Quote:
Originally posted by cashizslick
If a gun is stolen, then the owner of the gun was not being a responsible firearm owner.
If everybody had a gun, then the crime rate would decrease. Nobody wants to get shot - therefore, nobody would threaten anybody w/a gun if they thought the person they were threatening also had one (or anybody nearby).
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That's like saying you're an irresponsible car owner if your car gets stolen, that's not a valid argument to make. No matter what you to do protect your property there is always some way to circumvent it.
Banning guns would be about as effective as banning drugs. Drugs have been illegal for quite some time now and they're certainly not off the streets. That is not to say that gun control is important, because gun control is very important. There are a few things that must happen including
enforcing the laws that already exist. Handguns being illegal would, however, most likely reduce the number of deaths to firearms in a year. Most of the gun related crimes are handguns, see #1 below for the reason. The harder it is to get a gun the less likely you are to end up with a passion crime, one where somebody is irate and in a rage and acts in a way they wouldn't normally act. Serial killers will still exist and have guns, organized crime will still exist and have guns, but passion crimes using firearms will reduce.
Some argue that people will merely switch to alternative weapons such as knives, bats, etc etc etc. While this argument holds some water there are two reasons people choose guns. 1) They are convenient. 2) They are effective. If you make guns illegal then #1 goes away. It's hard to stab someone without putting yourself at a much higher risk than shooting them. With that increased risk people are less likely to commit the crime. How many liquor stores do you think would be held up with a knife???? The owner would just bust out a sword and slice his melon. If guns aren't as easily accessible, their price would be higher. The higher price would mean the average street thug would have a harder time getting his hands on one......it's a spiraling effect.
The tradeoff is that the criminals with guns are empowered even more to break the law because the average citizen is less empowered to counter the threat. There's a county near Atlanta, GA where it's required for the male head of household to own a firearm, or at least it used to be required I'm not sure if it's been changed. Anyhow, that county had extremely low home burglary rates....
As for the situation in America it's extremely complex. There are lots of people who seem to think they need to own a gun simply because it's their right to own one. There are others who feel they must to protect themselves from the government, others who feel they need personal safety. Then there are people who are anti-gun or who just don't care to have one. There are lots of guns in Canada, I can assure you of that. You already mentioned out in the country, and there are lots of Canadians who live "out in the country" who have guns. Then again I see more people in the American country who have guns than cities. In the country guns are just part of life.
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