Should firearms be banned? {Closed}

Even if guns are made illegal, criminals will still have them.

Just because things are illegal doesn't mean nobody will have them.

Most bad guys get their guns illegally anyway.

Swords were made to kill people, right? Yet we have the sport of fencing now. Nobody ever goes crazy saying that we should keep swords legal or ban them. They may be outdated technology but you can still murder someone with a sword in ways that prevent any damage done to you, just like a gun can.
Guns were made to kill people, right? Yet we have the sport of controlled hunting and skeet shooting. Sure, you can murder someone with a gun and sure, the government could make them illegal but that stops nothing.

As it was already stated several times, anybody who wants a gun would just get one illegally anyways. Even if we somehow managed to prevent anybody from getting guns anywhere, that means people will revert to more primitive technology that they can still get a hold of. Sure, things like school shootings would no longer be like that one airport level from Modern Warfare 2, but it would become more like every hack and slash game ever. Besides, with 3D printers becoming more and more available, people will just print out plastic guns, which may be good for far shorter time periods but you can't take away a technological advancement that can replace limbs for extremely cheap and very efficiently because someone decided to make a plastic gun.

Regardless of what we do, people will be with dark hearts and will want to kill other people. Now, would you rather someone like that shoots the victim once or twice, killing them rather quickly or to have the victim hacked apart by a claymore because the killer was having trouble getting a clean slice through the neck?

That MW2 level though...

I agree one hundred percent that bad things will still happen and will continue to happen forever, but that doesn't mean we should just call it quits and do nothing about it. You say that banning guns will give innocent people a disadvantage, but they already have one. Only 34% of Americans own a gun. That means that two thirds of our population doesnt have a gun. You may say the answer is to arm everyone, but then we enter into the loop I mentionedin an earlier post. people will keep demanding bigger weapons to protect themselves from even bigger weapons. Sooner or later, that will only cause problems. I also disagree with the idea that guns offer a good time. It is a simple fact that guns were made to kill people and I feel that treating a powerful weapon so lightly will only lead go problems. Guns aren't toys and shouldn't be treated like them. I understand the need to train with a gun and learn how to use it, but saying that we should keep a deadly weapon because it is fun to mess around with doesn't make sense. Once again, bad things will always happen and will continue to for a long time but I want to make sure that the would be victims have the best chance of survival as we can give them. If a man comes at you with a gun, there isn't much you can do. If criminals were instead forced to use other weapons such a knives and swords, the victims will have a much better chance of escape.

*Looks at signature*

In the U.S.A.

This was written hundreds of years ago and circumstances change. Think back to the time when this was written and things were very different. The people who wrote this also knew that changes in the world would cause some of their legislature to become outdated. There are specific ways that congress could modify or change the 2nd amendment if the people show that they want it changed. Amendments have been added and they can be rewritten. Laws change as time changes.

While this is true, for example the prohibition amendment that got removed, nothing has been done yet to the second amendment. While that may or may not be Congress strangling itself over this amendment, it has yet to be changed. But it also states in a well regulated militia. I said this in one of my earlier posts. That means the people carrying around assault rifles into stores and around town can be disallowed from that, definitely, but to own a gun if in a practicing militia, the gun becomes irrevocable. But then the definition of "gun" is a bit unclear. The first definition of gun from Dictionary.com is "a weapon consisting of a metal tube, with mechanical attachments, from which projectiles are shot by the force of an explosive; a piece of ordnance," which would imply that both a rocket launcher and certain airsoft guns, as well as most paintball guns, are covered by the amendment.

To simply put it, we need to get our act together one way or another. I mean, come on. If an amendment stays so vague as to cover both a high explosive and a pseudo-weapon, someone needs to fix that.

If the government begins to oppress us, what will we have to fight back? Peaceful protest doesn't always work. I believe our founding fathers wrote this law for the people's sake, and if the government needs to be overthrown, we could have the right tools to revolt.

Ok lets take a step back and look at the earlier post I made. In that post I stated that when this was written the European world as it was then was full of oppresion and in the Colonies (later the US) all free people were part of the standing Militia. It gave everyone an inherent right to own a gun and use it to protect the freedoms for which they immigrated to this Country to pursue.

With that being said......until the draft was instituted most US Men and later Women voluntarily enlisted for at least 4 years of Military service. From a former Military Serviceman's point of view I have earned and paid for the right to own that gun. I have served my Country Honorably and protected the very Constitution,( though flawed or in need of updateing), which gives all of it's citizens the freedoms they enjoy today.

I agree that the Constitution may need a facelift....but I will never agree that the 2nd Amendment needs to be removed.

I personally own guns myself. I have to say this to those that challenge regular citizens owning guns, "it is better to own something and never use it, rather than not owning that object and needing it". It's like a generator, it's better to own one, never use it, rather than not own one and have your power go out on you.

Those who say that only law enforcement should own guns, are the people that depend on others to get them out of a situation rather than finding a solution themselves to the problem at hand. I always give this example to people who ask me why I want to get my concealed permit so bad. Me and my girlfriend are at an ATM at night, because the movie tickets are overpriced and we need a bit more money, which has happened to us before. As we get our money and turn around, a man dressed in black, puts a gun up to my girlfriends head and demands that he give him her purse or he will kill us both. (Now the most obvious answer is to just hand over the bag and perhaps he will leave you alone). But after she hands over the bag, you don't know what will happen, will the thief run, will he try and kidnap her and possibly you, will he shoot you both dead on the spot, or will you pull out your Glock 19 and shoot the suspect? It is scenarios like this that leave people in want or fear. Thieves fear citizens who are armed and will do what ever it takes to protect their loved ones or friend. And we want to do whatever it takes to protect those we love.

I hear on the news from time to time about a thief who broke into a house and was shot dead as they broke down the door or in the window. What anti-gun people don't understand about the people who killed the suspect is the mentality it takes to be ready to take another humans life in SELF-DEFENSE. People who get concealed carry permits have committed that they are ready to protect those around them from the danger that confronts them. A person with a concealed carry aren't just thinking about themselves, they are saying that I want to help protect those around me from danger no matter if I know this person at all or not.

When the Founding Fathers wrote the second amendment, they envisioned the citizens to have the freedom of guns in order to keep the government in line. Countries with strict gun control are the countries that want complete control over their people, and to do what ever they want to do with little to no opposition. "Where has this been shown" Nazi germany, Soviet Union, North Korea, South Korea, China, United Kingdom, Indonesia. These are some of the few countries that have strict to zero gun tolerance in them. As many of you know, in order to control a crowd or population, you must first control their will and means to fight back or resist. We have seen a trend start to happen in the United States, where the government wants to prevent us from obtaining a certain weapon, or want to regulate the amount of rounds in it because they fear armed citizens.

For those who don't know, NYC and California have passed bills that made it illegal to put more than 7 rounds in a 10 round magazine. 10 round magazines can still be sold in the state or city, but once you put that 8th round in the magazine, you can have the cuffs around your wrists and are heading to jail. We constantly go back to the thought police in these gun debates, what is going to prevent a criminal from putting more than 7 round in a magazine and killing people. What is going to prevent a criminal from buying more 10 round magazines, and using those in a shooting spree? A criminal is going to do what it takes to harm or hurt other people, whether it be guns, knives, their car, or even their fists, a criminal will find a way to harm the population.

I leave you with this closing suggestion/argument- Is it guns and laws that need to change or is it the gun culture in which we are presented guns and how to use them that needs to change? You see games come out that promote violence with guns and killing lots of innocent people with automatic rifles (GTA). Is it just as much as the criminal's fault, as it is the person or thing that influenced the criminal?

Final Thought- A gun is a tool, it doesn't know what is good and what is bad, it doesn't know right from wrong, it doesn't know where it shoots, who/what it shoots or who is shooting, a gun only knows to do one thing, Shoot.

Epilogue

As many of you can tell, I am very passionate about guns and being ready to fight and give my life for this country, and I suggest that you feel the same. My fellow Americans, you live in the greatest country on Earth, you America, told the British that we don't want to be under a their tyrannical government anymore. You America, said that we will not have slavery in this country, that all men are created equal and shall be treated equal. You America, told the Axis Powers that we will not go down quietly, that we shall have our revenge, that we shall retaliate, and we shall win so help us God. You America, have the power to make men free, to make men equal, to give men the freedom to vote, to give men freedom of speech, religion, press and freedom of owning guns. You America, have the power to unite us. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power. LET US ALL UNITE!

People are vegetarian.

We are in the era of cloning. We can clone things. If we can clone sheep, we can clone food.

But yes, I do prefer to debate more industrial matters when it comes to economics and laws. I have more practice.

The Netherlands was free. Well, for the nations own people at least. Keep in mind TN however abolished slavery long before the US, the glorious "free" nation...

Here in Australia, guns are not illegal, however they are heavily restricted. You need specialised training, licensing, be over the age of 18 (with exceptions) and be able to store your weapon securely to be able to purchase and carry a weapon. You can not have a silencer, a fully automatic weapon and I don't believe you can carry a gun in public in public.

These may sound very restrictive, but honestly, why would you need a gun in the first place? The excuse many people use is that its for self-defence, but if no one else is carrying a gun, then why do you need to be carrying one?

It only took two massacres over the course of 20 years for these gun laws to be put in place in Australia, but in the US, how many massacres have you had in the past year? Probably more than that. That is just sad.

Australia has one of the lowest rates of fatalities due to guns in the world. The reason being that we have these laws. Here, we have 0.86 gun deaths per 100,000 people each year (that's a total of 175 people), in the US, you have 10.30 deaths per 100,000 people each year (that's a stupid total of 32,754 people).

Now some of you have said that if they are restricted, criminals will still have them. But the fact is, if the police and the government do their job right, then they won't for long. There's frequent raids by police here looking for illegal arms and most shootings are either due to a significant lapse in the system or are by people who the police haven't raided yet.

You can say all you want about self defence and about how great guns are. But get over yourselves. They rarely cause cause anything but trouble. Here in Australia, people can still go hunting, they can still go shooting. You just can't go walking around in public with a gun in your handbag, just waiting for your toddler to grab and shoot you with.

Did anyone here this in the news, 11yrl old girl shot two bullets,hit the target, 3rd bullet shot, recording stopped, she shot the instructor - maybey at least an age limit to using em

This is going off topic, but you obviously misunderstand the concept of cloning. You can't clone food because it doesn't have DNA. You can grow food and we can grow meats and things now, but it's not cloning in the sense of cloning sheep.

You also have to realize, Australia has a population of 23 million people, whereas the US has 319 million people. You cant compare a lower population to a higher population, especially since the US has almost 14 times the amount of people Australia does. Places in the US where most of the murder rates happen are cities or states where there is strict gun control. Also the US has laws of it's own too, you can't buy a "long gun" until your 18 and you can buy a handgun until you're 21, and there is a 20 day waiting period to obtain a handgun.

As a gun owner, you are responsible for your gun and keeping it out of reach and access from your child. It is irresponsible parenting when a their child gets a hold of their gun and shoots their parent, sibling or even them self. It is the parents responsibility to make sure that their child has proper knowledge of a gun and that they keep the gun safe from their child. You need to teach a child from an early age to educate them and say that guns are dangerous and should only be handled with their supervision. That's the problem with people, we don't want to educate our children about guns, instead they find out about them through violent video games and get the wrong message from that.

As I told mba2012, it is the adult that is responsible for the child that is shooting the gun, they are the one to tell them what to and not to do. If a child doesn't know any better then they shouldn't be handling a gun in the first place. You keep the barrel of the gun pointed in a safe direction at all times, loaded or unloaded. Also "maybe" and "hear"

Yes this was written a couple hundred years ago, but that doesn't mean that it isn't as important as current laws and rulings. The Founding Fathers wrote the amendment to keep the government in line. Having just gotten independence from England, where they couldn't have the latest guns available to them. They wanted the government to be fearful of the citizens so that the government would abide by the citizens will. They wanted the citizens to have a way to fight back if the government got too out of control and had to be put back in its place. If the government weapons are more advanced than the weapons of the people, there is a serious problem there. The government gets fully automatic rifles, while the law abiding citizens get bolt action, 5 shot hunting rifles.

As Charlie Chaplin said in The Great Dictator "The misery that is upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people shall be returned to the people" "Brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill their promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people!"