Should all American Citizens be allowed to carry guns? (US Elections)

[~Legend~]

It's a really 'sensitive' topic, as you can't ultimately define it being right or wrong to an extent.

More than the firearm, it's obviously down to who has been given the responsibility of wielding it.

A life saver or a life taker?

[Teddy]

A life saver or a life taker?

It really comes down to the infamous quote, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people". This is the real truth, and the fact remains even with more stricter laws this will only prevent responsible people from owning a firearm, the black market is far to large to stop and getting a firearm is far to easy in the United States to gain control of it. I live in a state with one of the most relaxed gun laws in the country, and its even easier to gun a gun via black market than legally. If I had the money I know a place 5 minutes from where I live where I can get various types of weapons; automatic shotguns, AK-47s, a LAW, various non-lethal grenades + a grenade launcher and various others I wont mention since I don't want the ATF knocking on my door in the next few days xD.

My point is the statistics you present don't mention; the fact is only 1% to 5% of crimes committed using a gun are LEGALLY owned guns(range depends on source/year), the rest of them (94%~99%) are illegal firearms. This is a scary fact, considering the ease of getting this weapons illegally rather the process of getting them legally. While yes the most recent large-mass shooting was carried out by a person who obtained the weapons legally, its less common that portrayed by the media, which has secondary agendas. While I do agree this sick fk shouldn't have been able to purchase an AR-15, nor should any person be able to purchase assault rifles in the United States.

[duffman]

No guns for everyone would be way better 

R34L M4NS US3 FIST3S.

[JDC]

When there is a murderer coming at you, it is better to use the gun in your holster than to call 911 and wait for the police to arrive.

The sad truth is that in some countries, fastfood delivery arrives even faster than the respondents to an emergency call.

If you are killed, it is better to go down with a fight (and you might even survive to kill your would-be killer) than to become some hapless murder victim who died because the cops were 10 minutes late.

[[WS]Jacob]

Here there is virtually no gun crime as Reece has already pointed out and this comes from the various laws that we have. I think part of it is also that our police do not carry firearms, so the public also see no reason to have them.

But for Americans it comes from their history of having a firearm that has caused this dispute. I personally think that if gun control was enforced then maybe America could reach a point as the UK is now, but this would take years maybe even decades.

[John_Goldman]

Last time I checked, the U.K doesn't have a country that smuggles in guns and drugs very easily. The problems are gangs, mostly formed by illegal immigrants(from Mexico) do the majority of U.S. crime. It is waaaaay to easy to smuggle guns, drugs, and even people over the border. This is why the US has such a high crime rate. So why you people in the UK soak up the sun, with few criminals running amongst the street, the Americans have something to worry about. And we can't even do anything about the borders.

[Gandalf]

Last time I checked, the U.K doesn't have a country that smuggles in guns and drugs very easily. The problems are gangs, mostly formed by illegal immigrants(from Mexico) do the majority of U.S. crime. It is waaaaay to easy to smuggle guns, drugs, and even people over the border. This is why the US has such a high crime rate. So why you people in the UK soak up the sun, with few criminals running amongst the street, the Americans have something to worry about. And we can't even do anything about the borders.

Just the idea that people in the UK are soaking up sun makes the whole rest invalid....

[John_Goldman]

Just the idea that people in the UK are soaking up sun makes the whole rest invalid....

Just a phrase.

[~Legend~]

Here in the UK, in the past the government they have used foreign migrants a lot in its workforce.
At this stage, the main problem is that for a small island there's a lot of people on it. With a population of 63 million & about 700 living in every sq. mile, in places it can be quite dense.
So, the government are looking more strictly at those coming into the country.

The word "immigrant" or "migrant" is sometimes looked down on in the UK (as a result of a lot of what people see on news etc.), but that's completely wrong, seeing as they are simply geographical terms. Illegal immigrants aren't exactly a lethal threat to the UK, just something that the border agency is trying to completely get control of.

We have the usual crime, some of it is reported more than you would find in other parts of the world by the media. The country thankfully has good security, a good policing system. Can't really blame what happens on people from other parts of the world. ;P

In the UK, unlike in the states, you can't just go out and buy a firearm quite in the same way.
It is not so easy finding an authorised dealer, and isn't something fully accessible to general members of the public.

Going back to the very main topic, I'll have to agree with this - 

It really comes down to the infamous quote, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people". This is the real truth, and the fact remains even with more stricter laws this will only prevent responsible people from owning a firearm, the black market is far to large to stop and getting a firearm is far to easy in the United States to gain control of it. I live in a state with one of the most relaxed gun laws in the country, and its even easier to gun a gun via black market than legally. If I had the money I know a place 5 minutes from where I live where I can get various types of weapons; automatic shotguns, AK-47s, a LAW, various non-lethal grenades + a grenade launcher and various others I wont mention since I don't want the ATF knocking on my door in the next few days xD.

My point is the statistics you present don't mention; the fact is only 1% to 5% of crimes committed using a gun are LEGALLY owned guns(range depends on source/year), the rest of them (94%~99%) are illegal firearms. This is a scary fact, considering the ease of getting this weapons illegally rather the process of getting them legally. While yes the most recent large-mass shooting was carried out by a person who obtained the weapons legally, its less common that portrayed by the media, which has secondary agendas. While I do agree this sick fk shouldn't have been able to purchase an AR-15, nor should any person be able to purchase assault rifles in the United States.

I've heard of a lot of people being prosecuted for attacking their attacker, taking an assaulter's life... some may look at it and say "they deserved it... they broke into that man's house in the first place" or "they put themselves in harm's way by trying to attack someone", but others would regard it as cold blooded murder/manslaughter.

Some of the above incidences may not even involve a firearm.

There's an interesting story in the UK press right now.
A man was shot dead by some police officers for apparently pulling out a gun on them when they tried approaching/stopping him. I am not sure if he was being previously watched by the police, or if they were attempting to arrest him. The story is, on whatever basis, the police saw him having a gun on his person or wielding one and took him down.
However, when the body was examined/searched no gun was found either on him or, if I remember correctly, near him or inside his vehicle.
What to make of it?


Back to the states, with a presidential election just around the corner, it'd be interesting how the electorate might react if any of the candidates held up strong views and advocated this topic.