Obama may re-instate the ban on assault weapons.

[Kaymish]

it doesn't really matter that i think that firearms in general should be heavily restricted because America is a backwards nation and will always stick in its ways so i applaude obhama for his work against a broken and backwards government that is trying to deal with gun crazy fools in New Zealand only a small percentage of the population even have a gun licence and of those that do some don't even own a gun at all

here a gun licence will only cover rifles shotguns and paintball guns to get even a pistol you need a a collectors and assault rifles are totally off limits to everyone and that argument where if guns are banned only the outlaws have them wrong totally guns have been pretty much banned here for ever and our criminals make do with fists and harsh words (trust me the fists are still bad enough) its only very recently with the relaxation of immigration restrictions that there has been any crime involving guns at all and all of those were with guns stolen from people who hadn't had their weapons properly secured and they were promptly dealt with ad the perpetrators never get away with it for long

last time i was in America on the very second day i was being questioned as a witness to a shooting it scared the hell out of me it was like being back in timore or Afghanistan except with roads and less tanks

 

[Agayek]

it doesn't really matter that i think that firearms in general should be heavily restricted because America is a backwards nation and will always stick in its ways so i applaude obhama for his work against a broken and backwards government that is trying to deal with gun crazy fools in New Zealand only a small percentage of the population even have a gun licence and of those that do some don't even own a gun at all

here a gun licence will only cover rifles shotguns and paintball guns to get even a pistol you need a a collectors and assault rifles are totally off limits to everyone and that argument where if guns are banned only the outlaws have them wrong totally guns have been pretty much banned here for ever and our criminals make do with fists and harsh words (trust me the fists are still bad enough) its only very recently with the relaxation of immigration restrictions that there has been any crime involving guns at all and all of those were with guns stolen from people who hadn't had their weapons properly secured and they were promptly dealt with ad the perpetrators never get away with it for long

last time i was in America on the very second day i was being questioned as a witness to a shooting it scared the hell out of me it was like being back in timore or Afghanistan except with roads and less tanks

Sorry, but any argument you may have is rendered rather ineffectual when you can't use any punctuation or capitals.

I'd dispute what you said too, but I don't honestly know enough about NZ laws and history to say.

All I will say is that America is not backwards. We hold civil liberties higher than the perceived safety from gun-toting lunatics, that's all. What you've seem to have forgotten is that the same lunatic can make dynamite in his basement, and that can be just as lethal as any gun.

 

[dnnydllr]

No one should own a gun never mind a automatic weapon.

If the yanks really must be armed at least keep em semi-automatic personally Id limit them to bolt and single barreled.

Yes, because a bolt-action rifle is ideal in a self defense situation, and it's also easily concealable...think a little more before you post.
I think pistols are essential for self defense, and rifles are used in hunting. As for automatic...unless you're a collector it's more or less pointless...

 

[Nutcase]

1. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FUCKING ASSAULT WEAPON
...

Thank you for your valiant effort to retain a bit of factual content and logic in the thread. I fear it will go to deaf ears, like the explanations offered in the five thread pages before it did, but hope it will not.

Seriously, people. Just how retarded do you need to be in order to spout completely false information about the relevant definitions, technology and law, when it's obvious your only sources of information are TV and videogames? And after said information has been repeatedly been debunked on this very thread? At least spend five minutes on Wikipedia looking up what AWB is *about* before embarrassing yourself.

 

[JamminOz07]

you said it's your "penis extension" and you're absolutely correct... and holding it makes you "feel badass"... what do you think this says about you?

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

Shit, I completely misread that.

Disregard my previous statement.

 

[Hunde Des Krieg]

Guns are dangerous things, but your country justifies guns as defense. defense from what? people with other guns? if nobody had guns you wouldn't require them for defense because no one else has them. get a grip America.

That was quite the display of sophomoric logic there. Sure it would work in an ideal world, but the fact is: You can't take away all the guns, people will get more, especially criminals. And keeping illegal weapons out of the US is nearly impossible, too much border too much coastline too much potential money for smugglers to ignore. Get a clue.

 

[Syndef]

I'm a little flaky on this issue.
The thing is...as a civilian (and a gun enthusiast) I really frown upon the assault weapons ban. I wouldn't want only the criminals to have the cool toys, you know.
However, I know that if I were a leader of a country, I would be quite tempted to put a ban on fully automatic weapons (and even high-capacity magazines). Call me crazy.

 

[Sewer Rat]

About damn time, what the hell could you possibly be hunting that requires an assault rifle?

 

[Samurai Goomba]

I find it ridiculous that we've had multiple people talk about how this assault ban is on semi-auto weapons, and only on certain ones (for cosmetic reasons), and yet people still keep posting like they think this "Assault weapon" ban is going to remove machine guns from the hands of the populace.

News flash: Fully-automatic machine guns are already illegal. All this ban does is make certain models (but NOT ALL) of semi-automatic rifles illegal. It does not keep people from buying semi-auto weapons. It does not keep people from even buying semi-auto rifles. This law, in effect, does absolutely nothing useful.

http://forums.howwhatwhy.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=weapons&Number=305314&fpart=1

Here's a link to a forum explaining the difference between manual, semi-auto and fully automatic firing modes. It was all I could find on short notice.

The only real difference between a civilian AR-15 and a civilian semi-auto hunting rifle is that the rifle is more accurate and fires a more powerful cartridge. Why ban an inferior gun (well, sorta) that CANNOT fire in full-auto mode?

 

[JRslinger]

If you stopped selling them to civilians and outlawed that you could eliminate the problem altogether. They'd still hide their old guns but you could probably track them down and destroy those too.

Guns are dangerous things, but your country justifies guns as defense. defense from what? people with other guns? if nobody had guns you wouldn't require them for defense because no one else has them. get a grip America.

This is the prohibitionist argument. If we ban guns or impose strict laws the black market will grow to fill the illegal gun demand, just like it did with drugs. As long as there are violent criminals there will always be a need for tools of self defense. Gun control groups are insatiable and always want more gun control.

Gun control is a failure on the local level (Chicago, Washington DC) State level(Maryland, Illinois, California) and national level(England, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa)

 

[Mullahgrrl]

...you can still bear arms...

In the context of a what?

What do you mean?

In the context of a well regulated what?

 

[TechNoFear]

I find it very ironic that the US is so pro guns, unless it is another country in possession of the guns.

The US went to war with Iraq to take away their military might.

The US decided Sadam should not have these type of arms (even though the US sold Sadam these arms, according to the US Senate's Riegle Report).

Yet Americans bleat each time someone tries to restrict their personal access to military grade hardware.

If we ban guns or impose strict laws the black market will grow to fill the illegal gun demand, just like it did with drugs. As long as there are violent criminals there will always be a need for tools of self defense. Gun control groups are insatiable and always want more gun control.

Gun control is a failure on the local level (Chicago, Washington DC) State level(Maryland, Illinois, California) and national level(England, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa)

And this is the tired old pro gun argument.
90% of gun crime victims are shot by someone that know. So 'defensive use' is a minor concern, compared to the massive social harm guns are doing.

I notice you did not use Australia. We banned guns, except in rare circumstances and Australia now has 30 times less gun crime than the US (per 100K pop).

It is about time American's understood that the majority of the world does not consider them responsible enough to have cap guns let alone assult rifles.

 

[Nutcase]

...you can still bear arms...

In the context of a what?

What do you mean?

In the context of a well regulated what?

Mr. Tea isn't the only one who can't make heads or tails of your fishing expedition. You are going for "militia", but what about it?

 

[Worgen]

I'm a self-professed gun nut.
I go shooting as regularly as I can, and currently own a Century Arms AKM-S (that's a modernized AK-47 with a folding stock, for those of you too busy with important things to bother yourselves with designations for firearms), as well as about ten other weapons that blanket the spectrum of legal-to-own weapons from pistols to hunting rifles. I use all but a select few of them extensively.

Recently, while making trips to the gun shop for ammunition, I've noticed a disturbing trend; my fellow patrons have been utterly fascinated with assault rifles, as of late. People that usually go in, buy ammo and leave, were now browsing the racks of assault weapons behind the counter, and asking to see certain types, asking which one was the best of the selection. Once I'd reached the front of the line with my ammo I decided to ask the clerk what was happening, and it went something like this:

Me: "Lotta people interested in the carbines?"
Clerk: "Yep. A lotta people want to buy them before Obama bans them."

Now, at the time, I'd kinda nodded without saying a word, and dismissed it as the result of right-wing fear-mongering. But today, when I watched Real Time with Bill Maher, Governor Howard Dean (D-Vermont) stated that he foresaw a ban on assault weapons within Obama's first term, on account of all the assault weapons being shipped from America to Mexico to fuel the drug wars.

Here's my stance: As someone who considers the maintenance and usage of all manner of firearms, you might be surprised to know that I'm not opposed to a ban. Assault rifles in America are unnecessary, in my opinion. Nobody needs a 30-round clip of rounds capable of piercing police body armour and quarter-inch steel for home defense or hunting; let alone an assault weapon for concealed carrying. I see my AMK-S for what it is; a great, reliable weapon, meant to kill multiple people in an urban street setting. Honestly, it's a penis-extension gun for the civilian owner. Just holding it makes me feel badass, and I feel that's the reason so many people buy it; because it's just plain awesome, and that it actually does make the holder look that much cooler. But as far as everyday use, and reasonable worst-case scenarios taking place that involve you, assault weapons are just plain unnecessary when there are hi-cap pistols, "tactical" shotguns and semi-automatic hunting rifles available.

People may contend that pistols are too hard to use, and that assault rifles should be allowed for those of us not skilled enough to use a pistol effectively (as assault rifles are admittedly the easiest-to-use gun I've ever laid hands on); this goes against my belief that nobody should own a tool designed specifically for killing without having extensive training with it, the purpose of which being not only to make you more effective in taking down a life-threateningly hostile person, but to keep you from KILLING YOURSELF OR INNOCENTS.

EDIT: Sorry, I just woke up. Remembered just a moment ago that Clinton had the right, and therefore, so does Obama. So, allow me to rephrase the question:

Are you for or against a ban on assault weapons?


Second EDIT: Yes, I realize a poll would have been appropriate, here. Sorry.

I like your resoning here, really the only reason to have an assualt weapon is to kill your neighbors, for all thoes (and Im sure there are a few) who say they are needed for defense of the country, they obviously havent been keeping up with military armor and aircraft

 

[TechNoFear]

Mr. Tea isn't the only one who can't make heads or tails of your fishing expedition. You are going for "militia", but what about it?

The text in the bill of rights is

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed

The questions are

Is this the individual right or the collective right?
Is this out dated? (as are the laws about slavery etc)

 

[lava_lamp]

i agree with Obama
we don't need assault rifles on the streets