Who thinks gun laws (or lack thereof) should be changed in the US?

Question

Im just an Aussie girl, afterall, I don't live in the US and don't understand their laws (or lack of laws when it comes to guns) but I spent a few months debating back and forth via email with a highly intelligent US girl who believed gun's should continue to be allowed and owned pretty much freely as they currently are, despite all the school shootings etc. She pointed out that we have gun psychopaths too which we do (take Martin Bryant for example) and there will always be sick people who get hold of guns however I do believe that if it is harder and less accessible, such as it is in Australia, the opportunity to perform mass executions like we are hearing about in the US, is removed somewhat. With guns more destruction is created, I just don't get why so many Americans are still for fairly unrestricted gun ownership. Some people have told me that they need them over there because they need guns for protection but if guns were outlawed this would be less likely.

Answer 1

that program to ban guns cost the Australian government $500 million. they used DEADLY force to confiscate 640,381 personal firearms.
and do you know what happened-

Australia, a place where homicides were low to start with, homicides are up 3.2 percent (300 percent in Victoria). Assaults are up 8.6 percent and armed robberies are up 44 percent.


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History 101, gun control and why the government does it:

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
in 1938, 13 million defenceless Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, mentally ill and impaired human beings were imprisoned in concentration camps and distroyed.

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves were rounded up an exterminated.
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Guatemala. Gun control laws were passed in 1964: as a result, between 1964 - 1981, 100,000 defenceless Mayan Indians met their deaths.

Uganda established gun control in 1970. 1971 - 1979, 300,000 defenceless Christians were killed.

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945 13 million were thrown into concentration camps.

the first gun control in the U.S. was during the cilil War to keeps guns away from slaves so they didn't rebel against their "masters".
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"When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty." --Thomas Jefferson.

Answer 2

Gotta love some of the answers already given especially the old 'guns don't kill people, people do'.

Sure, criminals will always be able to get guns but that's not the point. The point is that too many people who've had a bad day, week or month, having such easy access to a non-personal weapon such as a gun decide to go out and teach the world a lesson in how bad they feel.

Stabbings etc. are far more personal a thing to do and require getting really close to a person but walking into a classroom and spraying bullets or do the same in a crowded shopping centre is very impersonal and a cowardly/weak action.

If the latest twit hadn't had access to a gun he may well have beaten up on someone or just bumped himself off but the easy access allowed him to severley damage too many innocent people and their friends and families who were out and going about their own business.

Answer 3

Not really. I'm a person who is fairly law and rule abiding. I do tend to look to the purpose of a rule because I want to know the "spirit of the rule" which is more important than skirting around a rule. My religion doesn't usually go against the rules. I might not agree with all rules and I've been known to violate some sort of "don't walk on the grass" sort of thing, but I try to honor the regulations whenever I am. I assume there is a reason for them and if I don't like them I can take my toys and go home.

Answer 4

Gun Laws simply do not work. Read the Fraser Institute Reports. For all you gun banning wack jobs out there; do you know how to read? Do you under stand human nature? I mean this is VERY simple. I can add links, I can add quotes, I can spend 24 hours straight proving to you that gun control increases violent crime and gives tyranny an upper hand, but it does not fit in with what you think so its not true. I will NEVER understand the liberal mind set of people who want to ban guns. It does not work and it does not make sense.

Answer 5

There is no unrestricted gun ownership. In order to acquire a firearm it must be licensed. Nobody is handing out AK-47's at McDonalds. What happens is criminals get guns which are stolen and recirculated through an underground network. There are networks of criminals who do nothing but deal in stolen guns. A stolen gun is not a licensed gun, and out of the hands of the person who has the license it's a dangerous weapon.

It is written in the constitution that Americans have the right to bear arms. Now, when that was written it was several hundred years ago, when there was really not a lot of national stability and guns were necessary to protect property and life.

If it were possible today to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and crazy people we would. There isn't anyone around who wants criminals or crazy people to have guns. So you know what a lot of cities do around the USA? The police departments in various cities around the country (funded by state and federal taxpayer money), buys back thousands and thousands of guns with "suspicious" pedigrees every year.

It is not legal to have assault rifles in a gun collection in some states, but some people break the law and acquire them. Sometimes they are stolen, or they aren't locked up and put away out of the hands of immature kids and crazy people. And it's not the GUN that causes the accident, it's PEOPLE who kill people. Not GUNS. The gun is simply the method by which they kill.

1. People with a criminal past cannot legally buy a gun, because they cannot be licensed to own one.

2. People with mental instability cannot own a gun, they cannot be licensed either.

Careless people, who don't lock their guns away out of the hands of children, or teens are to blame for some shootings.

Some shootings are gang related, some just idiot related.

If more people owned guns and could carry them concealed in every day life, you wouldn't hear about shootings because the criminal wouldn't know who had a gun at whatever time, and that would be a deterrent for them to commit crimes.

Answer 6

We Americans love our guns. Moreover, we have no shortage of laws regarding them. We have all sorts of restrictive gun laws: In NY city you cannot own a handgun and it's the same in Washington DC. Assault rifles have been banned in many places. You can't buy a gun without waiting 10 days for a background check.

Sadly, America is becoming a country filled with people who are isolated from each other and I believe it is the failure to of Americans to love and care for each other that contributes to rampant gun violence. We have poor mental health care and as a Nation we are falling apart. This contributes to the mental illness that precedes mass homicides.

America was born in a revolution made with guns. Had we been unarmed we would still be ruled by the British. Also, the 2nd Amendment of our Constitution gives citizens the right to own guns. Lastly, our Declaration of Independence gives the people the right to revolt should the government fail to uphold our Rights. Without guns Americans could never reestablish our Government should it become necessary.

Answer 7

The only change I'd support would be repeal of about 80% of the gun laws on the books right now.

Answer 8

28,000 gun laws are a lack of laws? The thing to remember about the US there are 50 different states that see regulations should be different.

Answer 9

There are 1200 pages of gun laws on the books today.

That's plenty, don't you think? Obviously more of them isn't the answer to reducing violence in any country, stopping the flow of weapons to people who shouldn't own them is the hard part.

Answer 10

I do.

But Americans will never put up with it. They have been brainwashed into the "gun ownership is my constitutional right" mentality by the gun dealership lobby. They don't care how many people get killed. They want to have their beloved guns.