I agree that if there was a conspiracy by the government to become a dictatorship, banning guns would make it easier to attain.
The criminals with guns aren't sitting out there waiting to gun down all the good citizens in the country. I agree that the criminals would still keep their guns and take their chances if they were caught with a gun. It would make it easier for cops to put them away for having a gun. So, it would be like getting someone for tax evasion if one couldn't find enough evidence to convict said criminal for the crime he's already committed.
The main reason, in my opinion, for banning guns, is to collect them up and make them harder to obtain for everyone. The criminal could get caught in the sting operation selling him a gun. Just having them around in everyone's house makes them much easier to obtain and abuse when there's anger, revenge, or fear of something that would normally pass. There is the chance of misinterpretation of a situation. If there's a gun around, there is the chance that it gets used in times of stress. Not everyone has the training and the where-with-all to use the gun correctly.
There are many situations that might be helped by having a gun. Most of them are not your everyday happening. If you really feel safer having a gun, carrying it around to school, church and the 7/11, I really do feel sorry for you. But, it is your right. So, keep it around in your holster - loaded.
Maybe you'd feel safer if it's in your hand at all times - so that criminal wouldn't get the drop on you. How safe is safe? I have never touched a gun and have lived quite well without any fear of not having one. I must really be out of touch with the reality of the world. I have traveled a bit and spent quite a lot of time in places other than my current place of residence. Maybe I'm just lucky. I've taught my kids to think this way. They just don't fear that criminal who will be breaking into the house.
I'm not sure you are describing the generic criminal correctly. I would assume that this criminal has already developed a rap sheet of petty (gun-less) activities as he grew up. I suppose he also could be a person who never did anything criminal. But, he lost his job, was foreclosed upon, or got into trouble meeting other criminals at work or at the bar. I'm trying to come up with this generic criminal as a member of society first. Whatever his motivation to do a crime is, he is still a human being and doesn't necessarily own a gun. I suppose if he got too deep into addictive drugs or gambling or some other addiction problem, he would start thinking about how to get the big money to fix the problem. I wonder if counseling or rehab would turn up in some of his conversations.
So, anyway, I'm not sure that every criminal is breaking into grandma's house to get her petty cash. He might be trying to find a way to feed his family after something bad happened to him.
You're assuming that he still wants to live and is looking for the easiest target. Is he interested in easy targets to get money from or to shoot?
Does owning a gun to just kill this guy work for you? Of course he is desperate and he's already run out of other options - as far as he can see. So, we all should buy guns and have them ready for him when he shows up. The Army trains new recruits to go to war by naming the enemy "geeks," "commys," or some other word that makes them NOT HUMAN so it's easy to kill them. We kinda treated slaves that way. Maybe it would be better for us to stop setting up for that encounter with the geek and find another way to help people who need help.
OK. I do believe that all the talk about banning assault rifles won't actually stop gun violence. In order to stop gun violence, we need to find a way to deter it. Maybe criminalizing having a gun while drunk would be a start. How about leaving a gun accessible to a minor by not locking it up? I think it is the activity of using a gun when in a state of drunkenness or anger could be declared to be like a DUI. It seems that MADD has worked quite well. There's not that many DUI's as there used to be. The mother of the nut who did Newtown was also a nut. She knew that he had mental troubles. She kept those guns where he got to them. She wasn't that effective a survivalist. She didn't realize that he was smart enough to get them out of the safe. That should be illegal someway so people wouldn't be in that position.
So, Patrick, Do you have a gun yet? It seems that you are talking about freedom that the second amendment provides for everyone. So, are you buying that gun and carrying it around every day? I think your freedom is certainly there in the abstract. I think it is not actually implemented because it is not that easy to worry about having the gun with you at all times. It also isn't that necessary as you think. The grandma had the gun and made it to youtube. Good for her. She's such a hero. I continue to save my money and keep guns out of my world because I don't need the freedom to defend myself from these imaginary thugs. I feel a lot freer than all of the people who need to protect themselves from the robbers and murderers that your statistics make you fear. We need to protect ourselves from all the fears that the NRA is selling. You need that gun - go to Walmart and make yourself safe - along with me rich. Stupid logic IMHO.
Every situation that happens is unique. If I have a gun around the house somewhere, there is an opportunity that it will be abused. So, from my point of view, not having a gun anywhere makes me a lot safer. I've never wished for a gun to solve some problem. It just isn't part of my vocabulary. If a bear decides he want the hamburger in the fridge, I'll happily open the door and let him eat. If some weird guy shows up looking for money, I'll happily give him what I've got in my pocket. He won't need to pull out his gun when I meet him, he can tell me what he needs and I'll help him get it.
It's not all good guys and bad guys in the world. So, yeah, the grandma had a gun and used it wisely. I would have given them the cash in the drawer myself. It's only money and probably she has insurance for that kind of thing.
I haven't been to a gun shop ever. So, maybe the gun that Dirty Harry was carrying around is a bit dated. I'm sure if it fits in a purse without making one limp around it would be more convenient to carry around.
There is a difference in our personal environment. So, maybe the chances of the murderer or robber is less likely out here than where you live. I did grow up in Chicago and did feel a lot less safe day to day. There was more threat of violence in the street. I moved out as soon as I was able. I really like it out here for many reasons. I do meet gun-packing Conservatives out here too. But, for the most part, I've found more people think and vote like lefty me.
You can always find something the media did to twist the meaning. Yeah, it's MSNBC giving us this distortion about how we all need to have guns carried by everyone. This way anyone can just reach into the car glove compartment, get the gun, and solve whatever problem comes up. If it turns out that the problem wasn't as it was perceived, oh well, unexpected shootings do happen - peripheral damage. It's our right to make mistakes while bearing those arms. People (good or bad) still do make mistakes. I don't want them all carrying some deadly force because they will still make the same mistakes they always do. Guns are only so needed in the USA. The rest of the world has somehow figured out how to live without them. Now there is the campaign to arm every idiot so he can have a shot at me. It makes perfect sense. Let's remove the age limit, the caliber limit, the clip size, etc. Why doesn't the NRA even want to install the universal check? They did some years ago. Does it limit sales maybe?
I'll just point out that I've shown you statistics to argue my side. There are many ways to make a point. All I can say in the light of your reasoning is that Yes! you have the right to carry a gun or keep it in your house and be safe. I'm not arguing that. I do understand that you expect another Holocaust to be brewing (maybe somewhere close to home) and you don't want to be caught without a way to fight back. I guess I should applaud your heroism. How do you feel about joining the Armed Forces where you could be righting those wrongs every day with that wonderful assault rifle?
I understand that this is all about the principle of self government - the Libertarian point of view. It is a reasonable point of view - that I've been able to understand from a distance. I don't think Rand Paul(son of Ron) has all his screws completely tightened. I find that his form of Republican purpose is very unreasonable and uncooperative. Basically, the Tea Party is so far to the right that they won't compromise about anything. Obama's first term was kind of crippled by the establishment Republicans having that meeting and deciding that they would not support anything he tried to do. Well, that worked out quite well for them as seen by his re-election.
So, I'm saying that most people in the rest of the world can't afford to have the number of guns we Americans can. There is that factor if one is really poor he is starving and has no ability to obtain a gun. The new government heads generally buy guns first to control the dissidents. They build an army to keep control of their population. So, if I were in that Country, I would be searching for a gun to fight back when they came for my wife or daughter. I get that. But, this isn't Africa. There aren't war lords running around raping the population. I think if anyone knew that I had a gun in a situation like that, they would come over and visit me first to take it from me. So, there are many situations where a gun would be needed for survival - hunting too, perhaps. I don't think that is the situation we have in the States. We've never had a Holocaust here. We did have slavery, a Civil War, and generally we've been warring ever since. Competition is our major preoccupation - football, boxing, basketball are the big money sports our population supports pretty adamantly. We are very competitive in school, at work - climb that ladder, in relationships, etc. I don't want to have guns around in my life to amplify the emotional way we compete or fix whatever problems come up in our lives. Is that so hard to understand? Most gun owners won't grab the gun right away. But all you need is one idiot to see that there's a gun in that house. Then it can become a goal for his plans. The safe can be crunched open. The key can be found. I don't want to have anything that would allow some deranged person to commit another Newtown. So, I understand your need to have a gun. Maybe you can understand that I don't need one.
Comments
The criminals with guns aren't sitting out there waiting to gun down all the good citizens in the country. I agree that the criminals would still keep their guns and take their chances if they were caught with a gun. It would make it easier for cops to put them away for having a gun. So, it would be like getting someone for tax evasion if one couldn't find enough evidence to convict said criminal for the crime he's already committed.
The main reason, in my opinion, for banning guns, is to collect them up and make them harder to obtain for everyone. The criminal could get caught in the sting operation selling him a gun. Just having them around in everyone's house makes them much easier to obtain and abuse when there's anger, revenge, or fear of something that would normally pass. There is the chance of misinterpretation of a situation. If there's a gun around, there is the chance that it gets used in times of stress. Not everyone has the training and the where-with-all to use the gun correctly.
There are many situations that might be helped by having a gun. Most of them are not your everyday happening. If you really feel safer having a gun, carrying it around to school, church and the 7/11, I really do feel sorry for you. But, it is your right. So, keep it around in your holster - loaded.
Maybe you'd feel safer if it's in your hand at all times - so that criminal wouldn't get the drop on you. How safe is safe? I have never touched a gun and have lived quite well without any fear of not having one. I must really be out of touch with the reality of the world. I have traveled a bit and spent quite a lot of time in places other than my current place of residence. Maybe I'm just lucky. I've taught my kids to think this way. They just don't fear that criminal who will be breaking into the house.
So, anyway, I'm not sure that every criminal is breaking into grandma's house to get her petty cash. He might be trying to find a way to feed his family after something bad happened to him.
You're assuming that he still wants to live and is looking for the easiest target. Is he interested in easy targets to get money from or to shoot?
Does owning a gun to just kill this guy work for you? Of course he is desperate and he's already run out of other options - as far as he can see. So, we all should buy guns and have them ready for him when he shows up. The Army trains new recruits to go to war by naming the enemy "geeks," "commys," or some other word that makes them NOT HUMAN so it's easy to kill them. We kinda treated slaves that way. Maybe it would be better for us to stop setting up for that encounter with the geek and find another way to help people who need help.
The mother of the nut who did Newtown was also a nut. She knew that he had mental troubles. She kept those guns where he got to them. She wasn't that effective a survivalist. She didn't realize that he was smart enough to get them out of the safe. That should be illegal someway so people wouldn't be in that position.
It's not all good guys and bad guys in the world. So, yeah, the grandma had a gun and used it wisely. I would have given them the cash in the drawer myself. It's only money and probably she has insurance for that kind of thing.
I haven't been to a gun shop ever. So, maybe the gun that Dirty Harry was carrying around is a bit dated. I'm sure if it fits in a purse without making one limp around it would be more convenient to carry around.
There is a difference in our personal environment. So, maybe the chances of the murderer or robber is less likely out here than where you live. I did grow up in Chicago and did feel a lot less safe day to day. There was more threat of violence in the street. I moved out as soon as I was able. I really like it out here for many reasons. I do meet gun-packing Conservatives out here too. But, for the most part, I've found more people think and vote like lefty me.
Let's remove the age limit, the caliber limit, the clip size, etc. Why doesn't the NRA even want to install the universal check? They did some years ago. Does it limit sales maybe?
I understand that this is all about the principle of self government - the Libertarian point of view. It is a reasonable point of view - that I've been able to understand from a distance. I don't think Rand Paul(son of Ron) has all his screws completely tightened. I find that his form of Republican purpose is very unreasonable and uncooperative. Basically, the Tea Party is so far to the right that they won't compromise about anything. Obama's first term was kind of crippled by the establishment Republicans having that meeting and deciding that they would not support anything he tried to do. Well, that worked out quite well for them as seen by his re-election.
So, I'm saying that most people in the rest of the world can't afford to have the number of guns we Americans can. There is that factor if one is really poor he is starving and has no ability to obtain a gun. The new government heads generally buy guns first to control the dissidents. They build an army to keep control of their population. So, if I were in that Country, I would be searching for a gun to fight back when they came for my wife or daughter. I get that. But, this isn't Africa. There aren't war lords running around raping the population. I think if anyone knew that I had a gun in a situation like that, they would come over and visit me first to take it from me. So, there are many situations where a gun would be needed for survival - hunting too, perhaps. I don't think that is the situation we have in the States. We've never had a Holocaust here. We did have slavery, a Civil War, and generally we've been warring ever since. Competition is our major preoccupation - football, boxing, basketball are the big money sports our population supports pretty adamantly. We are very competitive in school, at work - climb that ladder, in relationships, etc. I don't want to have guns around in my life to amplify the emotional way we compete or fix whatever problems come up in our lives. Is that so hard to understand? Most gun owners won't grab the gun right away. But all you need is one idiot to see that there's a gun in that house. Then it can become a goal for his plans. The safe can be crunched open. The key can be found. I don't want to have anything that would allow some deranged person to commit another Newtown. So, I understand your need to have a gun. Maybe you can understand that I don't need one.