Gun control poll--please read OP for assumptions.

[DC]

NOT american, so i dont count

but let me say in my defense that most all gun crimes are committed by somebody's child

may i correct that?

 

[Tricky]

NOT american, so i dont count



may i correct that?

You can, but it was intended to be humorous.

 

[DC]

You can, but it was intended to be humorous.

sorry then^^ my english

 

[Eddie Dane]

S&W .357 magnum revolver (8-shot, from the S&W performance centre)
Baby Eagle/Jericho 941, 9mm

And they're both in a safe as I live in the Netherlands.
There are very few guns in our society and if current laws keep it that way I'm happy.
I just don't trust all those idiots I see in town to be responsible enough with a firearm.

So I shoot at a shooting range and nowhere else.

But if I lived in the states I'd have a bigger arsenal than the average developing nation and Hunter S. Thompson combined.

Love guns.

 

[fuelair]

Wow - nice!

Btw, I'm pretty liberal, but I can appreciate such hardware

I am liberal too.
Have not voted for a republicker for a long, long time - and then it was very small local govt. office where party did not matter.
And, she and her husband were good friends of ours!

 

[fuelair]

I think all guns should be registered and gun owners should be licensed after passing an exam. We do it with cars and drivers.

Mine all are and I am.

 

[Sir Robin Goodfellow]

You may have hit something there. Maybe there should be mandatory courses to own a gun, exactly like for owning a vehicle.

There are in Canada. You can't just go to the store and buy one. Did you mean in the United States?


I find that the anti-gun people are often the most poorly informed about firearms laws.

 

[Cicero]

Well, the way I see it at least the police are trained to evaluate a dangerous situation and act accordingly, not the regular people. If anything, I think owning a gun is more of a hazzard even for the owner. It increases the chances of something going wrong, IMO.

Really? Here is a trained DEA agent shooting himself during a presentation on firearm safety to a high school class.

For this bastion of law enforcement, possession of a firearm definitely proved to be more hazardous to the owner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmRN00KbCr8

 

[Cicero]

And we can prosecute anyone found with an illegal firearm. If guns are registered, only outlaws will have unregistered guns.


I suspect that there are many who feel as you do. I hope that most would reconsider if confronted with the potential of fines, confiscation, revocation of their firearms license, and potentially prison time if caught with an unregistered weapon.

A legal firearm transaction is one that is purchased from a seller with an FFL, or sold to a person with an FFL, an instant background check or ATF approval from a mail in application.

All NFA items (i.e. machine guns, silencers, SBW/AOW) in states where ownership is legal require an application with details on the type of device being purchased (serial number) reason for purchase, a background check with ATF/FBI, a CLEO sign-off and $200 payable to ATF.

Any person who applies for a CCW, in states where that is legal, has the serial number of their carry weapon registered.

What sort of registration do you imagine is going to stop criminals from committing crimes with firearms? If a criminal steals a "registered" firearm during a robbery, how does that square with your "only outlaws will have unregistered guns?"

 

[billydkid]

So, only conservative/liberals/non-US citizens are allowed to vote? What about those of us who think the conservative/liberal paradigm is pure BS. I am certainly personally liberal, but I am also just as certainly not a "liberal".

 

[Pardalis]

There are in Canada. You can't just go to the store and buy one. Did you mean in the United States?

Yes, I meant in the United States. Of course that's not my country, so I'm just giving my opinion.

Really? Here is a trained DEA agent shooting himself during a presentation on firearm safety to a high school class.

Argument from anecdote is a fallacy, but I know you already knew that.

 

[WildCat]

Except firearms clearly don't prevent people being robbed, mugged, raped and murdered, so I fail to see the relevance.

What about burglarized? Or as you foreigners might say "burgled".

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_bur_percap-crime-burglaries-per-capita

 

[fuelair]

Funny. I think the same thing about children. How come you have to have a permit to own a gun or a car, but any doofus can have a kid, no matter whether or not they've got any training at all?

(Yeah, I know. Derail, but let me say in my defense that most gun crimes are committed by somebody's child.)

I believe all that are legally crimes must be at this point in time.

 

[Cicero]

Yes, I meant in the United States. Of course that's not my country, so I'm just giving my opinion.



Argument from anecdote is a fallacy, but I know you already knew that.

What are you arguing from? But here is another instance where a cop accidentally discharges his weapon killing the handcuffed subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKKQ-gzc_Yw&feature=related

And another instance of off-duty cop's weapon accidentally discharging:

http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/37403634.html

 

[Hittman]

But can't one defend oneself without the use of a gun?

Not if the attacker has a gun. Not if the defender is phyicaly small, or handicpaed.

If the criminal is using a gun, then this comes back to the question of how he acquired the gun in the first place.

Because they're criminals. Banning something doesn't make it unavailable, it just makes it harder for law abiding folks go get, and easier for criminals.

Take a Virginia tech type of scenario.

Not only would there be only one crazy gunman, but if everyone owned a gun and could carry it everywhere, you would have dozens of gunmen.

But only one crazy one. Instead of killing 17 people he would have been stopped after the first one or two. Maybe, knowing that there were armed people around, he wouldn't have gone on his spree at all.

Most people who support gun ownership will say if people had had guns at Virginia Tech, then the killer would have been killed sooner. I disagree,

You're wrong. Responsible gun owners learn to handle their weapons, and themselves. They know better than to shoot randomly at anything that moves.

Seriously, you guys should consider a Constitutional Monarchy. I am sure Her Majesty would let you back in if you asked.

Naw, we kicked them out for a reason. And from what I've seen of the crime in the UK, where citizens get longer prison sentences than the criminals they're defending themselves against, I think I'll stay here.

I tend to agree with Gumboot. The people should work and enjoy life, the police and the law is there to protect the people, let them carry the guns.

They are often the worst thugs. However, when they murder citizens, they get off. Citizens who shoot back in self defense go to jail, and sometimes death row. Google Ryan Fredrick.

 

[ZirconBlue]

I am generally "socially liberal"--what people smoke, drink, read, view or screw is not the State's business--and "fiscally conservative"--the State should stick to a limited list of responsibilities, and should collect and spend tax money parsimoniously. What does that make me?

This describes my general position, as well. I used to think that this was "libertarian", but the party that goes by that name is way too far out in anarchy-land for me.

 

[Pardalis]

What are you arguing from? But here is another instance where a cop accidentally discharges his weapon killing the handcuffed subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKKQ-gzc_Yw&feature=related

And another instance of off-duty cop's weapon accidentally discharging:

http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/37403634.html

I don't understand your argument either. If cops can make this mistake, the general public can even more so?

You're just proving guns are a hazard no matter who has them?

 

[applecorped]

So it isn't the numbers of innocoent people killed, just the method used?

Innocent of what?

 

[applecorped]

You may have hit something there. Maybe there should be mandatory courses to own a gun, exactly like for owning a vehicle.

I agree with this.

 

[Cicero]

I don't understand your argument either. If cops can make this mistake, the general public can even more so?

You're just proving guns are a hazard no matter who has them?

You said only police should have access to firearms because they possess the requisite knowledge and experience to handle them safely. Now that you have seen this to be an invalid generalization, you have extended your invalid generalization that firearms are just too unsafe for anyone.

"n 1997 the UK banned all handguns except .22. These were to be stored at clubs. The whole process of confiscating virtually all legally held handguns took place between July 1997 and February 1998.

Total compensation paid of 95 million pounds.

The ban did not reduce number of active shooters. Pistol clubs turned to shooting pistol calibre carbines, which are more powerful and have higher capacity magazines.

The UK has reported an increase in homicide with pistols.

Greenwood (2006) concluded that in terms of crime; ‘the ban on handguns is neither here nor there in the equation’.

In research published by the UK Home Office in 2006, of 80 firearms offenders interviewed,57% (n=41) of them used handguns.

It is reasonable to conclude that the banning of possession of firearms or certain categories of firearm only affects those who posses and use them lawfully – those who use them unlawfully are already outside the law."