Is the damage to society from guns worth the freedom to have guns?

[Iroquois]

This question would best be asked of the nearlly one billion murdered by their own and neighboring governments in the 20th century...except that they're DEAD.
If you think nutjobs can't get weapons if we ban them, I'd like to remind you of the 35,000
rounds of ammo and grenades that was discovered in a trailor in rural Martinton, Illinois
in 1997..stolen from our own military!!

 

[Rocket]

My father was a gunsmith for a while while I was growing up. I bet at any one time there were at least 30 guns around the house. From the age of 10yrs old I had access to them. I shot a lot of them And you will never guess. Not a single one of those guns so much as moved without help! I know amazing, right.

Makes me want to put some Sheeple in a room full of guns and shut the door. And wait for the guns to jump up and be evil!

If the magic button were pushed and EVERY gun vanished from the planet we would just have a different danger to face. Since we can not fix human nature, The problem will persist. I will keep my guns, thanks.

 

[blamecharles]

Murder is already illegal, the means to commit it will change. Cavemen clubbed each other, Egyptians used spears, we use everything imaginable. Did you hear about the 5 ladies that raped a man to death? Are we going to ban vaginas next? Or women?

 

[churchmouse]

A gun of any kind is merely a tool. How the tool is used, well, that is up to the user.


1st lesson taught to my kids about fire arms.
Gun laid on the table. Slide locked back. Loaded mag next to it. Question, is the gun safe or dangerous in this state. Answer from son (12) daughter (9) No, it is safe.

Next, Mag in the gun and round chambered. Gun still laying on the table. Same question.
Son, dangerous, the safety is off...daughter...just yes it is dangerous.

My response, no, it is safe as it sits. It is a machine and requires human interaction to work. I picked it up and said now, it is dangerous.

If I want you hurt badly enough I will find a means to get that accomplished gun, bat, pipe or run you down with my truck, that simple. A gun just makes it more convenient.

Again, DC and Chicago should be the safest places on earth but it just ain;t so. Gun free zones are the nut bags playground.

I say yes.

 

[actaeon277]

Jack, I just put your articles in my explorer favorite list.
I read 3 of them before I had to stop.
When I get some time, I'll post a link on Facebook.
I especially like the explanation of the evil black rifle in another article.

 

[beararms1776]

No law will stand in the way of those who desire to tread onto others to do harm, spite the negative outcome.
Most people, I would think, don't like violence and avoid it if possible.
I would say arm the innocents so they can defend themselves against others that are on the fringe of lunacy that enjoy, create and dabble in clever chaos.
The 2nd A is the most important document ever written for Americans.

 

[DragonGunner]

If guns kill people, can I blame bad spelling on the pencil?

 

[megalomaniac]

It's funny...if you put an (unloaded) handgun in front of MOST gun control advocates, they about crap their pants and turn red in the face with fear. If you take that same person to a range, teach them basic safety, and let them fire some rounds about 80% of them would question their former belief system.

And yes to everyone that realizes what 2A really means. See, gov't exists because the people ALLOW it. Very important point that is lost most of the time in any gun control discussion. And certainly something not taught in our left leaning schools.

 

[You'll shoot your eye out]

I read your article. I understand the point being made and agree completely. HOWEVER.... I am a little uncomfortable equating keeping and bearing arms as similar to the use of alcohol.

In a best case scenario where the use of alcohol is moderate and responsible, the result is still a slight poisoning of the body and a measurable (if temporary) decrease in intelligence. In short, while the effects of alcohol can often be very slight they are never good.

The law demonstrates this also, it is legal to walk around in public open carrying a firearm. To be drunk in public (open carrying liquor) makes you subject to arrest. In the eyes of the law the drunk presents a greater threat to the public than the firearm owner.

I recognize that my critique is a derailing or a sidestep of the point that you were making, but you DID present your paper for review and this is what came to my mind. As far as the quality of your writing goes and the view being promoted, I cannot find any fault.

 

[jaybird_123]

The Question

Are we as a country willing to accept hundreds of thousands of horrific situations and incidents when those who mis-use an otherwise legal substance create chaos and harm innocents? Or do we demand that freedom for all be curtailed so that the innocents be saved?

Is the damage to society from guns worth the freedom to have guns?

My latest essay. Any feedback would be appreciated, and I will certainly ask for Facebook likes if you will. As a note, yes I know the damage is not done from the guns but from the choices of people, but headlines are written to attack hits from Google, not to be accurate.

The old west, cowboy days, we see in the movies all the time. Well, those were real times, that America lived through. That is what made america as we see it today. We as the american people have the right to protect ourselves, and the only way we can do that, is to carry our own weapons. The government, the police, cant protect us all, we have to police ourselves. There always was idiots, and there always will be idiots, but that should not affect the law abiding people of the United States.

 

[spencer rifle]

Something that has been missed in most discussions: people are comparing owning guns to driving or drinking, but neither driving nor drinking are SPECIFICALLY protected by clear language in our Constitution. Some things are rights, and some things are privileges. Best be able to tell the difference.

 

[Jack Burton]

Something that has been missed in most discussions: people are comparing owning guns to driving or drinking, but neither driving nor drinking are SPECIFICALLY protected by clear language in our Constitution. Some things are rights, and some things are privileges. Best be able to tell the difference.

Do you see the ability to drink alcohol as a "privilege"?

 

[churchmouse]

Do you see the ability to drink alcohol as a "privilege"?

In a way, yes. You have to be of age (same as driving)
You are limited in levels of consumption by law.
You can loose the ability to consume legally if on probation etc. (same as driving)

Might be a loose interpretation but yes.

 

[kawtech87]

Doing away with guns will do little to curb violence...we will find other means to kill each other. We are a violent people, unmatched in the civilized world. We might as well retain the ability to defend ourselves from the wolves.

Swords, axes, hammers, shields, bows & arrows, clubs, rocks, catapults and even armored horses were once used as weapons.

Banning firearms will only force people back to even more brutal, cruel and violent ways of killing each other.

Guns, if we like it or not, are the most humaine way of killing somthing that currently exsists.

Im sure though if someone goes out and beats 12 people to death with thier bare hands, then the left will start trying to ban the use of hands.

 

[dwickstrom]

OP read John Lott's book More Guns Less Crime the answer IMO is yes as stated before look at Chicago strictest gun control highest crime rates across the board.

 

[TheRude1]

Main page
Deaths - The 2012 Statistical Abstract - U.S. Census Bureau

Numbers relative to the thread, firearm deaths at the bottom
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0120.pdf

 

[Birdman002]

My $.02,

But guns dont kill people, people kill people, and if they wanted to ban things that kill people then hell there wouldnt be anything left for us to use cuz you can kill anyone, with anything. Even Ice Sicles, so we should ban Ice. lol

I think the problem go back to influences and being raised right, Im 21, i dont want to go kill people, i have firearms and i play voilent video games, but i dont want to go shoot people.

People dont realize its how your raised and taught whats right and wrong, which where society is screwed because there is no good diciplin in whats right and wrong. Society is to nice, people get let off for to violent of crimes, that is where in my eyes the problems lies, society is too nice, we need to get more mean, more punishment for crimes, not a slap on the wrist.

More of a Rant. haha

 

[2cool9031]

Even with no guns available...evil people will find a way. Whether it be poison gas, or a bomb etc.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

Gun violence isn't a cause of the breakdown of our society, it is a result of that breakdown. I think part of our current societal breakdown comes from too many people living together in too close proximity; part of it is a societal departure from the professed christian values which our Founders felt were necessary for the longevity of a republican government; part of it is a deliberate dumbing down of children, brought on partially by educators who aren't competent, partially by parents who don't care about their kids, and partially by government agencies at all levels who see 'equality of education' as being equivalent to 'the lowest common denominator'. Additionally, there are the standard human bureaucratic herd instincts that protect budgets and seek to have them increased; increasing personal estrangement in favor of impersonal electronic contacts (why aren't we having this discussion over a beer at the corner tavern?) and an increasing influence of "nannyism" by segments of the populace who believe that safety and security are paramount and that they know what's best for us and we are idiots and liars and other epithets (racists, bigots, homophobes, etc.) if we don't agree.

Faced with these pressures, our society is headed toward the classic solution when a colony of rats are contained and they grow too crowded; they turn on one another in a frenzy of killing. Not only would doing away with firearms not do anything to stop this trend, it would leave a large segment of the population helpless in the face of overwhelming strength and/or numbers.

MEN (and women, but especially men) have traditionally been the protectors of their families. We need to encourage our society to resume that traditional role in the family; we need to encourage families to stay together; and we need to promote the truism that we are all personally responsible for our own actions, lives, and families, and that we should never cede those responsibilities to the government.

 

[Excalibur]

People need to remind that a gun is just a weapon of opportunity. Criminals don't obey laws and making having guns illegals won't stop criminals from keeping their illegal guns or people who get weapons in the black market.

It really is not an issue about guns. People who are anti gun really are anti-self defense. I think they have no idea that when you get rid of guns, you take away the means to defend our lives.

Now there are people who will not defend oneself that would lead to the death of even the attacker because most people don't want that on their conscious. That's a nice thought, but when the **** hits the fan, when it comes down to it, you will pick your life over the one who is attacking you.