Guns, citizens, ownership?

Question

I do not think that citizens having guns is wrong...in fact, there have been studies that show, in states where concealed firearms are evident, there are lower crime rates and less violent crimes because people protect themselves more. Also, the thought that you do not know who has a gun on them is scaring off criminals, period.

As for all of the guns being sold to the psychos, I think that there does need to be a more thurough, strict background search, as well as a pyschiactric evaluation to ensure that you are normal and can own a firearm.

I have always loved shooting; I love the sport and just find guns, well...cool. If you are trained and know what you are doing, then guns are okay and everyone is safe. Accidents are usually caused by the wielder, not the weapon itself.

What is your standpoint on private-ownership of firearms?

Answer 1

I support the second ammendment totally and my husband is a member of the NRA, look here is the bottom line...me and my son are the reasons that my husband carries, when we are together, he carries to protect us, when he is alone, he carries so that he can return to us.

Answer 2

Psychos, criminals, etc. what ever you like to call them don't require evaluation, background checks etc. because they don't buy at gun shops or stores. Criminals will sell stolen weapons to fellow criminals because the present laws are not enforced to the fullest extent and, that is why this country has more repeat offenders then any-other country in the world. In some countries you lose a finger or hand if you steel a loaf of bread, here you should have your hand cut off if you commit a crime with a firearm, it is that simple. Here in the U.S. you'll get a few months (maybe a year or 2 at most), clean close, 3 meals a day, cable, wt. room, etc., probation and last of all that slap on the wrist. It is you and I that pay for there crimes and not them.

I enjoy hunting, collecting firearms and have had a concealed carry permit for about the last 10 years, and for the past couple of those years it's been a multiple state permit.

Answer 3

I believe the Constitution conveys to every citizen the right to bear arms. History has shown that the quickest way to take over a country is to first disarm its citizens. Hitler proved this first in Germany then in every country he tried to dominate.

Armed citizens are not the problem. Armed criminals are the problem and the wimpy laws and officials that do or do not enforce them. Any crime involving a gun should be severe, swift and be immune from earning good time, so that if the criminal is given 10 years for a crime he/she does 10 years and not one day less. As it is now the more severe the punishment the bigger the award of good time and the less amount of time spent incarcerated for the crime and the more time to be out and committing more crime.

I live in a state that has concealed carry law and I have a concealed carry license. I had to take a course on the law and use of the weapon, and also prove proficient on safety and use of the weapon. I am a 60+ yr. old citizen and proud to be a member of the NRA and happy to live in a state where I have the ability to help myself if need be.

Answer 4

Criminals can be dealt with. Stiffer penalties, actual jail time, or a simple good ol fashion bullet to the gourd while you are commiting the crime.

The real problem comes from other sources. During WWII Admiral Yamamoto is reputed to have said, “You cannot invade America. There is a rifle behind every blade of grass.” (VERY loosely quoted). That threat alone makes other countries (as well as our own) very aware that we have the capacity to defend and retaliate.

Yes, our govenrment has Apache helicopters and nuclear weapons as part of their arsenal, but I would rather have my own arsenal that ensures my right to call my own shots.

I have fought for my country and support our government....to a point.

That line should never be crossed by our government (or any other) and that is the reason we need a say in the matter. Bearing arms gives us the right to speak and defend and not be a sideliner hoping that our elected officials do what is right for us and not others.

And also, I just love shooting! Whether it is knocking a hole in some very aggressive paper target that is out to get me or reducing the population of those extremely dangerous tree rats we have around here. Skkeeeeeerrry.

Answer 5

There is no way to predict when someone may misuse a firearm in a violent and destructive way*... They could be legal and authorized to own at the time of purchase, and then later on , a week, month, day, year, years later flip out or snap, and use it in a violent way*... Therefore you cannot absolutely know or predict who, what, where, when and how this will take place by anyone at any time*... So it is ridiculous to assume that anyone is safe and will be law abiding forever just because they were OK"ed at the time of purchase*... That is the reality of true gun ownership*... Therefore it is virtually impossible to say one person deserves to own and others do not based on certain laws and regulations or they have to meet certain qualification's before they can own Firearms*....

Answer 6

At some point in time many people go nuts and do weird things; I have also always maintained that when you drink you should avoid contact with anything in the line of machinery, cars, trucks, tractors, power tools, guns, etc. It is just common sense. It is also what we should realize is a "people problem" and not a machine problem. The liberal left press tries to never mention that in states where people have concealed weapons and etc the crime rate is very low compared to places where honest citizens are disarmed and becomeprey for the animals who disregard the law anyway. We are citizens in our nation by and large; in england the people are subjects as they are disarmed and subjected to rule. We have our constitution and bill of rights and are all citizens.

Answer 7

The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, period. Any infringement, no matter how small it may seem, only opens the door for expansion which would allow would-be tyrants to have their way with a disarmed populace.

Especially considering tomorrow's date, we should remember why the right to bear arms was considered by the founders to be necessary for the security of a FREE state. It is the final check against criminals of all types, particularly those who have the power of a government behind them.

Answer 8

dca (your last answerer) is right on - there is no way to know who will misuse a gun, for the most part. Most people who kill others with guns are people who DO NOT have a diagnosable mental illness. Most people with mental illnesses are totally non violent and are no more likely to commit a crime than anyone else, they are at high risk of being VICTIMIZED not doing the victimizing. Psychiatrists state on their american psychiatric association webpage that they cannot predict violence any better than a regular person. What is happening is that people are attacking folks who have mental illness diagnoses and basically saying we are unfit people - that just isn't so! You probably know many people with depression or anxiety or bipolar disorder and you don't even know it (folks with schizophrenia have a harder time covering it up because their meds make them so drowsy and slow).

So this idea you are going to screen out the unfit gun owners is never going to work. A guy could be a safe, responsible gun owner right up until the day he finds his wife in bed with another guy. If we are willing to accept this risk as a society, than we should admit it, not tar people with a medical problem over which they have no control.

Answer 9

As the first line of the Constitution states, "WE, the PEOPLE"; the Bill of Rights, the whole document, INCLUDING the Second Amendment, is about the individual citizen, NOT the government!

As the Dean of Science Fiction, Robert A. Heinlein, once said, "An Armed society is a Polite society!"
and
"A Nation that DEMANDS that its' Citizens carry I.D. is not long from the 'Dark!' "

I don't know who said these:
"It is better to be judged by Twelve than to be Carried by Six!"

"A Man Armed is a Citizen, an unarmed man is a Subject!"

and

"It is far better to Have a gun and not Need one than to Need a gun and not Have One!"

Answer 10

It is a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. The United States Constitution included that right specifically because its authors understood that it is the government we need to protect ourselves from.

True, if everybody had guns, violent crime would eventually cease. It wouldn't be prudent to try to rob anybody if everybody had guns. But that isn't the real reason we need to have them. Everyone, especially law enforcement, needs to be aware that they are not the only ones with guns. If The People are ever stupid enough, ignorant enough, fearful and weak enough that they relinquish their rights, it spells the end for democracy and the beginning of dictatorship.

Hmmm...
Is that already happening?

Answer 11

Since any one can get a gun, by the rules or not, there should be NO rules. If every one packed a gun, crime after about 2 weeks crime would pretty much go away.