Discussion Opinions on gun control?

[DontplayGod]

With the school shooting that happened on the 27th gun control has become a really popular topic. Personally, I'm scared of guns being outlawed, not because of your average "self defense" or "I want to hunt" reasons. But I want access to a gun so I have the option to exit this world quickly. So I'm against gun control until euthanasia is legal and easily accessible. How about everyone else?

 

[NSA]

I'm pro gun because I want one one day. For self defence, and just because I like them. Maybe selfish, but whatever.

Raising the legal age to buy automatic/rapid fire/i dont know the term exactly but you know what I mean/ to 21 seems like a reasonable compronise. Let's those troubled high schoolers be out of the system for a bit and let their grudges fade.

Then they'll be free to shoot up their crappy dead end job/micromanaging asshole boss instead xp

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I'm a spineless coward who doesn't want to bother to have to learn how to wield a gun for self defense so I'm all for just getting rid of them all no matter the cost since I don't want to live in a world where people could randomly shoot me just for saying the wrong thing or for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time just because someone's got a grudge against people next to me. I don't trust other humans as a whole to be able to collectively use them responsibly either. I don't believe raising the age limit would even help since there are still lots of mass shootings with very elderly perpetrators (like the Chinese man who shot up a Taiwanese church in California).

 

[NobodyKnowsMe]

I'm very pro-gun, but much of that is because I stopped trusting my government and my fellow man many years ago.

I do think that we should raise the age for buying the semi-auto rifles. The problem with that is that at the age of 18, we can send our young folks off to war, where we put similar guns into their hands, but then when they come back home, we would be telling them they are too young. Maybe raise the age to 21 with the exception that if you are in the services, with no negative incidents, then you can go ahead and buy one sooner. By the same token, we restrict alcohol purchases to 21 years of age and that does absolutely no good at all.

I also think that all of the various loopholes around background checks should be eliminated. Everyone should have to go through a background check for all purchases from a gun store, a gun show, and even between private parties (family excluded).

As to the open carry laws in Texas and elsewhere, I think those should be restricted to hand guns only. There is no real reason to open carry a rifle on your back - especially a semi-auto one. It is overkill for self defense out on the street, so it is really more to the dickheads to say "Hey look at me, aren't I cool?".

And while many on this site might not agree, I think we need to figure out how to not sell them to people that are in extreme mental states. Yes, that would prevent some suicides, but the mental issues is what almost all of the mass gun shootings have in common.

 

[emptyjokes]

Before I begin, I need to share my bias: I own many different types of guns, and I'm firmly of the belief that a well-armed populace is essential to combating fascism, especially nowadays, when the ground we walk on is filled with the seeds of fascist ideology.

Mass shootings are completely unacceptable failures of our society, and they're largely unique to the US. I'm of the opinion that the wealth disparity is connected to these shootings. Ultimately, most of these shootings are a particularly violent methods of suicide. If we can find a way to reduce and prevent depression and suicide, I anticipate it would lead directly to a reduction of mass shootings.

Many people are facing a desolate future: between wealth inequality, rising cost of living, stagnating wages, no access to affordable healthcare, substandard public education, astronomical costs of higher education, the plague of racism and bigotry at large, climate change, war, social media, and any number of other nightmare-inducing systemic failures of the western world, well… it's not exactly surprising that "deaths of despair" have been rising sharply. If I recall correctly, deaths of despair (suicide, drug overdoses, alcohol poisoning) were so numerous that they accounted for a DECREASE in life expectancy in the US last year.

What we need to solve this problem doesn't start with gun control (not to mention the debate on whether or not gun control can even be executed in the US effectively), what we need are direct and measured changes to our government and society at large. The capitalist system has proven its effectiveness at generating a profit, but it has shown itself to be weak to systemic problems that can't be solved in a profitable manor. I reckon that if we can restructure society to be more equitable at large, we would see significant drops in gun violence, deaths, and mass shootings, even if no changes were made to gun laws whatsoever.

 

[Istanbulite]

US wear orange armbands to support tighter gun laws

The United States' men's national team wore orange armbands in support of tighter gun control during Sunday's 0-0 draw with Uruguay.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Out of Time]

I've got a felony from over 20 years ago that says I can't legally own a gun. I can't say that I believe stricter gun laws will reduce mass shootings, but I can't say that it won't either. I don't really know enough about either side to adopt a valid opinion. But on a selfish note, I'm kinda pissed that little 18 year old kids can buy guns to kill kids and hurt people and I can't buy one for me. I honestly only want a gun so that I can ctb when it's time without all this bullshit planning and preparing. So it seems that for mercy, guns aren't allowed, but for destruction they are. But if I'm being honest, i would go after everyone who has helped to fck me over first. Of course not everyone who has ever cut me off in traffic or whatever, but there are people who have helped get me to this place of beyond repair that should see justice. All that to say that strict gun laws have made it difficult for me to procure a firearm. Statically speaking, that accounts for the handful of lives spared from me having one. But I think that whatever is in place should ultimately be to prevent innocent killings, not mercy killings. Of course, there's no way to regulate that. But I guess what does it matter that gun laws have kept me alive when those same laws just failed another school?

 

[idonthavetobehere]

I am conflicted about this. One side of my brain tells me if we banned guns, altogether the USA would be a safer place. However, the other part of my brain is telling me this is an incredibly idealistic and unrealistic mindset to attempt to act on.

Although these mass shootings are done with ARs and other rifles...handguns can still be used..(duh, of course, right?)

To me, stricter gun laws won't work unless obtaining a gun would be a month day program where one is *required* to get certain certifications.

Also, criminals don't care about gun laws. Loads of Americans own them, illegally. (Especially in gangs and what not.)

With that said, I think I'd rather be pro gun:


1.) If authorities attempted to take away *all* guns as to make America gun free, there would be so many who would fight with all they had. It would be much worse here because thousands of Americans are not just going to hand over their guns so easily.

2.) I'm a woman and I cannot overpower a man. I used to carry a knife around but as long as I'm alive, I'd feel more comfortable with a gun.

3.) Considering the probability that guns will never be banned here in America, (..partly due to the unrealistic of it all), then I seek ways to live with this fact. Thinking about it, if I or anyone else who owned a gun were around and were armed when an active shooter was present, I, or they would have the guts to shoot back.

I find being pro-gun to be less stressful because if I were to be anti-gun, my ideals are already nearly impossible to see come to light. And then, I'd find myself even more angry and stressed out about life than if I had not fought for total gun confiscation.

Fighting for stricter gun laws and even worse, a total gun free country is a waste of time, merely because the chances are it won't work. It's like punching a brick wall that's layered with more brick, thinking somehow your fist will get through.

 

[NobodyKnowsMe]

I'm a woman and I cannot overpower a man. I used to carry a knife around but as long as I'm alive, I'd feel more comfortable with a gun.

One of the cities in Colorado is going to outlaw carrying knives also:
"No person shall have a knife or firearm concealed on or about their body."

 

[idonthavetobehere]

One of the cities in Colorado is going to outlaw carrying knives also:
"No person shall have a knife or firearm concealed on or about their body."

How in the heck do we defend ourselves, then? That's ridiculous!

 

[DontplayGod]

How in the heck do we defend ourselves, then? That's ridiculous!

It may not be ideal, but pepper spray is a pretty safe option to have on you. Even if it becomes outlawed, it's pretty easy to make

 

[NobodyKnowsMe]

How in the heck do we defend ourselves, then? That's ridiculous!

Reading into the actual specifics of the way the law is written, they actually do say that "a valid defense is if you are carrying concealed in accordance with the State concealed carry law". So, you can carry concealed to protect yourself and then get charged under the law, but are can then pay for an attorney to use the "valid defense" to get you off. Talk about creating legal headaches. Mostly sounds like a way for them to make extra money off of things people are allowed to do.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

How in the heck do we defend ourselves, then? That's ridiculous!

Martial arts. Get thee to the dojo, young padawan.

(Not that I'd ever be bothered to take that either.)

 

[chocolatebar]

This thread is so USA-centered. I think I will show you this problematic from a different perspective.

I'm from Brazil and this is quite a messy country, like most in-development ones are. We have gun controls and you need special conditions to be able to legally buy one. Most of out people are poor and our territory is big, but most of our land use is destination to farms. The people who live in the rural area are even poorer than the average.

This isn't something so peculiar per se, because I think it's also true for most countries out there, but the proportion is different. We not only produce food for ourselves, but we also export a lot for different places. We have much more farmland than the average country. Added to that, we have severe logistic problems in here and it means that most of our farms are really isolated from the cities.

You may be wondering what I want to tell with this and how it's related to the topic, but this background is needed for a better understanding.

What happens in here is that only the rich people can have guns and the majority of the population can't. One of the special conditions to have a gun in here is to live far away from cities, where there's no police.

Now's the tricky part: The rich people from isolated rural areas (the land owners) are able to have guns, but the people who work for them can't. These workers are usually people in really difficult conditions and have low access to everything, even education. On top of that, the places are isolated and there's no police around. Can you guess what happens?

The land owners use their guns to abuse their workers, both physically and psychologically. They behave as if they're authorities and will do anything they wish. Some will even force workers into slavery. What they do is something like a small distopic feudal system. This is called coronelism and has been happening since the foundations of this place.

The text became long, but I wanted to show you how things are different in different places and how thing can be messed up if only an economically privileged group has access to guns.

 

[NSA]

This thread is so USA-centered. I think I will show you this problematic from a different perspective.

I'm from Brazil and this is quite a messy country, like most in-development ones are. We have gun controls and you need special conditions to be able to legally buy one. Most of out people are poor and our territory is big, but most of our land use is destination to farms. The people who live in the rural area are even poorer than the average.

This isn't something so peculiar per se, because I think it's also true for most countries out there, but the proportion is different. We not only produce food for ourselves, but we also export a lot for different places. We have much more farmland than the average country. Added to that, we have severe logistic problems in here and it means that most of our farms are really isolated from the cities.

You may be wondering what I want to tell with this and how it's related to the topic, but this background is needed for a better understanding.

What happens in here is that only the rich people can have guns and the majority of the population can't. One of the special conditions to have a gun in here is to live far away from cities, where there's no police.

Now's the tricky part: The rich people from isolated rural areas (the land owners) are able to have guns, but the people who work for them can't. These workers are usually people in really difficult conditions and have low access to everything, even education. On top of that, the places are isolated and there's no police around. Can you guess what happens?

The land owners use their guns to abuse their workers, both physically and psychologically. They behave as if they're authorities and will do anything they wish. Some will even force workers into slavery. What they do is something like a small distopic feudal system. This is called coronelism and has been happening since the foundations of this place.

The text became long, but I wanted to show you how things are different in different places and how thing can be messed up if only an economically privileged group has access to guns.

That's really interesting, and something that I think alot of USA gun people are afraid will happen if too many regulations are put in place. Like, they're talking about gun taxes and mandatory insurance, which would price me out completely. Thanks assholes.

At the end of the day, there is no "right" or "left", just rich and poor. Too bad most of my country is too stupid to see that.

 

[Sun n showers]

With the school shooting that happened on the 27th gun control has become a really popular topic. Personally, I'm scared of guns being outlawed, not because of your average "self defense" or "I want to hunt" reasons. But I want access to a gun so I have the option to exit this world quickly. So I'm against gun control until euthanasia is legal and easily accessible. How about everyone else?

Wish I lived in USA and could get one for same reason as you, uk no chance

 

[come to dust]

I dont care. Gun control is a non issue for people outside the US.

 

[Blondi]

I believe that gun control is evil and guns should be accesible to anyone , regardless of age .

 

[Touhou]

IMO it's the first step to an authoritarian dictatorship.

 

[synthcadia]

i genuinely do not believe you need an AK-47 or a fully automatic weapon that is designed to obliterate something. like a shotgun is fine, pistols are fine. but like unless you are in a location where police and medical help would take 30 min+, you don't need more than 1 gun.

the issue is that guns are used for more than hunting. and the 2nd amendment is so unclear that no one knows what it actually means.

if we had better gun control then we'd have less shootings. you don't need 20 guns my dude unless you live off the grid in the woods.

I dont care. Gun control is a non issue for people outside the US.

honestly, it's an issue for people in the US because we have a problem.

 

[Anonymoususer1234]

I live in a place that has pretty strict gun control. Personally, I think the pros outweigh the cons. I can't imagine living somewhere like the states where guns are widely accessible and mass shootings happen every month. Where children are afraid to show up to school because any day could be thier last. I've seen too many horror stories in the American news to not be a believer in gun control. I can't imagine ever feeling safe living in that kind of environment. I definitely understand wanting the option to shoot yourself and I think that some form of ethunisia should be available for those who need it. But I believe that guns tend to cause more problems than they solve.

 

[JealousOfTheElderly]

I live in a place that has pretty strict gun control. Personally, I think the pros outweigh the cons. I can't imagine living somewhere like the states where guns are widely accessible and mass shootings happen every month. Where children are afraid to show up to school because any day could be thier last. I've seen too many horror stories in the American news to not be a believer in gun control. I can't imagine ever feeling safe living in that kind of environment. I definitely understand wanting the option to shoot yourself and I think that some form of ethunisia should be available for those who need it. But I believe that guns tend to cause more problems than they solve.

Illinois has extremely strict gun control laws but mass shootings happen in Chicago every weekend. Pennsylvania and Maryland also have super strict gun control laws and look at the mass shootings in Philly and Baltimore over the July 4th holiday. These places are all far left democrat.
Thugs and criminals don't care about laws. Psychotic mental cases don't either. Let the good law abiding citizens own their handguns.

 

[DarkRange55]

Please watch this video if you're pro-gun, show people this graph, if you're anti-gun, show people this graph.


I don't think you need to have a nuclear weapon. I can't really foresee a reason that you would need a grenade or a rocket launcher. Do I think that certain people can be trusted with fully automatic guns? Yes. I do. And in fact some people are, you can get a special license for that. My friend's uncle is one of them, he has an old Tommy gun and stuff, he's a collector but he has fully automatic working weapons. So its not like nobody has them. I have no problem with someone of sound mind and a sound record owning a machine gun, I really don't. Some of the main reasons that people have problems with guns are not even problems with guns; the guns are not the problem in this situation. Gang violence is a problem of drug policy, not guns. Because the guns aren't gonna go away. There is no magic wand that we're gonna wave and make the guns go away. Especially not for the criminals. Its not really an option, I don't know its discussed like it is. It's not an option because it just wont happen. Even you dragged people out on the street and shot them in the head if you found guns in their house, it wouldn't happen. Also some of the things that grab headlines, kid's suicides, children shooting themselves because nobody really gives a fuck about what I do anything an adult kills themselves. But if it a kid kills himself with a gun or goes into a school and shoots up a bunch of kids, it's the gun's fault. No, there's a problem here, its a combination of mental health and poor parenting. I'm sorry but those boys that shot up Columbine, somebody should have known that there's something wrong with these kids. This is not a sudden thing, this a gradual process falling further and further into an insane mental state. And I believe that one of them got the gun from their father or uncle or whatever, if you have someone that you don't think is of sound mind in your home you should have your guns locked up securely in a safe. And if you're incapable of judging who does or does not have a sound mind then you shouldn't be owning a gun which is why I suggest that we have mental health requirements for purchasing firearms. I think we should have mental health requirements for a lot of things and I think we could kill several birds with one stone with that. You have to have a driver's license to drive a car, you should have a sanity license to own a gun. I believe in concealed carry. I don't think open carry is necessary. I don't really see how that is necessary for you. I'm not gonna out of my way to ban that but I wouldn't vote for it if it came up on the ballet. I just don't think it's necessary. It would freak too many people and there would be too much confusion as to who is a good guy and who isn't. That would be my concern.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I'm in the UK, so I haven't grown up with the idea that it's my right to own a gun. Personally, I'm against it- even though it would be useful for me personally in terms of suicide. It's a no brainer that you give more people access to guns, you are going to get more shootings! Including school shootings, including infants killing themselves or their siblings by mistake.

Plus, after finding out that you can actually miss with a firearm and survive an attempt with half your face blown off- I think I'd actually be more likely to try SN first anyway.

 

[4am]

i used to be kinda anti-gun, but over time, partly because i became more anarchist, more suicidal and more aligned with pro-mortalism i became pro-gun. ngl i wish my country had the same gun laws as in america

 

[Heavenly Pup]

I'm against gun control; I'm a pro-gun purist. I don't worship guns, but I find gun control fundamentally immoral. I view all other arguments, such as the constitutional or right to self-defense arguments, as unnecessary. I own firearms and urge everyone I know to purchase firearms primarily out of principle.

 

[JealousOfTheElderly]

Criminals will always have access to firearms. That's true everywhere around the world. Strict gun control laws screw over ordinary, law abiding citizens. yes, governments everywhere are becoming more tyrannical. Be ready. The future belongs to those who prepare today.

 

[Temporal_Anchorite]

Legalize recreational McNukes

 

[restless.dreams]

Mass shootings are a uniquely American problem, because there's no other developed country in the world where a mentally disturbed teenager can go out and buy a semi automatic rifle. I don't believe in banning guns, but I do believe in common sense gun reform. My freedom to own unlimited assault rifles does not outweigh the lives of innocent children. If I really wanted to defend myself, I'd get a basic ass handgun and a dog.

Gun control is only part of the solution, though. I believe we also need to prioritize mental health and work to end injustice, hate, and abuse.

 

[sserafim]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I believe that guns should be illegal. It's crazy that you're allowed to own a weapon that can be used to kill someone, but you're not allowed the right to die.