why are weapons still legal in america?

[Lord George]

I think the Americans like to have this whole idea that they can defend there home and country from anything, though the fact that against any form of organised armed force they'll all be killed seems to be largely ignored.

Tell that to the Iraqis. Guerilla warfare does indeed work, and has worked many many times throughout history.

Yes it may have worked for a short while in Iraq but it wouldn't in America, it seems many Americans have this idea they could fight against there own government but when faced with high tech equipment, bombs and tanks there's not much you can do with your little rifle. The fact they know that the population is armed with guns makes it even less likely you'd be able to overthrow your government as they'd be preprepared for it and would therefore not take any chances.

 

[Casual Shinji]

"Amendment 2 - Right to Bear Arms. Ratified 12/15/1791.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

so basically, it says people have the right to bear arms because a militia is needed.

well, a militia is MOST DEFINATELY NOT needed anymore. we have the army and the national guard, and police.

so why havent guns been made illegal yet? (w/ exception of hunting rifles)

i dont get it, its like people just like seeing more homocides...

Same as why Japan still hunts whales. It's a cultural oddity.

 

[KSarty]

I think the Americans like to have this whole idea that they can defend there home and country from anything, though the fact that against any form of organised armed force they'll all be killed seems to be largely ignored.

Tell that to the Iraqis. Guerilla warfare does indeed work, and has worked many many times throughout history.

Yes it may have worked for a short while in Iraq but it wouldn't in America, it seems many Americans have this idea they could fight against there own government but when faced with high tech equipment, bombs and tanks there's not much you can do with your little rifle. The fact they know that the population is armed with guns makes it even less likely you'd be able to overthrow your government as they'd be preprepared for it and would therefore not take any chances.

So we're supposed to just take what they give us and like it? The second amendment obviously doesn't guarantee success in a rebellion, I'm just saying it is there to allow us that option.

 

[Neurowaste]

You do know the military is government controlled? there's not about to be a Honduran-style Coup d'état by the military unless the government starts going to the very extremes, so, only the civilian population can hope to defend itself against tyrannical rule. I've lived in many different countries, and I'll be damned if any of them TRY and take my weapons. It's not like I'm paranoid, I've just spent too much time and money on them to be taken away, i have my rights, it's not as if I'm a criminal, I'm a competitive shooter, is that so wrong?

 

[Olfinbedwere]

...................

 

[firedfns13]

Wasn't there a study in Florida about how guns decreased crime when legalized instead of turning it into an anarchy laden wasteland like antigun activists painted it as?

 

[maffro]

LOL good luck getting the guns taken away. XD Makes me laugh just thinking about the poor soul who even attempts this

EDIT: one more thing, do you think that outlawing guns will stop homicides? You do realize plenty of people died before guns were invented, in an even more brutal action.

So when you look at it from my point of view it goes like this. Kill someone quickly with a bullet to the head or heart. or kill somebody in a much more painful fashion with other means..

EDIT2: you live in Hawaii anyway what do you care. How many people get shot in fucking Hawaii

So... you're saying that if we didn't have guns then JUST AS MANY homicides would happen, but we'd just find different weapons? I personally think it'd be pretty hard to recreate Columbine by bashing people over the head with rocks.

The largest mass School Killing Happened with explosives NO guns were used. Soooooo....

So nothing. That's not even an argument. It doesn't make guns any less dangerous. Why don't we add up how many casualties there have been overall from civillians killing with explosives and civillians killing with guns? Guns will come up higher, because they are accessible to ANYONE. If you can't buy one legally, you can buy one illegally from someone who obtained one legally. One kid can learn to brew explosives with a lot of money and effort, hundreds of kids can buy a gun and shoot a school without time to make a second thought.

But explosives isn't even on topic. Back to guns, please.

 

[vampirekid.13]

Not many other countries were founded by fighting a corrupt government with a militia were they?

are you serious? just about EVERY country at some point during its existence fought a corrupt government for the better of the people.

lets just give a few examples, france decapitated a lot of their bad rulers.

romania had to fight the ottoman empire back in the day to retain its right to be a country.

the eastern/mid europe small countries all were 1 country back in the day, they broke up because of a huge war that still affects the area actually.

so yea, i dont know where you are pulling those ideas out of, but you're wrong.

 

[Unstoppable Wall]

Oh god this old debate again, well honestly the founding fathers could have been much more clear in what they were saying, but they weren't and as much as I would like to point out a striking contradiction in what you're saying ab- wait a minute...what's this? My my it seems that we have the SAME homicide rates as much of the rest of the world. Look, I really enjoy the fact that someone has taken the time to think of something that makes for an interesting discussion, a legal one nonetheless! But! I also have to argue with you, seeing as how I am a supporter of gun rights.

Now the way I see things, certain people should be able to own guns, not just anyone that goes through with the course and stuff like that, but someone who has proven that they can be responsible enough to handle it. Ever heard that guns don't kill people, people kill people? Yeah that's true, if I can blame killing someone on the gun, then I can blame spelling mistakes on my pencil, see but, it doesn't work that way.

Your exception of hunting rifles does perplex me however, why would you, if advocating the criminalizing of guns, want hunting rifles to be ok? They are just as lethal as any other type of gun, not to mention, range, accuracy, versatility, ect. I could go on, but the point I'm trying to get across is that you can just as easily kill someone with a hunting rifle than a .45 handgun, if not easier, after all, it's a firearm specifically designed to deliver killing force, every time

Also, what exactly is classified as a hunting rifle? You could hunt with a Dragonuv if you wanted to. Point is, you can hunt using pretty much any weapon. ------->Insert Logic Flaw Here<---------

You would NOT see a decrease in homicides by removing guns, oh sure there might be a few less, but nothing that would make up for the increase in burglary cases and such that would occur because the fear of being shot has been removed.

So yeah guns are still legal because of the way the founding fathers worded things in the constitution, which was meant for that time, not 200+ years later. That is why it's such a heated topic, everyone interprets it differently. Personally I think that you have it right, as much as I hate to admit it. I do however, still believe that you should be able to own a gun for home-defense, hunting, ect.

Well that's all for now kids.

Edit: Also, maybe they should outlaw knives as well, almost as many people are killed yearly with knives as guns.

Also, making guns illegal wouldn't take them out of the hands of those who have them illegally, it would take them from law abiding citizens.

Peace, War, Love, Hate, Chaos, and Greed
-Unstoppable Wall

 

[Kinguendo]

Dont you hate it when people say "Guns dont kill people, people kill people"?

Yeah, people kill people... alot of people... in a very short amount of time... from really far... with guns!

 

[brodie21]

because of the second amendment, it also says the right to bear arms. if we were to get rid of that amendment, then what would stop us from getting rid of, say the first, or the amendment outlawing slavery?

that is not even an argument...

we got rid of plenty of other things from the constitution before. and we added ammendments that canceled stuff in it. we outlawed slavery. which was a pretty big thing back then, how do you think they felt "oh well if you outlaw this, what will keep you away from outlawing XXXXX" im sure they felt the same way, but we dealt w/ it.

what? please clarify why that wasnt an argument

 

[vampirekid.13]

You are arguing change is bad because more change that is bad might happen, just because we outlaw guns doesn't mean we'll abolish the freedom of speech