - the issue is not gun control laws. No matter how many laws we have, no matter how those who legally sell guns follow the rules, there will always be some way to obtain a gun through balck market and other illegal forms.

I also do NOT agree that guns should be banned. If someone is hell bent on killing someone, they will do it one way or another, gun or no gun.

I also do NOT agree that violent video games nor violent TV shows nor violent themed books are what leads to physical violence. Most people, myself included, play, watch, and read violent themes, but we don't go out shooting and killing people!

There is a two-fold problem with society today. First, we often see the 'warning' signs in those who are pre-disposed for commiting a violent act, but so many do not want to get involved and report it to those who can help. Second, it often seems that our justice system provides the criminal with more rights than the victim! Then the criminal gets convicted and sentenced, but still gets out early on probation, so those who want/choose to commit a crime know that they most likely will get off fairly easy.

There was a story of a woman who was stabbed repeatedly by her boyfriend while others watched. No one witness intervened. The police came and arrested the man. She became partially and permanently paralysed. During the court hearing, in front of the judge, the man threatened to find her and 'finish the job' when he got out of prison. A few years later the woman was informed that he was going to be released! I don't know the outcome of the story, but it illustrates that the criminal can even threaten, right in front of the sentencing judge, that he will continue the violence and still be set free somewhere down the road.

What we need is change in our society. We need to not be afraid to get involved to help those who we see 'signs' in, and we need to return to a judicial system that puts severe, lifelong consequences on the offenders.

Stop blaming the inanimate items the offenders use to carry out their evil deeds with. It's the person behind the objects that commit the crime, not the other way around.

Answer 3

The issue is not good people that own guns, but the guns that get in the hands of the wrong people. We can have all the gun laws we want but until we institute major punishment for gun related crimes it will never change. If you kill someone with a gun committing a crime it should be life without parole, not the current range of 10-20 years. Putting gun locks on good peoples guns will only make it harder for them to defend their home... I also don't believe that a criminal breaking into my house has rights, he chose to break the law and do it whilest I was home, so I should have the right to shoot him.

Answer 4

Gun Controls only affect the Law Abiding Citizen, not the bad guy..When will you people understand that???
Prohibition didn't work, just caused the Kennedy's to become Bootleggers and made lots of money...
Prosecute the bad guys and leave the law abiding citizen to his own desires.
My guns have never killed anyone.....and in my control they won't, unless needed to protect myself, home and family.
The best advise, is to allow ALL citizens the right to carry...you will see a dramatic decline in crime..Bad Guys don't like armed citizens..They prey on the weak and defenseless.

Answer 5

As the nation debates whether more guns or fewer can prevent tragedies like the Virginia Tech Massacre, a notable anniversary passed last month in a Georgia town that witnessed a dramatic plunge in crime and violence after mandating residents to own firearms.

In March 1982, 25 years ago, the small town of Kennesaw – responding to a handgun ban in Morton Grove, Ill. – unanimously passed an ordinance requiring each head of household to own and maintain a gun. Since then, despite dire predictions of "Wild West" showdowns and increased violence and accidents, not a single resident has been involved in a fatal shooting – as a victim, attacker or defender.

The crime rate initially plummeted for several years after the passage of the ordinance, with the 2005 per capita crime rate actually significantly lower than it was in 1981, the year before passage of the law.

Prior to enactment of the law, Kennesaw had a population of just 5,242 but a crime rate significantly higher (4,332 per 100,000) than the national average (3,899 per 100,000). The latest statistics available – for the year 2005 – show the rate at 2,027 per 100,000. Meanwhile, the population has skyrocketed to 28,189.

(Story continues below)

By comparison, the population of Morton Grove, the first city in Illinois to adopt a gun ban for anyone other than police officers, has actually dropped slightly and stands at 22,202, according to 2005 statistics. More significantly, perhaps, the city's crime rate increased by 15.7 percent immediately after the gun ban, even though the overall crime rate in Cook County rose only 3 percent. Today, by comparison, the township's crime rate stands at 2,268 per 100,000.

This was not what some predicted.

In a column titled "Gun Town USA," Art Buchwald suggested Kennesaw would soon become a place where routine disagreements between neighbors would be settled in shootouts. The Washington Post mocked Kennesaw as "the brave little city … soon to be pistol-packing capital of the world." Phil Donahue invited the mayor on his show.

Reuters, the European news service, today revisited the Kennesaw controversy following the Virginia Tech Massacre.

Police Lt. Craig Graydon said: "When the Kennesaw law was passed in 1982 there was a substantial drop in crime … and we have maintained a really low crime rate since then. We are sure it is one of the lowest (crime) towns in the metro area." Kennesaw is just north of Atlanta.

The Reuters story went on to report: "Since the Virginia Tech shootings, some conservative U.S. talk show hosts have rejected attempts to link the massacre to the availability of guns, arguing that had students been allowed to carry weapons on campus someone might have been able to shoot the killer."

Virginia Tech, like many of the nation's schools and college campuses, is a so-called "gun-free zone," which Second Amendment supporters say invites gun violence – especially from disturbed individuals seeking to kill as many victims as possible.

Cho Seung-Hui murdered 32 and wounded another 15 before turning his gun on himself.

Answer 6

Dont need more gun control laws just enforce whats already ont eh books and execute ALL criminals,simple solution.The gov'mt wants to make trillions of dollars off of criminals and crime,and it's always the law abiding citizen that gets hurt,not the criminal.

Answer 7

Don't count me in that crowd. Enforce ones on the books now. Just look at Washington DC...with most gun laws on book. They have in past been at top of the heap in murders!