More guns the way to go? Some thoughs.

[Metric]

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These arguments have been crushed numerous times in other threads. There are places in the US with very strict gun control -- it is useless.

What I'd like to know is this: What is it about American firearm ownership that Europeans (and others) just can't stand? Do Americans go around preaching about how Germany needs to lower the speed limit on the autobahn? Yes, we're familiar with firearms here. Some areas are extremely safe and others are very dangerous (usually those with heavy gun control). Just like the rest of the world. When death by firearm becomes more statistically worrysome than tripping down the stairs or the like, let me know. Otherwise, no, I'm not going to change my mind about how much better my life would be if I forgot everything I knew about firearms and self-defense.

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So people getting killed from firearms is nothing to worry about, as long as it happens less than people tripping down the stairs? Now that's a good argument. I guess we should just let people kill eachother then, since dying in traffic is more common.

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Yeah, I get it -- because I personally don't worry myself sick about "death by firearm" any more than I worry about "death by stairwell," I must be proposing that "we should just let people kill each other." Brilliant. Yeah, now I see where you're coming from.

[Brainwalter]

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Well, we should at the very leat make it tougher for people to purchase firearms. We do know that Cho purchased his firearms. Sure, he could have found them on the black market, but we need to make it tougher to buy them legally first. There is no reason at all why a 23 year old student would need a Glock. A hunting rifle? Sure. A glock? Why?

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Be more specific. You want to make it "harder" for someone with no criminal background to get a gun. How? And would this have prevented Cho, who bought his first gun over a month in advance of his shooting spree?

Moreover, why do you get to decide who "needs" a gun? I myself am a 23-year-old student and I own a handgun (and a hunting rifle). I was interested to read that I don't actually "need" it, regardless of my personal circumstances. I'm glad people like you are out there to figure out what's best for people like me, I will just go turn my handgun in to the nearest authorities who can handle such a dangerous instrument better than me!

[rubbrband]

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Well, we should at the very leat make it tougher for people to purchase firearms. We do know that Cho purchased his firearms. Sure, he could have found them on the black market, but we need to make it tougher to buy them legally first. There is no reason at all why a 23 year old student would need a Glock. A hunting rifle? Sure. A glock? Why?

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You should seriously read the thread before making comments

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Under current laws VT shooter shouldn't have been able to purchase a gun because he had previously been forcefully admitted into a psychiatric ward. The problem is this is difficult to do a background check on due to privacy laws.


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[John Kilduff]

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Well, we should at the very leat make it tougher for people to purchase firearms. We do know that Cho purchased his firearms. Sure, he could have found them on the black market, but we need to make it tougher to buy them legally first. There is no reason at all why a 23 year old student would need a Glock. A hunting rifle? Sure. A glock? Why?

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How could you possibly know that there is no reason at all that a university student might need a gun? If you are out walking late at night and get accosted by a guy with a knife, you might need a gun, right? - even if you just happen to be a 23-year-old university student!

Whether a university student needs a gun is not even the point. Maybe a 23-year-old university student doesn't need a car, if he lives in dormitory on a large campus. Cars are very dangerous and kill tens of thousands of people every year in the USA. If a student living in a large university campus doesn't need a car, why should he be allowed to have one? It just endangers everyone else!

[LBK]

Gun lovers infuriate me. You are the people who lose children becuase you couldn't bear to be without a glock or a 45 and your children blow their brains out becuase you needed to be packing. What a joke. You people are dangerous and scary.

[NickMPK]

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Where is this huge black market for guns in all of the countries that have gun control?

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Everywhere, in direct proportion to the demand. Have you bothered to look? The vast majority of crimes committed with guns in the US were committed with guns that were not legally obtained, so your insinuation that the black market does not supply guns to criminals is false on its face.

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But the vast majority of guns used in crimes in the US were legally manufactured. If we made guns illegal, the guns used in these crimes would never exist.

You are claiming that guns would be just as easily obtained among criminals if they were illegal. Then why don't all criminals in Europe have guns? Do you think criminals in Europe simply don't like guns as much?

[pvn]

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I would be in favor of EVERYONE banning guns. Trust me. i would rather the gun be in the hands of a cop or FBI agent than a street thug though. Which is more likely to cause you and I harm?

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The government causes me harm every day. Over the long haul, they do much more harm to me than "common" criminals. And they do it all based on their superior firepower.

[NickMPK]

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Also, if you make guns illegal, the supply of guns will drop dramatically, regardless of the demand. Who is going to make new guns if their manufacturer and importation is illegal? It's not like the average criminal can create a handgun (or even a bullet) in his basement. Obviously, there will be existing guns floating around for a few decades, but I think most gun control advocates acknowledge that they really forsee a gun-free society 50-years down the road, and not 5-years.

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Criminals already make home made guns.

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Can you please cite an example of a murder where someone used a homemade handgun?...and I don't mean from a prepackaged gun kit. I remember a movie where John Malkovich builds a wooden handgun to evade security to assassinate the president, but I have never heard of an actual murder being committed with anything like this.

[pvn]

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Gun lovers infuriate me. You are the people who lose children becuase you couldn't bear to be without a glock or a 45 and your children blow their brains out becuase you needed to be packing. What a joke. You people are dangerous and scary.

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Think of the children! Never mind that more kids die in swimming pools. You bourgeous people just HAD to have your fancy swimming pool! You people are dangerous and scary.

OK, I don't have any kids. Now what's your line?

[NickMPK]

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Also, if you make guns illegal, the supply of guns will drop dramatically, regardless of the demand.

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Yeah. The supply of pot has dropped dramatically.


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Yes, the supply of pot would be much higher were it legal.


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People make *knives* and *wine* in *prison*.


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People made knives and wine in prehistoric times. It took thousands of years to learn how to create guns. Building a handgun requires a great deal of specialization, training, and automation. Do you see a lot of homemade guns in industrialized countries with gun control?