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The main factor in gun deaths is the fact that people in the US carry handguns, they are in glove compartments of your cars, in women's purses, in your desk drawers, under your pillows, and lord knows where else, but they are always handy when you become enraged at the guy who cut you off on the freeway, or when you get super *****ed off at some one.
Your kids get their grubby little hands on them, shoot themselves or others by accident, or on purpose, because they are everywhere.
Half of gun deaths in this country are suicides. The majority of the rest are gang members shooting other gang members.
Let me teach you a bit about people that carry guns legally in this country.
We don't carry because we're looking for an excuse to shoot someone. We don't carry to feel important.
We do carry to protect ourselves, our loved ones and even total strangers from those that would cause them great injury or death. The last thing we want is to be forced to draw our weapon. We avoid confrontations and will do whatever we can to peacefully resolve them when they can't be avoided.
We have a healthy respect for life, which is why we carry in the first place. Our worst nightmare is being put in a situation where we'd be forced to take the life of another human being, but we're pragmatic enough to understand that bad people do bad things in this world, and that you can never know where or when they're going to do them. If, God forbid, we ever find ourselves in a situation that demands lethal force to escape, or to save the lives of innocents, we will be prepared.
I've carried for almost four years now, and I've never even come close to having to use my gun, and I'm very, very thankful for that. Have people done things that annoyed me, or made me angry? Of course! In every single one of those instances, however, the idea that I could draw my weapon never once entered my mind. That's not why I carry, and it's not why anybody that carries legally does.
Those that carry illegally are a completely different matter, and I can't/won't speak for them. One thing I do know, is that they're already breaking at least one gun law (probably 3-20 times that) by carrying illegally - why would anyone believe that further restricting the rights of law abiding citizens would change the habits of those who are willfully breaking the laws already on the books?
Hopefully you've now got a more enlightened perspective on the people in this country that are legally carrying firearms, and why they do it. Maybe now you can lay off the stereotypes and come up with a position that's based more on fact than on fiction.
Or maybe not. This is City-Data, after all.
Last edited by swagger; 01-18-2011 at 01:12 PM..
Reason: typo
It is obvious Americans don't believe that gun laws work or that the near universal ownership of guns is a bad thing. I am a believer in making lemonade out of lemons and suggest we take advantage of our all to regular spree of well publisized shooting tragedies. Why should they be periods of national sadness? THey could be entertainment or sport. For example, we could have panels of celbrities pass judgement and vote off those judged lacking or give lame performances. This new reality series would have judges like Simon or Paula of American Idol. I call this AmericanSerial Killer. As a sport we could handle this like the Olympics where they have judges score gymnastics or ice skating. Envision a panel of international judges holding up plackards with their scores based on accuracy, rate of fire and lethality. These gun shootings are so frequent (as I write this someone has shot someone at a school in Gardenia CA) and as we Americans will what sports from around the world to see how we stack up, this could be a regular series, how about ABC's Wide World of Massacres.
You seem to be missing the point of this entire thread...
It is about licensing firearms,like Canada has.
Now Canada does have 1/3 the gun crimes per capita as the USA.
It also has 1/3 the guns per capita.
But Canada requires every firearm to be licensed and also prohibits certain firearms as well...
I will state categorically that without guns gun crime would disappear entirely.
(Hint,more gun laws doesn't make society safer,at least not in Canada)
Actually, the point of the thread is about licensing or not, of gun ownership. But you clearly lost that point somewhere.
So back to your amusing claim that you also want to disagree with... Canada has fewer gun crimes because it has fewer guns. Thank you, you have made the point loud and clear (and several times).
Actually you are wrong. Our handgun restrictions are the main reason we have such a low gun death rate. The main factor in gun deaths is the fact that people in the US carry handguns, they are in glove compartments of your cars, in women's purses, in your desk drawers, under your pillows, and lord knows where else, but they are always handy when you become enraged at the guy who cut you off on the freeway, or when you get super *****ed off at some one.
Your kids get their grubby little hands on them, shoot themselves or others by accident, or on purpose, because they are everywhere.
What is it with liberals from Canada, UK, Europe, and other liberal countries thinking that Americans solve their disputes with handguns? In case you haven't noticed, we don't have duels here and I haven't heard a single gunshot anywhere near where I live since I moved here 5 years ago.
When was the last time you visited here, and for how long? it sounds like to me you either have not visited much, and if you did, must have been very short stays. because I've been living in this country all my life, and I NEVER feel scared walking around because people here carry concealed
With that bloke who shot all those people seemingly mentally iIl I wondered if many Americans were now in favour of would be firearm owners having to take a test, background check, check that your wife/husband is happy for you to have a firearm in the house.
With us it is not the Crims we worry about but the mentally ill.
Or, do you prefer the mentally ill to keep their second amendment rights ?
No matter the risk
They already do a background check. It happens every time one purchases a new weapon. Further, many states require a sheriff permit to purchase a handgun prior to purchase. Illinois has a FOID card that is required before any firearm purchase or purchase of ammunition.
Actually, the point of the thread is about licensing or not, of gun ownership. But you clearly lost that point somewhere.
And what is shown is that licensing accomplishes nothing....
Quote:
So back to your amusing claim that you also want to disagree with... Canada has fewer gun crimes because it has fewer guns. Thank you, you have made the point loud and clear (and several times).
If Canada had the same number of guns per capita as the USA,it's gun crime would be about the same per capita,even though it has strict gun control laws.
So that would seem to mean the gun laws accomplish little.
As I stated,removing all guns totally will make gun crimes disappear.
Same as removing all criminals would make all crime vanish.
And what is shown is that licensing accomplishes nothing....
Then why do we care about driver's license, or any form of license for that matter?
Quote:
If Canada had the same number of guns per capita as the USA,it's gun crime would be about the same per capita,even though it has strict gun control laws.
So that would seem to mean the gun laws accomplish little.
Let me walk you through your own statements.
Canada has stricter gun laws.
Canada's gun control has limited ownership to a third of the rate compared to the USA.
The rate of gun-related crime is only a third in Canada compared to the USA.
And all along I thought you maintained this idea that more guns would result in lower crime rate. I see to the contrary with Canada and so do you. Perhaps you're trying to prove that there is a proportional and one to one relationship between rate of gun ownership and rate of gun-related crime? The numbers you've been repeating surely support that idea.
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