Poll: Guns and you!

[bl4ckh4wk64]

I believe that if you are competent enough and have the maturity enough, then you should be able to buy a gun.

Honestly, when does a citizen need a firearm?

Well, states side the second amendment only exists so that the citizens could fight the government if it had gotten too powerful and began to dissolve any rights. Oh, and home defense and hunting help too.

i heard that the second amendment was only for the USA's ARMY to have the right to be armed not its citizens.

Nope, any citizen. It protects our rights to form a militia. Militias are technically armed groups of citizens fighting for their defense. The revolutionary soldiers at Concord and Lexington weren't army, they were militia soldiers, minutemen. The 2nd amendment protects them and people like them, willing to fight and even die for democracy.

 

[Magnesium360]

I believe they should be outright banned for citizens.

Honestly, when does a citizen need a firearm?

Only law enforcement and government officials who are typically required to carry them should be allowed to use them.

And before anyone tries to respond with scenarios of rising crime and black market operations to acquire firearms, well they woouldn't be able to do much without firearms, especially when the law enforcement tracking them down does.

In Australia we have foxes and rabbits. They are both introduced species and they are pests. The rabbits eat crops, and having them in the wild also means less food for native animals that eat the same things as them, namely bilbies. Foxes damage farmland and also kill native animals. There are people here who are employed just to kill foxes and rabbits. This is wehn a civilian needs a gun, unless you want people to kill literally hundreds of rabbits and foxes a month with a sword.

 

[The Heik]

A recent thread got me into an argument about gun rights. (It was the 'Police shoot dog' thread) And it got me thinking, what is the general belief here on the Escapist about guns?

Instead of typing a wall of text to say what I think, I suppose I could just post a link to my debate instead: (It addresses the general argument on why guns should be outlawed.)
And please, please, please! Read the link first, because if you don't you'll probably end up asking the same questions as they guy I was talking with in the first place.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.251222-Dog-gets-shot-by-police-WARNING-may-upset-alot-of-viewers?page=10#9345908

I personally don't have a thing against the sale of guns. Sure some of them have been used in criminal activities, but technically speaking, quite literally anything in the world can be used as a deadly weapon if appropriated correctly. It's not the gun that commits the crime, it is simply a more expedient tool by which the criminal completes it

and it's not like banning guns would stop them from being sold. Cripes, the black market flourishes when things become illegal. All it would change is that the police would be less able to cope when the crooks pull out ak47s. Better have them prepared for the worst and not have it happen than act like everything is fine and get shanked.

However, that doesn't mean the one should have access to all types of guns and additions. There is no normal situation in which a person would need a fully automatic assault rifle with a silencer in order to complete it. Semi-automatic/pump action is the very most one needs for game hunting/home protection, so limit it to that.

Though I must admit, it would be awesome to have a howitzer in my backyard. Would sure shut the dogs up in my neighborhood every time I let that puppy loose.

 

[[.redacted]]

There needs to be another option.

I would designate superior arms to those who I deem of a superior quality.

The idiots and the lazy can make do with sticks.

[sub] Ah... Utopia... [/sub]

 

[Salad Is Murder]

I believe they should be outright banned for citizens.

Honestly, when does a citizen need a firearm?

Only law enforcement and government officials who are typically required to carry them should be allowed to use them.

And before anyone tries to respond with scenarios of rising crime and black market operations to acquire firearms, well they woouldn't be able to do much without firearms, especially when the law enforcement tracking them down does.

Oh, so the people that broke into my house 2 years ago wouldn't have been able to so without firearms? I guess I was glad that I didn't have to wait for the police to find out if they were going to rape, rob and murder me and my family in the 45 minutes after we called them and they actually showed up.

 

[enzilewulf]

In all honesty I think more harm comes out of guns then good. Face it any one can snap,go crazy, and kill their loved ones. And yes there is the whole "Self defense" claim, but for you to make that you better be in the projects. I think gun right's are outdated and useless. face it. That was put into action a LONG time ago. Screw it ban the whole lot. "But what about us who need defense, we live out in the country?" Okay if you live in the country what do you have to worry about, no ones around you. If there is then have a pistole and thats it. Just don't tote it around like your the "shit". I live in the suburbs and all the fake rednecks and fake gangsters do that and its annoying and unnecessary. Some kid shot himself on accident because he "Thought" he saw a bad guy. Its sad.

 

[crudus]

Just keep it how it is in America. All guns are legal with the exception of Class III Destructive, Automatic, or Suppressed, which require a license.

EDIT: So don't totally ban anything.

We can own a tank, missile silo, anti-tank rifles, and mini-guns. I like that. Don't ban anything. However, require licenses to own them. We don't want certain people owning certain weaponry.

 

[ShadowKatt]

I take issue with your options. You said ban certain types ex. automatic assault rifles, or ban nothing ex. a howlitzer in your back hard. I'm all four lifting the ban on assault rifles(what little ban there is, they are still legal to own if you get the right permits). However, the latter is a cannon which, while also COMPLETELY legal to own(the munitions, however, are a different story) is so far removed that it's not a fair question.

Anyway, I'm not for banning any guns. Point of fact, the bad guys will always have guns whether they're illegal or not. GO figure, bad guys don't obey the law. Gun regulation is just a system of control by those people that are afraid of guns.

 

[Sn1P3r M98]

Just keep it how it is in America. All guns are legal with the exception of Class III Destructive, Automatic, or Suppressed, which require a license.

EDIT: So don't totally ban anything.

We can own a tank, missile silo, anti-tank rifles, and mini-guns. I like that. Don't ban anything. However, require licenses to own them. We don't want certain people owning certain weaponry.

Please see my other post:http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.252291-Poll-Guns-and-you#9370011

 

[Tsunimo]

I say we let people bring small firearms ever where, with the proper training of course.
There wont be any more hijackings, etc.
Someone tries it he'll get fourteen bullets in the damn face.

 

[TheTaco007]

You should be able to keep guns in your house, but not carry them anywhere else.

 

[Retal19]

Don't ban. You ban guns, it's only a few minutes before someone like the IRA bursts in and takes advantage of this. Bad Idea to ban them. Restrict them yes, make it necessary to have a license issued by your Government or whatever, but don't ban them. That's pretty much asking for an Extremist Group/Other Country to burst in and raze everything to the ground.

 

[bl4ckh4wk64]

Also, think of it this way. If you make owning firearms a criminal act, the only people that will own them would be criminals.

 

[lostzombies.com]

Well, states side the second amendment only exists so that the citizens could fight the government if it had gotten too powerful and began to dissolve any rights.

Like the Patriot Act?

 

[Vicarious Vangaurd]

Don't ban anything. Especially don't ban "assault" weapons because they look scary, considering "assault" weapons are very rarely, if ever, used in gun crime.

And if I may add a favorite quote of mine, "When all else fails, vote from the rooftops."

 

[Salad Is Murder]

In all honesty I think more harm comes out of guns then good. Face it any one can snap,go crazy, and kill their loved ones. And yes there is the whole "Self defense" claim, but for you to make that you better be in the projects. I think gun right's are outdated and useless. face it. That was put into action a LONG time ago. Screw it ban the whole lot. "But what about us who need defense, we live out in the country?" Okay if you live in the country what do you have to worry about, no ones around you. If there is then have a pistole and thats it. Just don't tote it around like your the "shit". I live in the suburbs and all the fake rednecks and fake gangsters do that and its annoying and unnecessary. Some kid shot himself on accident because he "Thought" he saw a bad guy. Its sad.

I understand what you're trying to say, wulf, and I don't disagree. The problem is there are a lot of people who just are not able to handle the responsibility of carrying, let alone, owning firearms; but there will always be people like that regardless of the object. How many do drunk driving accidents have been caused simply by people who don't take personal responsibility, and you'd better believe that car will kill someone dead just as sure as a bullet.

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

I think that only some weapons should be banned. Howitzers in the back yard, while cool, are exceedingly dangerous to both the owner and everyone within range...which would be a lot of people.

In America, where I live, the whole point of having weapons was to defend ourselves from criminals, the government if we decided that they needed a boot to the head, and whatever pesky people might decide to invade/attack us (this goes back to the frontier/border regions).

I have no problem with rifles and/or shotguns. I prefer rifles personally, but that's neither here nor there. My problem with guns mainly comes from handguns. There's no reason anyone should really feel the need (unless they're in law enforcement and all those branches, which includes judges/attorneys) to carry around a handgun. We know that most crimes that involve guns involve handguns because they're easily concealable. Even as a home defense weapon, handguns aren't all that great because unless you get lucky or practice often, you probably won't hit them.

Also, nothing scares someone quite like the distinctive noise that a shotgun makes when you cock it. If they don't bail after hearing that noise, they either have a death wish, are deaf, or are stoned/drunk off their ass. That's when you point and squeeze off a round of buckshot at them. Unless you're aiming in completely the wrong direction, you'll hit them. And even if one pellet hits them, it's enough pain to make most people leave.

Automatic weapons follow more or less that same idea as the howitzer. Unless you've had a lot of practice, all you're going to do is hurt yourself or someone you might not intend to hurt. Most people can't even keep a semi-auto weapon within a target after a series of three or four shots in rapid succession unless they've had some practice.

Then again, I'm all for one shot kills, so if someone wants to mess with me, they'll either meet a rifle, shotgun, or if I do give in and buy a pistol, either a 10mm or .45. Really and truly, it doesn't normally take more than the cocking of a gun to scare most people away. If you must shoot, make sure you're hitting them with something big enough to keep them down, or hurt them just enough to not want to mess with you anymore.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Ban all types of weapons for anything other than display purposes (e.g. Display swords on walls) but beyond that there is just no good reason for them to be legal.

What about traditional martial arts? Many of those involve weapons...

You don't need for instance, a sword with a proper edge on it, but the requirements for one that can be used in martial arts practice are still quite different to those that are suitable for display.

Personally, I don't like guns. It's just too easy to kill someone with a gun, and too difficult to protect yourself from one.

Any melee weapon, you stand a reasonable chance of running away. And even the injuries aren't nessesarily that bad in a lot of cases.

But with a gun, that changes quite quickly.

I'd much rather be facing a psycho with a sword than one with a gun.

 

[SilverUchiha]

I'm always a little against guns because I find them a somewhat lazy and inresponsible way for a non-soldier to fight.
I do however think that self-defence is an important right, so would be willing to accept them as a compromise if we can't go back to everyone carrying a sword

Why not? Swords are awesome and require some real skill to use properly.

OT: 2nd Amendment man. I want personal nukes so if a neighbor pisses me off, I can show him/her who's the boss. lol.

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

I'm always a little against guns because I find them a somewhat lazy and inresponsible way for a non-soldier to fight.
I do however think that self-defence is an important right, so would be willing to accept them as a compromise if we can't go back to everyone carrying a sword

I actually own several swords, and I can tell you, they're closer to my bed than my shotgun is. It's really funny when someone tries to mess with you and you whip out 30 some-odd inches of sharpened steel. They leave you alone right quick.