Poll: Do you believe in the Second Amendment?

[CM156_v1legacy]

<---- Big gun supporter.

The USA has a rather... bad track record of taking things away. Prohabition, war on drugs, ect.

If we could live in a world where there were no weapons, I would be fine with that. But that simply cannot happen.

I don't support everyone getting a gun, but I do think we should allow people to buy them if they pass a safety course or the like. Responsible gun ownership is the key.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

snip

Availability. If people can't get a hold of guns, they won't be able to use them. One problem we do have in the UK is with knife crime. A lot of young people in urban areas carry knives with them for protection as they can easily be procured from their own kitchen. Yet many of these kids (around 30% last I checked) who carry knives for self defence end up getting their own weapon used against them. If these same teenagers were able to legally acquire guns then the streets would be in utter chaos. By legalising guns you run the risk that dangerous and ill-fit individuals have acess to them and that will bring crime up. There's no need to risk that when we already have a system that works.

 

[Hitokiri_Gensai]

*looks at her wall of guns, including AR's and sniper rifles* yes.











in all seriousness, yes i do believe in the amendment. The founding fathers had just fought a war and knew that without weapons, they wouldnt be able to defend themselves, and remember, they were just civilians as well, that had stood up and fought a tyrannical government.

If you take guns out of the hands of civilians, all youre doing is taking the guns out of the hands of honest, hard working people. Criminals ARENT allowed to own weapons, its just not allowed, so how do they get them? Illegally of course, and do you expect that to just randomly stop should we lose all weapons in the civilians hands? Id think not.

Im NOT a violent person, i dont march around with an AR in my hands all the time expecting to open fire whenever, nor do i think that i need the firepower i have, but i enjoy it, quite a bit. I spend a lot of time shooting, and i love doing so. I find enjoyment in it and personally, id like to KEEP being able to enjoy the things i do. Do i carry a gun? yes, i do, i believe in perperation, at all times, whether that be a gun at my side, or a knife in my purse, but that doesnt make me some insane vigillante out to rid the world of criminals or an axe murderer waiting to happen.

 

[ROTMASTER]

snip

Availability. If people can't get a hold of guns, they won't be able to use them. One problem we do have in the UK is with knife crime. A lot of young people in urban areas carry knives with them for protection as they can easily be procured from their own kitchen. Yet many of these kids (around 30% last I checked) who carry knives for self defence end up getting their own weapon used against them. If these same teenagers were able to legally acquire guns then the streets would be in utter chaos. By legalising guns you run the risk that dangerous and ill-fit individuals have acess to them and that will bring crime up. There's no need to risk that when we already have a system that works.

see knife crime is the SAME THING it for the same reasons same amount and same number of victims it just less echnology

 

[chadachada123]

Yeah, banning the sale and possession of guns in a country (I live in the U.S.) which practically worships them is most definitely not going to reduce gun related crime.

The people who are committing these crimes are typically gang-bangers who likely get their weapons illegally in the first place.

It's probably just going to prevent responsible enthusiasts from being able to have them, while giving organized crime another reason to buy from the black market.

Not that I'm against the idea of trying to reduce the amount of firearms here, but I don't think that outright banning them would be as effective as many people tend to imagine it would be.

My thoughts exactly.

The rest of the world seems to think that the US has a large gun crime problem among licensed gun owners. This isn't the case. Gun owners that purchase their firearms legally are, last I checked, *five times less likely* to commit a felony than the average citizen. It's the thugs in various shitholes around the country where most of our gun crime comes from, something that European cities/countries don't have to deal with.

And with the US's mentality, putting more restrictions on legal owners will do nothing but empower the thugs that already have their guns illegally. We need to focus more on fighting gang crime.

 

[Canid117]

America! Being the best place to survive the Zombie apocalypse since 1776.

Also yes I do not own any guns but I have no intention of taking weapons away from people who do. Because A) there are legitimate reasons to own most firearms B) they paid for that weapon and acquired it legally so what right do I have to remove it from their possession? and C) it wouldn't exactly be easy to take away the guns of guys who deeply love them and own about a fifth of all firearms in the world. That said getting yourself a gun from a gun store should not be something you should be able to do in twenty minutes. 30 day waiting periods, background checks and various other methods of regulation are fine as long as they dont get draconian.

 

[dcdude171]

thats basically asking " do you think you should have the right to protect yourself " in my view and i say ofcourse yes !

 

[ROTMASTER]

new senerio i find out my wife is cheeting on me (my immaginary wife is not cheeting on me....at least i dont think so) i decide the best course of action is murder now there 2 possible ways this could end up 1. what people who want outlawing guns think would happen: im going to kill her........i dont have a gun damn, guess ill get a divorse 2. what actually happens: since i dont have a gun ill just stab her in her sleep.

I DO NOT think murder is acceptable for ANY REASON, this was to prove the point that the absnece of guns does not remove the drive to commit crime, to remove crime you dont remove the tool you remove the causes for instance poverty and racism

 

[ROTMASTER]

America! Being the best place to survive the Zombie apocalypse since 1776.

IM USING THAT

 

[Onoto]

Gun rights are important, if only because they clearly define personal independence from the government. True monopolies on violence can only result in dictatorship, if not directly then through overregulation. The Second Amendment deserves to be followed since it is part of the Constitution - which must, of course, be respected above all things - and it deserves to remain because of its significant symbolic value.

 

[chadachada123]

snip

Availability. If people can't get a hold of guns, they won't be able to use them. One problem we do have in the UK is with knife crime. A lot of young people in urban areas carry knives with them for protection as they can easily be procured from their own kitchen. Yet many of these kids (around 30% last I checked) who carry knives for self defence end up getting their own weapon used against them. If these same teenagers were able to legally acquire guns then the streets would be in utter chaos. By legalising guns you run the risk that dangerous and ill-fit individuals have acess to them and that will bring crime up. There's no need to risk that when we already have a system that works.

Clearly your system doesn't work if you have horrible knife crime in your country. There isn't even much of a need to distinguish between guns and knives. Both can very easily end a person's life and are being carried illegally by kids in our respective countries.

The difference being that, in the UK, if a person is mugged on the street, they can't legally protect themselves from the attacked without risking criminal charges for protecting one's right to live. In the US, in most states, if a person is mugged, and is carrying a firearm, he/she can protect themselves and not face assault/murder charges for simple self-defense.

I would say that your gun control (while disgusting) is far less of a problem than your inability to defend your own life from a criminal that would want to end yours.

 

[Torrasque]

If you believe your country is going to be invaded, you have more serious issues than the right to bear arms or not.
I think its trivial to argue about American gun ownership, because that horse has been beaten into the ground so hard, for so long, that there is no horse even. People are just beating the ground where the horse used to be, and even that is a gaping chasm.

So here is a picture about what I think of everytime I hear "bear arms"
http://images3.makefive.com/images/entertainment/other/visual-puns/bear-arms-7.jpg

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

snip

No it isn't. Guns are far more lethal and in your own words 'efficient' at killing people. The point I was trying to make is that these kids aren't even adept at carrying knives, if they had access to guns they could really do some damage. Far more people are going to be killed in a shootout than a knife stand off. You can't seriously believe that a blade can be as dangerous as a weapon that can be fired from range are you? That's absurd. The only people who would actually WANT to own guns in this country would be criminals, belligerent youths and the odd paranoid conservative. None of these people are responsible enough to handle a firearm. And like I said, if people can't get access to guns they can't use them and subsequently can't kill each other. Your country has a more complicated situation that pertains to the constitution and the accumulation of thousands of firearms over hundreds of years. But trust me, in the UK introducing guns would only exacerbate crime rates.

 

[Master Taffer]

I support the second amendment. That being said, it does trouble me to see a lack of respect for the power and danger of a weapon. I was a member of the U.S. Navy and I carried a weapon everyday on the job as a military police officer. I've had to use a firearm in the line of duty. Guns are, by no means, a toy and should be respected as such.

That being said, citizens have a right to own weapons. I don't care if it's for hunting, recreational shooting, self defense from others or even the damn government.

 

[Canid117]

America! Being the best place to survive the Zombie apocalypse since 1776.

IM USING THAT

You are completely welcome to.

 

[Jedoro]

Yup. And to prove it, I went out and bought a Mossberg 500 12 gauge shotgun for home defense. I take it to the range, but I'll admit its primary function is to deter criminals from making me a victim, whether by appearance or function. I've no sympathy for criminals, because pity for the guilty is treason to the innocent. I have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and I should be allowed to do what it takes to keep them.

I'll admit reasonable restrictions should be allowed, because I don't really need an automatic weapon. Seriously. Automatic fire isn't too accurate at any kind of range, and I have my shotgun for anything close-up. I wouldn't mind having a select-fire rifle, though, because it is damn good fun to spray bullets into a paper target.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

snip

Guns are very hard to get hold of in this country. Knives on the other hand are legal to own and that's why these kids are carrying them. Also, I didn't say that knife crime was horrible, these incidents are sporadically spread out across various cities. Maybe I used a poor choice of words but not that many people die from knife crime but enough to warrant attention. Over the years there have been many preventative measures, revisions to legislation and campaigns to reduce it. And over the years figures have gone down. Guns are most definately not the answer that would be like solving 'dandruff with decapitation'.

 

[KarlMonster]

Back then, when guns were nowhere near as deadly and they were still fighting Native Americans, sure. Now? Not so much.

I think it's a mistake to say they were less deadly.

Hear! Hear! Well spoken Bruce!

Modern bullet designs can do more shocking damage to human flesh. However, that does not imply finesse or lessen the seriousness of early weapons. In fact, modern armed forces use smaller projectiles to wound the enemy, since a wounded man takes up more resources than a dead one.

Last I heard, Native Americans are far from equal. Prejudice can be more brutal than firearms.

Some parts of the wilderness in the U.S. are just plain scary without a firearm, like Detroit. OH BURN!

Strangely, there is always a more 'backwards' locale. I was talking to some co-workers during a trip to Alabama. Nice fellers who were comfortable with their 'redneck' identity. They described to me a small town, off to the west somewhere, as being 'the Land that Time Forgot'.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

I DO NOT think murder is acceptable for ANY REASON, this was to prove the point that the absnece of guns does not remove the drive to commit crime, to remove crime you dont remove the tool you remove the causes for instance poverty and racism

But guns provide criminals with the tools they would otherwise be unable to acquire and helps to expand the range of crimes they can commit. Kids are stupid, they try to kill each other over petty shit. They bring a knife to somebody with the intent to kill, the other person has a much better chance of escpae the kid has a chance to rethink. Both are more likely to live and the kid doesn't do something he'll regret. If he has a gun he might act rashly, he can fire from distance, all it takes is the pull of a trigger. Can't outrun a bullet, but you have a chance if it's only a knife.

 

[Adzma]

We do not have any "guaranteed right" to own firearms in the little old land of Australia and we are just fine that way thank you. Usually the worst thing that happens here is stabbing, but it's pretty hard to pass a law making glass or any form of metal object illegal.

I think we can do without the headache of guns being handed out to the masses.