Poll: Fun control

[similar.squirrel]

If it's all allegedly for self-defense [the ultra-democratic excuse is bullshit, army ALWAYS has better hardware], then there is nothing wrong with beanbag shotguns, tasers and the like.

 

[Thwarted]

beanbag shotguns have a very short effective range, can only fire one shot before reloading and are impossible to carry concealed. Tazers are also only good for one shot with their electrodes, if you miss you have to try and poke them with it instead. The FN 5-7 and other such automatic pistols are accurate to around 50 yards, easy to conceal and have magazine capacities in excess of ten rounds.

 

[Tears of Blood]

I did a presentation on this for Sociology class.

Basically, I was pretty biased, because if you do the reasearch, you learn that areas that impose more gun control laws end up with not just more homicides via firearm, but homicides in general! It's completely crazy.

 

[AvsJoe]

I believe that every American can and should own an automatic rifle that can fire over 100 rounds before reloading. Every American. Including the cokeheads, the criminals, and the clinically insane (and also the children. Won't somebody please think of the children?). And I believe that bullets should be dirt cheap. But the second any American should leave their country for work/vacation/whatever, they have to leave their guns at home. That would be a perfect solution right there.

 

[Iskenator67]

Where is the "I should be able to build an A-bomb in my backyard option?"

 

[Jemal]

I'm Canadian, not American, and I believe everybody should be armed. I don't see why people allways think of this as an 'American' Debate, it's a Human debate. Crime and weapons aren't limited to the united states, every country on earth has them. The yanks are just some of the few smart enough(Wow, never thought I'd say that! ) to let people use said weapons to defend themselves against said criminals

The very real possibility of retribution is the best deterence IMO. It may not be nice, pretty, and 'world peace'-ey, but it's the true human condition. If there's a very real chance that hurting or trying to hurt someone will end up getting YOU hurt in return, most people are less likely to go through with it - It's called survival instinct.
Having to wait for the cops to come in with THEIR weaons is just removing the threat by one more degree. Instead of having to worry about immediate retribution, the criminal has to worry about retribution once or twice-removed... and only then if the police are able (and in many cases willing) to track him/her down. And even if they DO track him down, he may still get off without any punishment, or with a minor one.

That's not nearly as much of a deterrent to crime as "If I do this I might get my freaking nuts shot off!"

 

[Souplex]

I am fairly certain Australia has banned handguns and I am also fairly certain they have a relatively low crimerate. If someone could retrieve some figures that would be nice.

 

[tsb247]

It is ridiculous that you can buy an assault weapon in the U.S. No amount of deer hunting requires armor piercing rounds and a muzzle velocity of 3,200 ft/s.

Define assault weapon. We can't own anything in full-auto in most states, and in the states where you can own one, you are required to pay a large fee for a liscence, background check, and in some cases you must have written permission from the local sheriff and/or the attorney general. Getting one's hands on a (legal) assault weapon is difficult and expensive.

I would also like to point out that a .30-06 (150 grain bullet - ballistic tip) round (considered to be a common deer hunting round) has a muzzle velocity of around 2,900 ft/s. Fast bullets are hardly unnecessary.

 

[Last of the Chinchillas]

It is ridiculous that you can buy an assault weapon in the U.S. No amount of deer hunting requires armor piercing rounds and a muzzle velocity of 3,200 ft/s.

Define assault weapon. We can't own anything in full-auto in most states, and in the states where you can own one, you are required to pay a large fee for a liscence, background check, and in some cases you must have written permission from the local sheriff and/or the attorney general. Getting one's hands on a (legal) assault weapon is difficult and expensive.

I would also like to point out that a .30-06 (150 grain bullet - ballistic tip) round (considered to be a common deer hunting round) has a muzzle velocity of around 2,900 ft/s. Fast bullets are hardly unnecessary.

If you but will peruse the first page of this thread, good sir, you will see that this issue has already been settled for me. My comments were made due to a partial misunderstanding of the more techinical bits of firearms on my part.

 

[tsb247]

Its not like civilians use their guns to protect themselves. When have you heard someone using a gun on a gangster?

Here is one example of a civilian defending themself as well as co-workers using their own weapon.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32426383/

There are countless more... All you have to do is search the internet and you will find thousands of stories like this one.

 

[tsb247]

I honestly think that its laughable that this law is still around. "self defense" is bullshit and even more so when these people say "we won't be keeping the guns out of the hands of criminals". Well I think it will help and maybe, just maybe, the redneck gun owners are more dangerous than the criminals themselves.

What is laughable is that you seem to think that being able to defend yourself is laughable. "That guy is bigger than me and armed... I guess I had better let him rape my wife and murder my children since I don't believe in owning a handhun to defend my home."

Apparently you have never suffered a home invasion. If you had, you would be singing a different tune.

 

[tsb247]

A ban would mean that they stop being produced and any that the authorities find would be taken out of circulation, it is not perfect but it helps.

Not true at all. A LOT of firearms are made outside of the U.S. as well. FN in belgium, H&K in Germany, Sako in Finland (I think), and Taurus in Brazil (again, I think). A great deal of firearms are manufactured outside of the U.S., and there are quite a few companies that I have not mentioned yet. A U.S. ban on handguns would NOT stop them from getting into people's hands. It would just create a VERY profitable black market.

 

[Deleted]

Its not like civilians use their guns to protect themselves. When have you heard someone using a gun on a gangster?

Here is one example of a civilian defending themself as well as co-workers using their own weapon.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32426383/

There are countless more... All you have to do is search the internet and you will find thousands of stories like this one.

Thats actually interesting. Thanks for the link.

 

[CargoHold]

People don't have guns, people can't shoot other people. Easy.

Black market weapons? Just let the thugs shoot each other anyway.

 

[Shadowfaze]

The right to bear arms was misinterpreted. This is what they meant.

And that is how I think it should be implemented. /jk

OT: I agree with TheLoveRat.

oh thats classic. i think we should get tazers, then i would happily abuse them and zap bullies all day long, and go to bed feeling utterly happy with myself. bwahaha.

 

[tsb247]

Thats actually interesting. Thanks for the link.

Sure thing.

Sometimes self defense is necessary. If the man in the story had not been armed, this article would have had a very different headline.

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

Personally, I think that if people have weapons, people will kill. Sure, it may be presented under the facade of "defense", but that would be lying if you go on a assacre. I'm interested in the idea of letting people have non-lethal weapons, because then they can defend themselves, and not kill in the process.

 

[Logic 0]

We need to have guns to fight off the zombies with the BFG.

 

[wewontdie11]

I'm for the "Nothing Lethal" option. There are ways of defending yourself such as a beanbag shotgun, that are just as effective and don't kill people. Less guns = less people die of getting shot.