Time to discuss gun regulation in the US?

[schwarzkopf]

Its not that hard to get a license to drive.

Then there should be no objection making it that hard EVERYWHERE in the USA to get a gun ?

[Aftonflickan]

But come on guys, even you people who hold your right to self defense so dear, how do you justify people owning fully automatic firearms with several sticks of ammunition? You're not living in Somalia LOL, I don't think burglars would come at you 30 at a time....

[Shadoweye]

Apparently he wants it to be even easier to get guns.

Id be for that by all means... lol

[Deleted]

Don't ban firearms outright, instead regulate the way they are stored. Most weapons used by criminals are stolen from legit gun owners, keeping a handgun on your nightstand or rifle in your wardrobe is not being a responsible gun owner.

I keep firearms myself, but they are stored in a proper gun safe, bolted to my bedroom wall. Anyone that wants to steal them needs special tools and a few hours spare time to cut into it.

[Violent]

Yeah 'cause, making something illegal to have, really cuts down on the demand of said thing, right?

Oh and, we were killing each other in mass WAY before guns.. Stop pushing people, and people wouldn't push back. No, I don't condone going out n killing people, but you can't expect to live in a society that has mastered screwing over its fellow man, then bitch when the people push back.

[schwarzkopf]

You did not answer my question. The gun was a tool.

No - the murderer was a tool, the gun the mechanism.


Simple fact:

Without GUN : 2 or 3 people die
With GUN : 28 people die.
------------------------------
Person responsible for : 2 or 3 people
GUN responsible for 20+ people.
------------------------------

Simple horrifying maths...

[Slybak]

First of all I'd like to say that I'm not an American and haven't lived in America for a good 8 years now, so information might be incorrect and if so please correct me

In response to the recent shootings at both the Connecticut elementary school and the Oregon Mall, wouldn't you agree that it's about time to discuss severely limiting gun freedom and firearm possession in America?
I just think that there *might* be some form of correlation between gun-sales and possession and shootings when the countries with the least number of people shot per year are also the ones with the tightest legislation and the least armed police officers...
"If everyone has a gun then it's safer herp derp second amendment I-do-need-me-my-fully-automatic-gun-for-self-defense"


Thoughts?

After Columbine, in 1999, every state in the country instituted new, more rigorous school safety protocols. In New York, for example, we put in place the SAVE Act. If you've been following news reports, you'll likely hear stories of doing things teachers locking doors and huddling students into a corner of the classroom that is obscured from the entrance. This is part of the safety procedures mandated by these pieces of legislation. Virtually every school in the country has a plan in place to secure the building and maximize safety in the event of a shooting. Though I can't say for certain, because these reforms were put in place to protect against a mass shooting perpetrated by a student from the school and not an adult with an indirect connection to it, I think it is safe to assume that these reforms may have saved lives today.

In other words: Tragedy struck, the public demanded a reaction from their government, the political process kicked in, reforms were implemented, and meaningful gains were made.

When these reforms were debated and implemented, there was virtually no political or bureaucratic opposition. No lobbyist working on behalf of an interest group that bribed... er... convinced legislators into thinking that they were a bad idea. No bureaucrat who fretted about the cost, because there wasn't a superintendent or principal in the country who wanted their school to suffer a similar fate and have everyone ask why they weren't prepared. We found the money.

Why has there not been any kind of companion set of reforms for gun access? Because the gun lobby, which is financially sustained by both the gun industry and by playing on the paranoid fears of gun owners, is ready, willing, and able to extort anyone interested in even approaching the subject into cowardice. There is no other reason. We can't have a waiting period for buying a gun, but we always have to wait to debate gun control because to do otherwise would be to "politicize the tragedy."

And that's the NRA's job.

[Shadoweye]

Then there should be no objection making it that hard EVERYWHERE in the USA to get a gun ?

Lol... its already HARDER to get a gun than it is a drivers license... Point of fact... i hate to wait 72 hours to purchase where i live, and it takes me about 20 mins to get a license to drive a 2k lb vehicle and mow over a bunch of pedestrians in the street...

[Deleted]

Have you ever looked? I doubt it. I'm sure if you looked you could find them :)

---------- Post added 2012-12-14 at 09:25 PM ----------



This exactly. Before they even get all the bodies found, there are politicians posting on there twitters about how all guns should be banned. Amazing.

In my country you are more likely to find an undercover cop trying to catch people trying to buy them.

[Slummish]

I just read a story in the newspaper the other day about some Chinese guy marching up to a school and stabbing 30 children. Is it time to regulate knives in China, too?

Sick, insane people are going to do what sick, insane people are going to do. Guns or no guns.

[ptwonline]

Speech is already regulated, cars are regulated - I mean even big cups of soft drink are regulated. Why not guns ?

Because the NRA is powerful politically. Simple as that.

[MaximusRex]

No time, because constitution.

Constitution can be amended if needed, it really doesn't prevent the conversation.

[DrStiglit]

Oh, so because some parents are ludicrously terrible at gun safety, we should ban guns?

Yes. If people as a whole can't be responsible then they shouldn't be available.. The deaths aren't worth it.

[Angrybathtub]

Don't blame the guns. Blame the guy who caused the massacre.

[artemishunter1]

You did not answer my question. The gun was a tool.

Do we blame a hammer for cracking someones skull?

A tool designed specifically to take life.

[Shadoweye]

No - the murderer was a tool, the gun the mechanism.


Simple fact:

Without GUN : 2 or 3 people die
With GUN : 28 people die.
------------------------------
Person responsible for : 2 or 3 people
GUN responsible for 20+ people.
------------------------------

Simple horrifying maths...

How can you call those facts.... a man with a knife in a room full of kids can cause an equal amount of damage... opinions do not equal fact.

[schwarzkopf]

why would it matter if you have to drive down the road to go to a second store to buy a gun, instead of at a place you already shop at? O.o what difference does that make?

The aim isn't to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, the aim is to keep guns out of the hands of crazies.

[Aftonflickan]

You are so far up the media's misinformation campaign you are impossible to reason with.

So according to you there's NO CORRELATION AT ALL between the fact that countries with stricter gun laws and harder legislation regarding where and how it can be bought all have lower shooting rater than the USA? It's just a string of coincidences?

[Sunseeker]

There is no reason to limit gun freedom, just make it as hard to get a gun licence as it is to get a car licence - is that REALLY too much to ask ?

So, no background check, no mental or physical health check, just walk into the DMV, take a 5-minute written test, and then a half-hour gun "driving" test? Maybe check your eyesight to see if you need glasses to fire a gun?

And keep in mind, a license is only required to DRIVE a car, not own one.

[Peacemaker65]

Who couldn't have done it without a gun.

In Australia, we used the Port Philip massacre as a wake up call and took control of the situation dramatically, I'm not suggesting the USA go that far - but jeez, a gun licence should be as hard to get as a car licence shouldn't it ?

A license is not required to own a car, just to drive one but that is regulated at the state level, not federal. As for guns, each state is different but like cars, in most states you are not required to have a license to own one but to use one, such as hunting or for public carry. Those licenses have to be gotten more often and end up costing more money. The handgun carry licenses require more classroom training than most driver training even though a car can be much more dangerous than a gun. I can stop a 200 pound man shooting a gun with one well placed shot from my .45 but I would have a hard time trying to stop a 2,000 pound car trying to run me over.

I would also add, that the Constitution of the United States has an original amendment that makes it illegal for the federal government to infringe on the right to keep and bear arms. That in essence is the gun "license".