Gun control

[Eyebrowsbv31]

New York is stricter than Missouri. Handguns can be bought with a drivers license at 21 (with a quick computer background check) and rifles or "long guns" can be bought at 18 without a check.

And Urbs is on the mark, confirming what others have said. And, also, for the British, do you guys still have problems with bears, wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, cougars, bobcats, and other similar animals that can kill you?

We still have bears in missouri, not exactly a backwater.

I think the gun industry needs forward thinking, the govt' is now forcing us to buy healthcare, so, to honor our rights, we should be forced to buy a firearm as well. That'll stimulate the economy in no time, and without the bureaucrats!

 

[LinksOcarina]

I don't know about that. Unlike healthcare there is a LOT more people who are ethically against owning or operating a weapon. That might cause too much of a stir to enforce it on people.

And of course if this a glib solution then disregard the above and lets move on.

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

I also am for government regulating sex. The government should provide brothel passes and trips for men like this nutbag shooter, so they'll calm the fuck down.

Getting laid/and or masturbation has saved millions i believe.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

Or rather, they should prevent stupid people from having children. That way they're saving the population without killing a single person.

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

Some brilliant people have stupid parents. What you're talking about is Eugenics, which is what hitler was into. Are you hitler, longo, eh, eh?!




EH?!

 

[piracer]

As an outsider, i dont have this whole sense of the American constitution and how its "our right" blah blah blah. Its the land of the 'free' but honestly ever since coming to college, i've felt (and not only me mind you, a number of other foregin friends from Spain, the UK, Taiwan etc) have complained how we're much more restricted in what we can and cannot do.

I think Americans have an illusion about their sense of 'freedom' and that gun ownership is perhaps one of the last bastions of what is truly 'free' that you guys cling on to it so desperately.

The responsibility of a government is to provide basic life support, in the sense of government is health care, housing, food water etc (another crazy american thing) and of course, safety. You might say this is provided by the police and laws that are put into place, yes of course. But allowing guns to be so easily owned by any tom, dick and harry is putting a very obvious and dangerous factor into something bad happening. Especially, when those guns are, as it so happened, military/enforcement grade.

Look, i was in the army for 2 years and i've shot a whole bunch of things ranging from an M-16, to a P226 and a automated 40mm grenade launcher. Hell yeah it frekin rocks, but come on, it was done in the range, with safety measures in a controlled environment where rounds are accounted for. I don't understand how considering this is a developed, first world country, humans still have to resort to such violent ways and symbols to define their views, be it resisting a 'government gone rogue' or whatever nonsense that i feel is just some crazy paranoia.

The constitution was written when America was first founded and feared an invasion by the British, and I have a feeling, kinda was written so they showed the people "hey look, if we screw up, by all means, you have the fire power to take us out". Well, that was centuries ago, shouldn't 'we' have moved on by now?

I know many still don't trust the government and its true, there is so much more they can do and they really do screw around with us. But look around you, i think the world we live in is basically built by the government - roads, schools, your water, heating etc. Yes, yes, many are private and started of that way, but the government is still the central core of it all, and it should be - thats the democratic way right? And isn't that what America is all about?

 

[Longo_2_guns]

Technically, the reason isn't so that we can defeat the government if they screw up. That's just a really minor reason for the second amendment.

Really, they felt that a somewhat organized, regulated civilian militia is the only way that we'd be able to protect ourselves, since the army won't always be there and it worked in the revolutionary war and whatnot. Hence why the opening lines of the second amendment are "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Well, actually, that's the ENTIRE second amendment.

Vague as fuck. And that's the reason it's outdated. Because it's way too fucking vague, leaving everything related to the constitutionality of gun laws to whether the supreme court of the time is conservative or liberal.

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

It's not vague at all. A militia, then and now, is a civilian based defense force made up of armed locals who feel the need to defend their home and country. Because not everyone wants to be part of that militia, the right to "bear arms" is left up to anyone to do so. In order to be trained, we have to fire these damn things.


@priacer

I think you have a strange view of our government. Right now, yes, and under this current administration which is passing laws at the rate of like 800 a month or something like that (and extended the Bush Era patriot act, FYI) is less free than ever before. In my view the government's job is to provide basic, basic services, such as Fire/police/light school (the department of education is a fucking joke)/roads/and regulation of food, power, water etc./defense and to store away for massive emergencies. The government is NOT around to provide healthcare, welfare, massive education, etc. The more stuff you have the government acting as middlemen for, the more bureaucrats you have, the more bureaucrats there are, the more cronyism there is and the whole system of government becomes a bloated mess.

George Bush appointed some fuckoff moron to FEMA and when Katrina hit it was all over because he was a crony. The woman (I forget her name) that Obama appointed to watch over the wing of the government that was supposed to watch oil rigs also was a crony in a sham job, and we had that big oil spill. It's just something that happens.

The more government you have, the less it is able to work well. Our government is quickly becoming one based on who you know and not on your merits. Because of all these half measures Obama has pushed through (health care, the stimulus, financial regulation) that only please special interest (and don't get me wrong, Bush did the same shit) this country is becoming more fucked as it goes along.

Until someone passes a law that presidential candidates can only spend tiny amounts of money or until lobbyists can no longer give money to politicians we're screwed. The last good US president was Kennedy, and that was a while ago.

 

[UrbanMasque]

hmmm, you see something very vague, I see something pretty specific. I think you could make the translation argument a little bit better than the clarity argument given the people (and the brain power) that helped create the constitution. Eyebrows is spot on IMO - not only is it with the purpose of defending of your rights, but its also written for the purpose of defending your country (from foreign sources of tyranny).

"A well regulated militia" (which applies to citizens today) if you think its vague or not, is still the justification the founding father used to NOT infringe on gun ownership. Whether we choose to form a militia or not.

 

[WickedLiquid]

If the media has taught me anything, it's that guns are sexy

What better way to say "I'm a tough guy" than aiming a gun at someone who is much stronger and better looking than you? A gun is the ultimate short cut in life to becoming an alpha male and getting what you want in life.

God Bless the Second Amendment

 

[Bretimus_v2]

What better way to say "I'm a tough guy" than aiming a gun at someone who is much stronger and better looking than you? A gun is the ultimate short cut in life to becoming an alpha male and getting what you want in life.

So what happens when you're handsome and intimidating already (i.e. myself)?

 

[maca2kx]

To those who correct me on the 2nd Amendment, fair enough. I suppose the tail end of what I think is that at the very least guns should be more controlled. I don't see any reason for guns to exist outside the military but they do so at least if they're only kept in the home in the case of a break in and taken to a firing range to be used they're not going to be in a position where they can be used against an innocent person.

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

What's interesting, and I think this is part of it, but one of my professors was lecturing about "the frontier" at a class in oxford, and the students didn't really "get" the lecture. Mainland Europe and England have been explored and lived in for thousands and thousands of years. People to this day still have to worry about bear attacks in parts of the United States and Canada. Our land is unique because Americans, to this day, still have that "frontier" mentality, and firearms sort of fit that mold.

Just a thought.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

But at the same time, it's important to mention that it's not like we spend all day stroking our guns. I usually fire mine once every four months or so at the range.

 

[Green_Lantern]

It seems to me at least, that most people who are advocating for gun regulations are people who haven't spent much time around guns, and who don't feel absolutely comfortably around guns. I think growing up around guns gives people a different perspective on guns than people who don't.

And for the record, I was given my first shotgun when I was around 12...Basically growing up in the country, I've been hunting, shooting clays, and spending time on rifle ranges pretty much since then.

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

I'd own one if I had the money. I tend to only have interest in old rifles, but I've been firing guns of sorts since i was 8, from .22's in the Boy scouts to the AR15, Colt .45 Military, and a M1 Carbine.

It's fun, loud, but fun. i still have, in a non-functioning condition, a 1928 Marlin 12g shotgun. Big damn gun.

 

[UrbanMasque]

What's interesting, and I think this is part of it, but one of my professors was lecturing about "the frontier" at a class in oxford, and the students didn't really "get" the lecture. Mainland Europe and England have been explored and lived in for thousands and thousands of years. People to this day still have to worry about bear attacks in parts of the United States and Canada. Our land is unique because Americans, to this day, still have that "frontier" mentality, and firearms sort of fit that mold.

Just a thought.

Dude....

...that was beautiful.

 

[piracer]

It seems to me at least, that most people who are advocating for gun regulations are people who haven't spent much time around guns, and who don't feel absolutely comfortably around guns. I think growing up around guns gives people a different perspective on guns than people who don't.

And for the record, I was given my first shotgun when I was around 12...Basically growing up in the country, I've been hunting, shooting clays, and spending time on rifle ranges pretty much since then.

Agreed, and for that same very reason, should we introduce something very dangerous, because, at the hear of it, you cannot deny that gun's aren't dangerous, to in soceity where anything could happen?

Again, i've been around guns, by all means i think their frekin fun to play with and shoot around with, BUT, i think regulations should be in place to prevent any such 'accidental' incidents from occurring. It's like why most countries around the world have bans on hard core drugs like cocaine and heroine - because if it was in place legally, even by the government and "controlled", society would break down due to addiction.

Now im not saying guns are addictive, per se, (im sure their are to some), but why put the problem there to even try to deal with in the first place when their not needed. If your using it for recreation purposes, play with them in a club or a range where its controlled. If your using it for hunting purposes, have a permit for them where rangers can keep in check and your not using your hunting rifles for a shooting spree, where yes, you could still technically use them, but their level of destruction is far less from then a military grade weapon, in such a prime example as the glock 18, which is what we can use in CoD MW 2 and what our crazy as shooter had in this instance.

 

[De-Ting]

What's interesting, and I think this is part of it, but one of my professors was lecturing about "the frontier" at a class in oxford, and the students didn't really "get" the lecture. Mainland Europe and England have been explored and lived in for thousands and thousands of years. People to this day still have to worry about bear attacks in parts of the United States and Canada. Our land is unique because Americans, to this day, still have that "frontier" mentality, and firearms sort of fit that mold.

Just a thought.

Dude....

...that was beautiful.

 

[FrozenBacon]

I think the government should ban cars. They kill over 40,000 people a year. That is just despicable.

I say we ban cars and force all people to use public transportation.