calling all americans out there!

owkay... i was just wondering... in the US you're allowed to own a gun... How do you feel about that? isn't it frightening? Here in Holland... when someones has a beef with you... you go outside beat the crap out of each other, gather all of your friends, and go home... but if guns were allowed it would make the whole situation a lot different...

So basically my question is:

How do you feel about owning guns...? does it scare you anyone packs some heat? would you rather live in a country where guns are forbidden?

let's hear it!

 

Ambivalent about owning guns.

I work in the American Criminal Justice system, it doesn't bother me about people packing heat. Let's be realistic, gun laws don't apply to the felon on the street who's gonna get one whether he's legally allowed to or not. Also, in my experience, most people who have guns use them as intimidation factors; they don't intent to pull the trigger when waving the gun in grandma's face screaming for her purse.

No. What else is forbidden or allowed?

 

Personally? I'm for gun ownership. Providing the owner has proper training in safety and use. Not for just anyone. Does it scare me? No. Why should it? I'm not the sort to go around ticking off complete strangers. Matter of fact, I live in Texas, that ought to tell you something. It's fairly easy to legally get and carry a gun here. Besides, how many illegal guns are on the streets? More than I care to think about. Does that bother me? No. Same reason. Besides, I could just as easily get hit by a car while crossing the street (and more likely to) than get shot by someone with a gun.
But to each their own. Don't believe in it? Don't buy one. Got kids? Keep it locked up where they can't get it or use it. Teach them gun safety and respect for it. Guns are not toys.

 

It's a constitutional right. lol. Depending on who's arguement/interpetation you believe. I grew up around them, used them and respect them.

For me? No. I think for the majority of people - owning a gun isn't frightening. It's a big responsibility. The laws are different from state to state as are the strengths of gun lobbies. As are attitudes about owning guns. It'd be a bit silly to try to lump all Americans together when it comes to the gun ownership or right's to bear arms issues.
There is a fairly diverse range of views on the subject.

We have the same thing in the US. There are plenty of scraps and punch-ups where no one has a gun. Obviously you also have gun violence. And it became a major problem with gangs. It still is... but the vast majority of people who are involved in gang wars and drive by shootings are not getting their guns through legal means anyhow... so making them illegal does nothing to solve the problem.

I am fine with owning guns. I don't know that carrying one without a CCW permit is such a great thing. Obviously guns are a huge responsibility and the current system for gun control is inaddequate. But it's a much larger issue than just gun ownership.

Where I grew up as kid... yes. I was a teenager when gangs and such made a pretty big jump from knives to firearms... and it changed the way things went down. But the starting problem for many of the situations where people end up dead is not a gun.. it's social problems... guns just exacerbate the situation. When guns weren't so prevalent you had many people getting stabbed. Guns are an easier out... you can shoot someone from further out than you need to be when you stab someone. It takes about zero nerve... stabbing someone is a different animal altogether.

I've lived in both and it doesn't make much difference to me.

Many people who've never lived in the US for a long period of time have a very stilted image of the US from the media (ironically much of that is American media). And the US is an easy target. Being basically the only world power it's the country everyone loves to hate. lol. But that doesn't stop hundreds of thousands from trying to get in every year. People make it out like every living soul has an arsenal... I know many people that lived in the US their entire lives and couldn't name a single person that owned a gun. FWIW - my mom has always packed. She's always had a concealed carry permit. Even the laws for CCW are different from state to state.

I don't say there aren't a lot of problems with people having guns.. there are.. always have been... always will be. But what I find interesting is that many countries that have very tight gun laws design and manufacture arms that they then sell on to other countries. lol.... we don't want our own getting killed... but we don't mind if they kill themselves.

I have the feeling this thread will easily descend into a flame war.

 

I don't live in america but i hope it's okay if i share my opinion here.
I'm strongly against the whole free gun carrying laws. Why? Because no good can come of owning a gun. When you have a gun lying around it tends to make people feel more safe and when a situation arises (e.g. burglary) people automatically grab their gun to deal with the situation. That this can often lead to dramatic outcomes doesn't need further explaining i think. Why should people rely on something that can take away another human's life to make them feel safe. I'd just rather get jumped by 5 guys who beat the crap out of me than have one guy pointing a gun at me and possibly firing at me for whatever reason (he gets nervous, pulls the trigger; he gets angry, pulls the trigger...). And yeah, guns don't kill people, people do...but you can hardly abolish humans now can you?

 

Gmmmmph. Really difficult. Guns dont kill people, rappers - ooh sorry - people do. People who really, really want guns will get them, especially now that handguns, in the UK at least, have become a status symbol, at least among certain social groups. However, if guns -and handguns in particular -are illegal, surely this lowers the overall number in circulation and must prevent a few deaths by misadventure at least, and probably a few deliberate killings as well. Im inclined to Bejito's opinion.

 

HAHAHAHA!!!! oh thats funny, and sadly becoming true.

yeah, if you want a gun, no matter what country u are in, if you want it, you'll get it.

 

Carrying a gun in the US is not free. It cost's money for the gun, the liscence and the lessons. And there is a massive cost in terms of responsibility and liability. I think you need define what you mean a bit more clearly.

People who have defended themselves in a life threatening situation by having a gun may disagree with you on this one.

Many people that are committing crimes are armed. An armed robbery or an armed home invasion type robbery is not the situation where you want to try to therapy talk the person with the gun intent on committing a crime or violence against you or you're family.

I think it does need further explaining. Your trying to make a statement and not back it up. Your making a very broad generalization here.

I think you miss the point. If someone has come into your home/house intent on committing a crime (and they are or they wouldn't be there without your welcome in the middle of the night and armed) then they are not there to be nice people.

Because 5 guys jump you without a gun doesn't mean you won't end up wiht life threatening injuries. It doesn't take much of a beating to end up with internal hemoraging, or head trauma... no gun needed. So if you think that somehow getting jumped by 5 guys is somehow safer than dealing with a gun I'd suggest you spend some time working on an ambulance or in an emergency room. Hang around any emergency from about midnight onwards and you'll see plenty of people who come through the doors in very dire shape where no gun was used.

Knife wounds are ridiculously hard to deal with. Yet people have no trouble with people owning knives. I don't really the see the point of what your getting at here... maybe you could explain it with a better supporting arguement.

 

I'm not Ghandi. I'm not Buddha. I don't believe in Passive Resistance, or in Needless Sacrifice. I'm not going to throw myself down a mountain so that a pack of tiger cubs can eat my body.

I work hard for my lifestyle. My country has worked hard for the right to carry weapons. By restricting their availability to non-violent, law abiding citizens we only disarm potential victims.

As Kurohana stated, THUGS/CRIMINALS ARE GOING TO HAVE GUNS REGARDLESS OF THE LAWS IN PLACE!!!!!!!!

So why the hell should they be allowed access to firearms, and people like us shouldn't?

May you achieve
Satori

 

I'm going to echo the sentiment of the other posters here. Not only is it legal in Virginia (where I live) to own a gun. It's very easy to get a legal permit to carry one concealed on your person. So every time I go out and walk the baby in the stroller, anybody I meet could very well be legally packing a firearm.

And it doesn't really make much difference. Because it's not those guys I need to be worried about. It's the guys who are carrying and using them illegally. And that could be anyway.

Hell, in DC (where I go to school) it's illegal to own a firearm. But DC has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country.

I will admit, though, that the legality of guns in the US probably makes it much easier for criminals to get them. The more there are available, the cheaper they are. Easier to dispose of and get again.

America is a gun culture. If someone committed a crime in England for instance, and there was a gun involved, that would probably be pretty noteworthy. In the US, it's not remarkable at all.

Long story short, on a day-to-day basis, it doesn't really make a lot of difference. But it's easy to imagine that, in a particular unfortunate instance, it could make a profound difference.


Stuart

 

Lots of good discussion from people in both countries with firearms and without in the thread Should Guns be Outlawed?

 

I do support the 2nd Amendment and our Bill of Rights.

I used to believe that guns were only meant for one thing, for killing. No one actually uses a gun to defend themselves, heavens no! Why, we'll make movies showing just how easily the criminals take the guns from their victims' shaking hands and turn them on the owners. Self-defense is dialing the police and lying down to take it. Better to be raped, beaten, robbed, than to stand up for yourself ... you just might give them the weapon to do you in.

But people do use guns successfully to defend themselves. A case in Boston, back in the 1990s is a good example. A man in a wheelchair, veteran of the Korean war, shot and killed an intruder to his home. The complex he was living in had been the scene of many burglaries in recent weeks, so being otherwise defenseless, he sat in his home with his gun at the ready. And when the perp broke in, he defended himself and his home.
And now the debate that followed.... that ther old man shouldn't have deprived that criminal of his life and livelihood!

Remember Bernard Goetz the subway shooter in NY in the 1980s? How at first New Yorkers thought of him as a hero, practically a saint, for shooting some gang members who had been terrorizing subway passengers And how, after a campaign in the papers, HE was suddenly a criminal, and even went to jail.

And I think the worst of all, but most certainly not an isolated case, is the farmer, Tony Martin, of Norfolk in Britain. Burgaled many times, living on a remote farm, burgaled again by criminals who got past his dogs. Went down the stairs, got a light shone in his face, began to shoot his Winchester killing one of the burglars who then crawled out his window to die, and seriously wounding the other. Convicted of murder, vilified for 'shooting them in the back', sued by the surviving criminal for loss of work. Martin's the goat instead of the beleaguered victim.
http://www.sterlingtimes.co.uk/POLITICALLY_INCORRECT4.htm

A stranger in the night, breaking into our homes or attacking us along a lonely roadside, isn't there to test our dedication to 'non-violence' . They're there to do us harm one way or another.

I read an article claiming that as weapon-control laws in England become ever tighter, the crime rate is increasing...as a result you are now six times more likely to be mugged in London than in New York.

 

i think it's certainly rather than, "probably." the legality allows for an enourmous indusrty, when that is mixed wth free trade, mass proliferation becomes a certainty.

 

LOL, so that makes it alright to own a gun and shoot people? Life threatening, what is life threatening? It's an emotional state that differs from person to person, what seems life threatening to one person doesn't seem life threatening to another. Who knows if your fear was justified or not. Fact is: fear can make you a very bad judge of a situation. I don't think it's okay to pull the trigger just because you feared something might happen to you.

Who is making generalizations now? But hey, let's assume that most criminals are armed with guns...now, what would you think has the most chance of turning into a messy situation? You being smart and complying with what the robber wants and insuring the life of yourself and your loved ones, because most criminals (generalization ) are not intent on hurting you with these types of crime, they only want the money or the thing they are after. Or would you rather go gung ho and start shooting, risking life and limb over what? Money? :woo:

Yeah, guns do zero damage...i'm sorry, you're right

LOL, so if people are not there to be nice, it's okay to blast them away...Easy cowboy Like i said, criminals are generally not entering your home to kill/maim you.I refer to what i have said above about which kind of action could lead to something messy happening.

I'd still rather take my chances in a situation where no-one is carrying a gun than a situation where someone has a gun and might use it on me. Unless my name is Neo then i wouldn't be too worried about bullets ripping through my flesh And yes, a good beating by only one person could result in life threatening injuries...but wouldn't you agree that you would have a better chance against fists than bullets?
Oh, and i do have a problem with knives being carried too. I know the damage they can cause, but you didn't see me saying that i prefer knives over guns now did ya?
Just because bad people carry guns warrants good people carrying guns? And the possibility that good person goes bad on bad person...and then good person gets sent to jail for doing bad thing, but hey, at least you shot the baddie What's next: weapons of mass destruction for your own home defense? Because surely, if a criminal would be able to get a better weapon than you, you yourself should get one too

 

The laws vary from state to state and city to city regarding the ownership of guns. Personally I don't care if anyone has a gun or not. Its their own choice. Some people who have them get killed with them, some kill intruders, some are good law abiding hunters. My one big complaint is non-military, non-police who own these incredibly powerful assault rifles because they are "collectors" or sportsmen. I don't know what sport you need an assault rifle for. But the law says you can own one, so I guess its not for me to comment really.

What the criminals need to know is that if they commit a crime with a gun, they get X number of years tacked onto the sentence automatically. In Wisconsin, where we have truth in sentencing laws, meaning we have NO parole for good behavior. If you commit ANY crime, including petty theft, with a gun, you get an automatic 5 years tacked on. In cases of road rage? You show a gun, its five years automatically. THAT will stop the improper use of guns....

My family owns a couple of hundred acres of very isolated land here in Wisconsin where its hunter heaven. We get 20-30 hunters arrested every year for trespassing or poaching. We're trying to get the gun law enforced even for that.

 

Right. "Probably" was what's known as tentative language. But you're right. It's pretty much a given.

EDIT: "Pretty much" is tentative language too. Lemme try again.

YOU'RE DAMN SKIPPY, FASTER!

 

I used to be a gun control freak, scared of guns, and whenever someone argued gun ownership with me, I immediately imagined hordes of three years old grabbing their parent´s gun and shooting their little brothers.

After many an argument with american gun psy...err, citizens, I have more of a moderate view.

I believe there are no absolutes in gun control, much as both sides of this issue would like to believe otherwise. Society´s needs vary a lot from place to place, from country to country.

I do not believe those romantic americans who insist their guns are necessary to keep their government from controlling every aspect of their life, and who insist people from countries with restrictive gun laws are necessarily subjects, not citizens. Buddies, if your government wants to control you (and I believe it does), it will not use arms to do that.

I also do not take too seriously the european guys who insist only psychos want guns, have guns, or feel the need to have a gun. I do believe there are situations where a gun is necessary, much as our peaceful governments may insist otherwise.

Thing is, the same law can be applied to different places with different results. Texas probably works pretty well as a gun free state, from what I hear. The same laws in São Paulo, Brazil would probably turn the place into something closer to Mogadishu than to Dallas.

In Brazil, guns are now officially abolished. It has always been difficult and costly to obtain legal gun ownership here, but now you simply can´t unless you are previously registered as a security agent of a private firm, or if you are a LEO. I disagree with that. Were guns uncommon or hard to get here, that might have been a good idea. I know, however, that it is possible to purchase an illegal weapon for close to US$ 30 in my city, and many crimes are still commited with firearms.

A referendum has started here, and the citizens themselves will vote for or against gun ownership. I will vote for it. I live in a violent country, hiding my head in the sand will not help me nor will it help my family or loved ones. I still believe weapons should be registered here, but they should not be abolished.

 

America's First and most important freedom is our second amendment to the US constitution. Military Veteran and NRA life member. You know where I stand on this issue.
I have found in various situations where responsible people are all armed and living together in a society, they tend to show each other a little more respect.
The key word here is "responsible"

Look at the right to carry states crime statistics, violent crime actually decreases.
The BG fears John Q. Public being able to defend himself/loved ones.

Let us not forget the "Colt Pistol" made all men equal.
Regards
R

 

1) Link? I am not doubting you, but I would like something a bit more solid.

2) See what I said. Today there is the media and atomic bombs. Government>The People, and handweapons do not change this fact.