Maj.Striker
Swabbie
Banned
Alright, I hope this won't be too controversial of a topic but I know we have diverse global culture involved here at CIC so I thought I'd get some opinions from the crew on the concept of owning guns in general. I will first state my opinion and you can accept it as is...disagree, agree whatever just please keep it civil and make your argument reasonable.
I personally believe there is nothing wrong in owning a gun, I think it is a right provided for (in the USA) by the 2nd Amendment. It is not a mandatory right wherein you HAVE to own a gun but it your right as a citizen of the United States. I do however, think that there should always...always be a background check before someone can purchase a gun. If that person does have a violent history then they should not be allowed to purchase a gun...simple as that. If the person is morally upstanding citizen with a clean record and mental capacity to handle a gun properly then there should be no reason whatsoever for allowing the person to purchase the gun. I don't think there should be any restrictions on what type of guns you can buy EXCEPT for potentially explosive or similar weapons. I think there is nothing wrong with someone who is thoroughly documented in owning a fully automatic weapon.
Okay, now some reasoning behind my opinon. According to the Justice Department gun related crimes have steadily decreased since 1993 and have now reached the lowest plateau they have ever been at since many decades. According to the justice department last year, of the gun related crimes 80% of them were committed with weapons that were obtained by illegal sources. This I think is a huge statistic because it means that if every gun store in America were immediately shut down and all guns that had been legally purchased were confiscated there would still be a massive amount of weapons out there obtained by illegal means. This now means that no law abiding citizen has a gun but a vast majority of criminal elements still do. Not a good situation to imagine. This statistic also tells me that very few of the people that go to a gun store/gun show and buy their weapons get involved in a gun related crime. So this means there is a great number of responsible Americans out there that own guns and know how to handle them...
When talking with people about the values of allowing for the purchase of guns and those who are very anti-gun in their outlook they most often say that they don't trust their fellow man enough to want guns to be available. They say that if they get into an argument with them then they're afraid the other person will pull out a gun and kill them just because they were arguing over whether it was too hot out. I find this argument a little weak. If the person is just going to pull out a gun and shoot them then that same person would have grabbed a tire iron and caved in the side of their skull. I'm not sure if I'm stating this properly but what I'm trying to say is that if the person doesn't have the mental restraint to refrain themselves from pulling a gun trigger then they aren't going to have the restraint to stop themselves from grabbing a knife and stabbing someone.
I think everyone (above the age of 21) should have the right to carry a gun (subject to a background check and mental capacity). However I don't think people should wear their guns concealed...I think it should be in the open where people can see it. I tell you whenever I see someone with a holster under their arm I'm a lot more respectful. As I think most of the general populace would be.
Ok enough of my opinions I have many more reasons but I'll save those for later...what are your thoughts?
Wait, I will say this, there are some nations that have very very rigid gun control laws and as a result have a great deal less gun related crime (Japan comes to mind). Although guns aren't typically involved Japan's crime death rate is still about 1 for every 100,000 in their population (at last check America's was about 3.2).
I personally believe there is nothing wrong in owning a gun, I think it is a right provided for (in the USA) by the 2nd Amendment. It is not a mandatory right wherein you HAVE to own a gun but it your right as a citizen of the United States. I do however, think that there should always...always be a background check before someone can purchase a gun. If that person does have a violent history then they should not be allowed to purchase a gun...simple as that. If the person is morally upstanding citizen with a clean record and mental capacity to handle a gun properly then there should be no reason whatsoever for allowing the person to purchase the gun. I don't think there should be any restrictions on what type of guns you can buy EXCEPT for potentially explosive or similar weapons. I think there is nothing wrong with someone who is thoroughly documented in owning a fully automatic weapon.
Okay, now some reasoning behind my opinon. According to the Justice Department gun related crimes have steadily decreased since 1993 and have now reached the lowest plateau they have ever been at since many decades. According to the justice department last year, of the gun related crimes 80% of them were committed with weapons that were obtained by illegal sources. This I think is a huge statistic because it means that if every gun store in America were immediately shut down and all guns that had been legally purchased were confiscated there would still be a massive amount of weapons out there obtained by illegal means. This now means that no law abiding citizen has a gun but a vast majority of criminal elements still do. Not a good situation to imagine. This statistic also tells me that very few of the people that go to a gun store/gun show and buy their weapons get involved in a gun related crime. So this means there is a great number of responsible Americans out there that own guns and know how to handle them...
When talking with people about the values of allowing for the purchase of guns and those who are very anti-gun in their outlook they most often say that they don't trust their fellow man enough to want guns to be available. They say that if they get into an argument with them then they're afraid the other person will pull out a gun and kill them just because they were arguing over whether it was too hot out. I find this argument a little weak. If the person is just going to pull out a gun and shoot them then that same person would have grabbed a tire iron and caved in the side of their skull. I'm not sure if I'm stating this properly but what I'm trying to say is that if the person doesn't have the mental restraint to refrain themselves from pulling a gun trigger then they aren't going to have the restraint to stop themselves from grabbing a knife and stabbing someone.
I think everyone (above the age of 21) should have the right to carry a gun (subject to a background check and mental capacity). However I don't think people should wear their guns concealed...I think it should be in the open where people can see it. I tell you whenever I see someone with a holster under their arm I'm a lot more respectful. As I think most of the general populace would be.
Ok enough of my opinions I have many more reasons but I'll save those for later...what are your thoughts?
Wait, I will say this, there are some nations that have very very rigid gun control laws and as a result have a great deal less gun related crime (Japan comes to mind). Although guns aren't typically involved Japan's crime death rate is still about 1 for every 100,000 in their population (at last check America's was about 3.2).