Thoughts on firearms?

I'm completely fine with them for hunting. But I can't understand why people would have guns to shoot other people. Maybe it's just me but hear a sound when I'm walking in an alley way? Guaranteed to get anxious and probably shoot when I don't need to. Also how many people could shoot another person, regardless of it being for self defence, without being permanently scarred forever?

So basically, I'm fine with having guns for hunting, but regardless of what they are used for, there needs to be a strict process to buy, use and store one.

 

I am pro-2nd Amendment within reason. I believe people should be allowed to own guns for hunting, sport, and self-defense (if I had a pistol and a CC permit, I'd be carrying one), but I don't think it should be carte blanche. There should be rigorous background checks and nobody with a serious mental illness should have one. And as cool as they are, does anyone really need an assault rifle?

The thing that a lot of the people who fight against common sense legislation seem to miss, is that calls for regulation are in the 2nd Amendment. The first four words are "A well regulated militia". So making people go through background checks and not letting people who may have a serious mental disorder have one are well within the rights of the Constitution.

In short, people should be allowed to own guns, but there should also be regulations. There is no reason why it has to be one or the other.

 

Without getting too in-depth and having no intention of getting into a debate...

I'm generally fine with people using basic rifles for hunting or smaller, simple weapons for self-defense (I own one myself).

Where I draw the line is people acquiring military grade weapons for "self defense" or as a hobby. There is absolutely no reason for anyone but SWAT units or active military personnel to own these. End. of. discussion.

 

Tranquilizer darts/rifles for hunters. Stun, then slit the animal's throat if you must hunt animals.

No automatic weapons. While I would love a gun-free world, I realize that people do have the right to self-defence, and it should be no more denied from them than a potentially lethal form of self-defence such as Krav Maga, Boxing or Systema. But, small weapons only. Nobody needs to be able to fire 120 bullets in a minute to defend themselves

Rigorous background checks, nobody with a violent prison background to have a gun, nobody with any potentially violent mental health issues, nobody who has expressed significantly violent sentiments towards a particular race, class, gender or sexual orientation. By significantly violent, I mean expressing intent to kill or seriously harm members of that group.

So, yeah, let's have guns. But let's try to make sure they don't get into the wrong hands

*Praying to ???? for peace*

 

I oppose firearms for hunting, I am against the notion of killing animals for recreation. I understand that people carry a gun for self-defence purposes, but they should be trained on how to use them beforehand.

I don't think police should carry firearms unless they are in a high risk area. I'm sick of hearing news reports of American policemen shooting innocent people, usually due to racial stereotypes.

 

Agreed, but what if those who hunt kill what they eat? Not all hunting is just for sport.

 

Just wanted to touch on the phrase in the 2nd amendment: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state"
Specifically the word militia: sure, you can have a gun, but please be ready to use it to serve the country when it calls.

 

Despite being a huge fan of James Bond and action films, my first time holding a loaded gun I had a near panic attack. It took me 3-4 more times of handling a gun, loading it, etc that helped to put me a bit at easy with guns. I've since gone to a range and discovered I'm pretty good shot with a pistol. Once I got my brain off of "this kills people," and into "this is like archery, it's target practice," I started to relax and had fun.

I would never own one, and honestly I'm sort of okay with our restrictive gun laws in Canada. I have friends who own guns and they're very responsible people who went through the proper channels and education to obtain their license. Still, I can't deny that I had fun firing a few guns.

 

I agree.

While I am somewhat a pacifist (e.g. don't believe in the use of violence towards people or animals without a damn good reason) it is not my place to prohibit others, if they are responsible, from owning firearems.

 

I am deeply glad to live in a country with some of the strictest gun laws, particularly in relation to small firearms. That said, living in a country with no borders and rather effective customs and border control makes weapons licences comparatively simple to monitor.

The usually false perception of self-defence doesn't make up for increased incidences of violence which reduce everybody's security.

The very real and traumatic increase in suicide and fatal accidents isn't compensated by vaguer notions of liberty.

The use of firearms or the threat thereof as an incomparably effective tool of domestic violence is an unacceptable risk.

Even allowing a small group of persons to own guns with reasonable cause, most notably farmers, makes room for some of the above risks. We allow that because it's necessary and because it creates a level of public good (efficient farming, security against dangerous wildlife for both person and livestock).

To allow someone in who just wants a pistol to feel safer just isn't a good enough reason given it comes at the cost of all of the things I mentioned above. If the tradeoff is that he feels more safe and I feel less safe, in the context of a city where no other reason for a firearm exists than self-defence, then I think it's quite reasonable to decide that it isn't worth it.

The democratic process allowed us to collectively decide the individual liberty of owning guns wasn't worth the cost to life or the liberty of being able to walk the streets without fear and the inability to save someone after a brutally efficient gun suicide. I think that was valid and is a reform Americans are long overdue to seriously consider.

 

I don't understand why they exist. Basically, I hate them.

 

I own one and I don't feel safe without one.

 

I agree with the borussen guy. As I'd like to add:
In germany we have a rule that you are only allowed to own a gun when you shoot regularily. I think that is very important, to have a community of other armed people. That creates responsibility, because you know exactly that if you don't handle your shit correctly the whole community will be ripped by the media.

 

I admire the engineering behind them and think they're cool and pretty. It's just a shame that they have to be weapons of war. They're highly illegal in Sweden, otherwise I'd own several just because I like them when they're not fired at other people. I definitely wouldn't say no to owning a mosin nagant.

 

Completely bad because the reason is to kill people even if it's to protect themselves

 

Firearms can be used for other things, such as marksmanship for sport.

 

i don't like guns, they make loud noises and can hurt people and animals

 

More or less my attitude :lol:

As someone who is averse to loud noises and devices of death, I have no personal interest in firearms. They don't excite me, they don't appeal to me as a hobby, and I have no shame in admitting I do not own one (and, no offense intended to those who feel this way, but I think it is a sad statement of modern society that some people don't feel safe without one).

Aussie brings up the interesting case of Australia, a place where stricter gun control seems to have correlated with a lack of mass shootings and gun violence. That, however, doesn't mean that similar legislation would have a parallel effect in the United States, a country where "gun culture" is pervasive in certain locales, and I have never approved of whole-scale "gun bans" (despite the fact that the phrase "gun ban" is almost always alarmist rhetoric and the product of easily dismounted straw men), but I do advocate for stricter gun control than we currently have.

My opinions on hunting seem irrelevant here, but I will say that the only people I've known who owned many guns (for hunting and marksmanship) were exceedingly responsible people who knew how to handle what they owned and would not at all be the type to turn a gun on an unexpected visitor. They were not "trigger happy", in other words, a type of person who should really not have their hands on a firearm.

 

being British where there is a full gun ban i haven't had much experience with them, but my uncle does a lot of clay pigeon hunting and one day he took me on a boys day out there -_- it frightened me a lot, i've never been anywhere near a gun since