Engineer, what do you think would happen if, hypothetically, all guns were banned, and the mere possession of a gun would land someone in jail?
People would still kill each other, much like they continue to do in Australia.
I pulled statistics from the Australian Institute of criminology that says that the murder rate has decreased from 1.9 before the Port Arthur Massacre to 1.3 after the Port Arthur Massacre.
A bit of maths leads to the conclusion that each gun owner owns 3.5 guns.
You don't need that many guns.
Says who? You? How many guns do I need? Who are you, or anyone else, to tell me how many of a legal object I can buy, with the money I have earned? Doesn't sound like freedom to me.
Well, if you are being reasonable, say, and instead of 3.5 guns the average gun owner had 27 guns, then I think it is a fair call that that is too many.
You keep on bringing up freedom as one of your points.
Say if we had an umpteenth amendment which said that male citizens have the right to rape women if they don't consent.
We could claim that we were more free than you, because rape is illegal in the US.
If you live in a neighbourhood where you fear for your safety, leave the neighbourhood.
If you, as a society, feel so threatened by your fellow Americans, that you need 3.5 guns to defend yourself, then there is something wrong with your society.
I just told you there were other reasons to own a gun besides defense.
You said self-defence, entertainment, hunting and prevention of tyranny.
The middle two are not truly needed in modern society, except maybe hunting if you live in a remote area.
Prevention of tyranny. What tyranny?
When has the US in its modern form ever had do deal with domestic tyranny that would require armed citizenry?
I found an article: Crazy gun laws in the US
1. Colorado, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Utah and Oregon all allow, or prohibit the banning of, students to carry guns on college campuses.
I absolutely agree with this. Students should be allowed to carry guns on campus.
And if a student wants to go on a rampage?
If this happens, then a gun battle will probably ensue. The assailant will probably get killed, but the problem won't be solved.
2. Michigan allows concealed weapons in schools, churches, hospitals and sports stadiums.
Again, 100% agree with this.
3. 16 year olds are allowed to buy handguns in Vermont. Vermont has a pretty low crime rate doesn't it?
Thanks for making the point for me.
The murder rate of one state doesn't equal the murder rate of a nation.
My point was that they (Vermont's 16 year olds) don't need handguns.
4. In several states, there has been expansions to the definition of 'self defence' to no longer make it the duty of a person being confronted to back away, meaning that a threatened person could pull a weapon on someone without any hesitation.
No, you don't have to run away. You can stand your ground. Seems pretty common sense to me.
What if your first impressions are wrong and you murder someone?
To those of us living in our totalitarian fascist repressed societies like the UK and Australia, these laws seem ridiculous.
Good, then stay in your totalitarian fascist repressed societies and plead with the local authorities to keep you safe at night.
We don't need to plead, we already are safe at night.
If someone breaks into my house with the intent to murder me and mine, then I accept that.
If someone is murdered in Australia, the whole community rallies together.
Positive change comes out of this.
I would let myself die if it would bring about social good.
If it is my fate to be murdered, then that is what will happen.
Why do you need guns at a university?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_School_of_Law_shooting
In a church?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Colorado_YWAM_and_New_Life_shootingsA hospital?
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Mercy-Fitzgerald-Hospital-on-Lockdown-268489642.html[/quote]
All these are tragedies. No denying that.
But these wouldn't have happened if guns were out of the equation.
I applaud the efforts of those who fought back.
However, people still died in these incidences.
Killing the assailant doesn't bring back the victims or stop this from happening again.
Why would a sixteen year old need a handgun?
The people of Vermont have decided to afford 16 year olds the right to own a handgun. That is what we call freedom on this side of the world. The people of our country are the government, and they can decide how their state should be run.
Funnily enough, other countries have democracy as well.
Just because a law was passed does not mean that the law is justified.
Why would shooting a threat without assessing the situation be a better idea?
If you have determined that a person is a threat, you have already assessed the situation.
Because we don't have handguns in our pockets as we walk down the street, we have to look for non-violent ways out.
This is why in my town of 40 000 people, there has been one murder in the last three years.
This shocked the community.
The fact that it was a dispute between two drug dealers, and not someone on the sidewalk, means that our streets are pretty safe.
If someone is drunk, or high, and we feel threatened by them, we extricate ourselves.
Thats why there was one murder in the last three years.
If we feel threatened, we go through the alternatives to violence first.
Apparently not, as the homicide rate did not decrease after the gun ban was instituted. So you guys just became more barbaric.
Umm. The murder rate has decreased.
I gave you stats of the entire country.
You gave me a personal statement that said that the homicide rate in New South Wales had stayed the same.
One state.
We ask questions, then call the police if that is needed.
You mean if you are still alive.
Which we nearly always are, as evidenced by our low murder rate.
This, coupled with the reputation gained in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, make America seem like a nation of gun-toting, self-righteous, violent, ignorant and selfish people.
What reputation? We like freedom and help to spread that to other places. How terrible of us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacrehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuseAmerica has not spread freedom.
Vietnam is now communist.
You backed out of Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving them to fend for themselves.
Guns don't make anything better.
Looks like removing guns from society sure didn't make Australia any better. Why did you forget to address the evidence that the gun ban in Australia has not decreased homicides or even prevented mass shootings? It didn't fit your nice little theory? Maybe you should do a little free thinking, instead of digesting in whole and then regurgitating all of the talking points, when you obviously have no idea what you are talking about.
Well, we don't have school shootings. We haven't had any theatres being shot up.
The Sandy Hook shooter used a XM15 Bushmaster assault rifle,
He killed school children.
You think that the solution is to give more people more guns.