Question for people Pro-guns....

[Moth_Monk]

Yep this thread had to get posted.

Spoiler

Although it only occurred to me after reading some of the pro-gun Americans responses in comments sections/threads to you-know-what

The question is this: I live in the UK, where firearms are illegal, even the police do not have them, and the rate of gun crime is SIGNIFICANTLY lower than gun crime in the US. I have not even heard what a gun shot sounds like outside of TV and video games - think of that. With this being a fact, how can you people who are pro-guns; that don't like the idea of guns being made illegal, even rationalise why it would be a bad thing?

The only reason for thinking guns are needed, as far as I can tell, is if you think you need to kill somebody for some reason with them.

Captcha: hunky-dory

I <3 Captcha's irony.

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

Um... as somebody from the UK I have to say guns are not outright illegal.
Pheasant hunting is still a popular sport and guns are required obviously.

Now, a handgun or something along those lines are illegal because their sole purpose is to kill a human being as it would be bloody difficult to hunt Game with one of those.

 

[Scrustle]

I don't really want to get in to a debate about guns. I've already done that on this site and it was a complete waste of time. I just want to point out to people that there is a difference between legalising guns in a country that's not used to them, and banning guns in a country that is.

But the main reason I posted here was to say that gif is both awesome and hilarious.

 

[matrix3509]

Also, how does making guns illegal stop CRIMINALS from getting them? Really, I'm dying to know.

Also, also, whom to trust with my life: myself, who knows how to operate a firearm safely and responsibly; or an incompetent police force? I don't think the decision is a hard one.

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

Also... it is worth baring in mind just how big America is in comparison to the UK.
I'm anti-guns as I live in the UK and we function fine without them but sometimes comparing crime rate with the UK is a little useless. We can fit three of us in just one of their states.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Blightly is an island.

It's much easier to regulate what comes into the country.

It's also much easier to regulate firearms in a country that doesn't allow it's general population to carry them than one that does.

 

[Lucem712]

The argument I hear most frequently is that bad dudes don't care 'bout laws so we need guns to protect ourselves from the baddies.

(It's being said that the weapon the Colorado massacre was a legal rifle, AR-15, which was legalized after the ban on it ran out. So, it's possible that stricter laws could have prevented a slaughter on that scale. But, that's not really the issue, because he probably could have gotten it regardless on the black-market.)

I don't think you'll ever be able to prevent real baddies from getting these kind of weapons, or diehard hunters.

I think the answer is education and having a license to own a weapon. I need a license to drive a car legally, but I can just go buy a shotgun? Though, that's more about personal safety and won't solve the issue of massacres.

[sub]That being said, my father owns a gun. It's a 9 mm and probably doesn't even work at this point. It's pretty much a bluff weapon.[/sub]

 

[ReadyAmyFire]

I'm in Northern Ireland, would just like to point out we're in the UK too, most households I know have at least one firearm (we have 8), our police all get firearms, even traffic stops involve MP5's and G3's.

The illegality of weapons didn't stop paramilitaries getting their hands on enough firepower to force the army to be very careful about how they moved around the country, by air and ground.

I'll concede we do have to be considered an anomaly when weighing certain statistics though.

 

[FalloutJack]

Because there's a difference between "crime" and "gun crime", and they respond in opposite ways to gun laws.

Basically, for every person that you spare from death by bullet wound, you're getting a mugging, a rape, and two deaths by knife wound in return.

We're just better at math than you are.

Also, how does making guns illegal stop CRIMINALS from getting them? Really, I'm dying to know.

Also, also, whom to trust with my life: myself, who knows how to operate a firearm safely and responsibly; or an incompetent police force? I don't think the decision is a hard one.

I'm gonna have to go with that. You see, with the issues of gun crimes, there's also the silver lining. We have the background checks, the waiting periods, the armed civilians who if pushed can fire back... A man with a gun in the UK could go on a rampage because he's one of the few packing. A man in the US with a gun has to worry about ANYONE in his immediate area and beyond packing as well.

Here's the thing, O UK-gun-control-question-man. It is true that there is the difference in the kinds of crimes committed and how bad things can get because of who has what guns, illegal or not. However, there is just as equally the consequence of trying to change that here. It's not the whole of gun-owning society that's doing this. It's the crazy, stupid shitheads. Everyone else just wants to use a gun properly. If you try to take that away, you'd have - I'm guessing - at least a solid billion saying NO, people who didn't DO anything wrong, and you would be wrong to take from them what's theirs.

 

[Froggy Slayer]

Oh dear lord this thread again.....

I'm going to say that I'm in support of greater gun control laws in America, but not necessarily against gun ownership. What I think is that people should probably get psychologically checked before they're allowed to handle a weapon. And don't tell me about the whole 'right to bear arms thing'. That was from a different era when it was basically a necessity.

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[Lucem712]

I think the answer is education and having a license to own a weapon. I need a license to drive a car legally, but I can just go buy a shotgun? Though, that's more about personal safety and won't solve the issue of massacres

A license is only required if you're driving on public roads. You can drive on your own private land without a license and the cops can't do shit about it.

Well, no. You can drive anything on your own property. But for the safety of the public and yourself, you have to pass a test on the basics and show an intermediate knowledge of how to commandeer a vehicle and of your state's road rules. (At least while driving a street-legal vehicle on public roads.)

I know (most) people don't read their car's manual or read their state's driver's ed manual, but I read all of mine. Even the moto section.

 

[yeti585]

The only reason for thinking guns are needed, as far as I can tell, is if you think you need to kill somebody for some reason with them.

Guns are also used for sport. There are a lot of people who like hunting bucks with a rifle. The United States (of America) expressly gave citizens the right to "keep and bear arms" so that if the government started stepping on toes and shoving it's nose in places it shouldn't, the people would have the power to change that. The founders of the United States didn't want the citizens led around on a leash, but many citizens are.

 

[unoleian]

I'm a US citizen and largely pro-gun. Largely. I still think there's room for much improvement, but keep in mind that undoing the current system requires a massive cultural paradigm shift, and what works for a single European country does not apply when you're talking about a collective of States that is 15-100 times larger than a single European country and with a similar magnitude (or more) in population as well depending on which country you talk about. Combine the above with the effect of cultural indoctrination and additionally overcoming States'desires to outline their own rights are significant hurdles to overcome to even begin to discuss changing the system.

Yes, I think some things could use better control, in regards to high-powered handguns and easily modified semi-auto ARs. But at the same, I'm conflicted with the belief that the populace plays its minor vigilance role and even the thought of a well-armed retaliation may deter some violent crime, and do also worry about some NWO-style conspiracies that stripping the population of its arms is the first step into an oppressive death spiral we would then be ill-prepared to fight (again, this is an effect of cultural indoctrination, largely). These feelings are hard to reconcile, they are ingrained so deeply in the way we approach our "gun culture" around here.

It's such a tough two-way street. It really is.

 

[shrekfan246]

So gun-control threads are going to be the hot topic again? Boy, this is going to be just as enjoyable a month as the last four have been.

I don't care about guns. I don't care if they're more strictly regulated than they currently are in the US, because it wouldn't have any effect on my life as it is right now.

I'm going to start avoiding threads about guns now, it seems...

EDIT: Also, I've never heard a gunshot outside of television or video games either, and I do live in the US. Maybe stop generalizing the entire population over here as crazy, gun-toting maniacs who spend all of their days shooting up the streets.[footnote]That was hyperbole, and meant facetiously.[/footnote]

In fact, the only gun I've ever actually seen is a hunting rifle that my friend's mom has.

 

[Weaver]

This should go to religion and politics.

 

[senordesol]

Head over to R&P Moth_Monk, all will be revealed.

But in short: What works in the UK won't work in the US. We Americans (Most of us, anyway) know this, which is why we are so adamant in our defense of the individual right to own firearms.