What would you do about Virginia Tech?

[bkholdem]

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Drug-use is one of the primary factors in violent crime. Legalizing drugs would not fix it, but probably worsen the problem.

I speak from experience, because I've got several friends that do, or at one time have sold narcotics.

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No, ILLEGAL drug sales/use are a source of violent crime. When is the last time you heard of a couple of competing liquor store owners shooting it out in the streets with their boys over turf? How frequently do you think alcoholics jack up citizens at knife point so they can score their daily fix of a pint/quart of vodka (hint: not very often).

If drugs were legal and sold in pharmacies the pharmacists would not be shooting each other over turf. And if a daily fix of heroin cost the same as a daily fix of booze or cigarettes people would not be holding up people with knives to score (just as they don't do so to get a pack of smokes).

It is the illegality which is the cause of the crime and violence. Not the drugs.

Go see what these law enforcment officers have to say about it, they have a 12 minute free educational video on their site:

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

www.leap.cc

[pvn]

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You can use pretty much any object to kill someone. This has nothing to do with whether we should outlaw guns or not.

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When your primary argument for gun control is that "guns can be easily be used by maniacs or criminals to kill people" then it's very pertinent.

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I think people have expressed quite well in this thread why they think it is good that guns are legal. And I agree with some of their arguments. I just think the argument that "someone once flew an airplane into a building, lets also outlaw airplanes", is an extremely unconvincing argument.

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Why should anyone have to convince you that guns should be legal in the first place?

[bkholdem]

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You can use pretty much any object to kill someone. This has nothing to do with whether we should outlaw guns or not.

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It has everything to do with it.

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When are we gonna smarten up and start outlawing people who go around preaching what should be outlawed?

[bkholdem]

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It's unbelievable how you people think. It's not just ridiculously poor logic (ban guns and guns will magically disappear!), it's just downright evil to make it a crime for people to defend themselves.

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Yeah I know it's illegal to carry a gun on campus. Which is why the "if they had guns they could've defended themselves" argument is meaningless.

My point was that most people will not have a gun, period. Not little old ladies being mugged, not people faced with a maniac in McDonalds, etc. Regardless of whether they are allowed, usually only the killer will actually have a gun.

And I never said guns should be outlawed only that it shouldn't be so easy for a person to get one. Training, background checks, and waiting periods (including at gun shows) seem like reasonable steps that would not prevent a law-abiding citizen from owning a gun if he/she wants one.

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When people who are for gun control promise to shoot themselves in the head after another gun control law is passed I would have some faith in what they say. The way it is now people have emotional reactions to tragedies and rather than fixing their emotional wound they want to pass a new law. New tragedy, new law... on an on and on.

So every time there is a tragedy they act out their emotional issue on the public at large by crying out for another law. We have enought laws thanks, work out your own issues at home and leave the rest of us out of it please.

[EricOF]

Ban college.

[revots33]

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So every time there is a tragedy they act out their emotional issue on the public at large by crying out for another law. We have enought laws thanks, work out your own issues at home and leave the rest of us out of it please.

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This is not true, many people have wanted tougher gun laws for years, sadly it just takes events like this to get most people talking about it.

Oh and as I've said several times I'm in favor of sensible gun laws NOT outlawing guns for law-abiding citizens. The idea isn't to take your guns away.

And as for, "only the criminals will have guns"... do you honestly think the easy availablility of guns in certain states doesn't contribute to criminals obtaining handguns more easily? It's no secret that many of the guns used by criminals in states with tougher gun-control laws come from out of state.

In NYC Mayor Bloomberg recently sued out-of-state gun dealers for illegally selling the guns used in NYC crimes.

From a Fox news article:

"Mayoral spokesman Jason Post said police statistics show that 90 percent of the guns used in crimes in New York City come from out of state."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,259726,00.html

[tehox]

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You can use pretty much any object to kill someone. This has nothing to do with whether we should outlaw guns or not.

[/ QUOTE ]

When your primary argument for gun control is that "guns can be easily be used by maniacs or criminals to kill people" then it's very pertinent.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think people have expressed quite well in this thread why they think it is good that guns are legal. And I agree with some of their arguments. I just think the argument that "someone once flew an airplane into a building, lets also outlaw airplanes", is an extremely unconvincing argument.

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Why should anyone have to convince you that guns should be legal in the first place?

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I saw this one episode of 90201, where David Silver's friend killed himself by accident with a gun.

[bkholdem]

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So every time there is a tragedy they act out their emotional issue on the public at large by crying out for another law. We have enought laws thanks, work out your own issues at home and leave the rest of us out of it please.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is not true, many people have wanted tougher gun laws for years, sadly it just takes events like this to get most people talking about it.

Oh and as I've said several times I'm in favor of sensible gun laws NOT outlawing guns for law-abiding citizens. The idea isn't to take your guns away.

And as for, "only the criminals will have guns"... do you honestly think the easy availablility of guns in certain states doesn't contribute to criminals obtaining handguns more easily? It's no secret that many of the guns used by criminals in states with tougher gun-control laws come from out of state.



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LOL why don't you look at guns used by criminals in states with easy acccess to guns. If it is less than in states with stricter gun control the solution is simple. Adopt the policies of states with easy access to guns and reduce crimes nationwide!

[bkholdem]

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You can use pretty much any object to kill someone. This has nothing to do with whether we should outlaw guns or not.

[/ QUOTE ]

When your primary argument for gun control is that "guns can be easily be used by maniacs or criminals to kill people" then it's very pertinent.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think people have expressed quite well in this thread why they think it is good that guns are legal. And I agree with some of their arguments. I just think the argument that "someone once flew an airplane into a building, lets also outlaw airplanes", is an extremely unconvincing argument.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why should anyone have to convince you that guns should be legal in the first place?

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I saw this one episode of 90201, where David Silver's friend killed himself by accident with a gun.

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I heard about this dude that killed himself by sticking a gerbil up his ass, should we outlaw gerbils or asses?

[revots33]

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I saw this one episode of 90201, where David Silver's friend killed himself by accident with a gun.

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I've heard this happens with kids and guns sometimes in real life too, not just on tv. An inexpensive child-safety trigger lock requirement on guns might have saved some of those kids, but who needs more annoying regulations?


Brady Campaign kids and guns facts


Interesting news article about international reaction to shootings