Should Guns be Outlawed in the U.S.A?

Quit watching cowboy movies. In the cowboy towns that epitomized the Wild West: “Abilene, Ellsworth, Wichita, Dodge City, and Caldwell, for the years from 1870 to 1885, there were only 45 total homicides. This equates to a rate of approximately 1 murder per 100,000 residents per year”

RESPONSIBLE gun ownership is the best deterrent against the threat of violence. I live in Arkansas, a state that allows for CCW. I feel more safe around these citizens than I did back home in Memphis. The police in Memphis were of the variety that showed up after the shooting was over. The key to solving the violence problem is not taking away guns, it's prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law those that use guns illegally. Empty the jails of non-violent drug offenders and incarcerate the violent criminals for life if necessary. And I don't mean a country club prison, because taking another life should automatically remove your 'rights' if you are convicted of murder.

You mentioned the police as the intended defense force that we should rely on. Man, if you only knew. The way that they're being militarized lately, the last thing on their agenda is serving and protecting you and yours.

I'm keeping mine and I have learned how to carry and if necessary use it responsibly, thank you very much.

 

What I don't understand is why people who are anti-gun want to take away other people's rights, if you don't want a gun, then it's simple, don't keep one in your house or don't carry one on you. Same deal with abortion, if you don't like abortion, just don't have one them, don't try to take away other peoples rights

 

Not against domestic violence. It also greatly increases gun accidents. Statistically, your gun is more likely to be used to shoot a family member or neighbor than a criminal.

That is a serious problem. They have to do their job. That's an issue that voters need to get serious about.

Believe it or not, we agree on something.

 

I wouldn't care what my neighbor owned, if I was certain his gun was not capable of firing a bullet across the property line. I don't know of any such weapon.

Have you ever had a neighbor who was an idiot?

 

Do you think we can make a world without idiots? Should we outlaw anything that might cause harm. And considering how slim your odds are in a lifetime to be hit by a stray bullet, that's a pretty bad example

 

Bullshit.

You just made that up.

 

NO... I don't want one in my house or around me.. I not a huge fan but I think we should have the right to own a gun..

now I do think the laws should be a little stricter when it comes to being able to legally own one..

 

9 times out of 10 .. the shooting victims are known by the shooter

there are a lot of idiots with guns...but I'm not saying take them away...

 

The laws are already incredibly strict, especially in the Northeast.

 

Yeah, in the hood maybe where people are completely uncivilized. I am talking about regular, law-abiding citizens -- not criminally-minded people who 9 out of 10 times are carrying a gun illegally.

 

Not everywhere in North East, it's really just mass and NY. Getting a concealed carry permit is pretty easy in CT, and Vermont and New Hampshire have pretty lax laws.

 

...and that's not even counting accidental shootings.

 

Accidental shootings actually aren't that common when you look at the numbers, and you fail to point out the fact while most shooting victims do in fact know their shooter, most of the time it's also drug/gang related violence, and most firearms used in killings are illegal guns.

 

How many are women and children?

 

you fail to point out the fact while most shooting victims do in fact know their shooter, most of the time it's also drug/gang related violence,

over recent time, yes that stat has gone more to drug/gang violence... but in a longer time frame.... crimes of passion

 

Yes over recent time, going back 50 years ago to when it was mostly crimes of passion doesn't do any good statistically because the murder rate was so much lower then it is.

And women and children don't matter, a person is a person and plenty of women and children are in gangs and ect.

While it is more likely it's because of changing economic and social envirorments around the country as a whole, as the murder and crime rate in general has dropped dramatically since the late 80's/early 90's, at the same time since then most states red and blue during this same time period have made it greatly easier to get concealed carry permits.

 

Actually, those old statistics are quite informative if you don't happen to be a drug dealer, because they apply to situations that are more likely to be similar to your own life.

 

Actually no because most murders in this country are drug/gang related so you're still ignoring the fact that your chances of being killed in a crime of passion are pretty slim.

 

Well, you can only say that because you haven't met my...um...

Never mind.

 

A lot of the problems we are debating in this thread would go away if we had tight gun regulations in urban areas and more liberal rules for rural areas.

Opportunities for gun accidents and gun violence are much greater wherever you have a lot of people living close together. Apartments are often separated by very thin walls. Unpleasant interactions between individuals are more common in the city. Burglaries regularly put stolen weapons into the hands of drug dealers and gang members. On the other hand, police are usually on patrol within a few blocks of anywhere, and wild animal sightings are rare.

If you live many miles from town, the nearest deputy may be twenty minutes or more from your house, which puts more pressure on the homeowner to deal with situations on his own. In fact, in some states, there may be a rabid fox living closer to your house than your next door neighbor. You may come home and find a bear in your basement. If your gun gets stolen, it is more likely to be used for hunting than to find its way into the hands of the nearest drug dealer, who is probably miles away, in the city. Most young guys are going to learn gun safety from their fathers, and get great personal enjoyment from the local hunting culture.

What are the chances of coming up with one set of gun laws that work well for these two polar opposite situations? Close to zero.

Virginia is the only place that I know for sure has ever tried out the idea of having two or more sets of gun laws for the same state. I don't know if they have stayed with this approach, but people seemed to be happy with it back when I lived there. I know that North Carolina has uniform gun laws for the entire state. I wish that NC would switch to the dual urban/rural regulations.

Domestic violence does not get fully addressed by a dual approach, but there is going to be no perfect solution that solves every aspect of the gun problem. I see this as the best chance for a high percentage of voters and taxpayers to be satisfied with the gun laws that cover the place where they live. If you are a gun enthusiast, chances are good that you prefer a rural lifestyle anyway, for a variety of reasons.