Guns - Educate me. :)

[Wendigo]

Old Blue Collar Joe

Wendigo

Old Blue Collar Joe

But there is a strange fact: You are four times as likely to have a break in as you are to have a fire, but people are more ready to accept the dangers of a fire than an assault.

That's really not strange. Robbery rate's 133 per 100,000, Burglary rate's 716 per 100,000 *, whereas fires are 528 per 100,000 *. It is, hence, a relatively common occurrence.

Plus, robberies and burglaries are the result of human actions, not natural forces. (Bugger economists.) Fires can spring up more or less anywhere, without a single human being within miles. Robberies are not the same way. You need at least two.

Actually posted the links a while back on here. Less than 400,000 fires annually. Over 2,000,000 break ins annually. Point is, people see nothing strange about having smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. But they pee down their legs over guns.

Th' numbers aren't important in assessing the risk, the rates are. You're significantly more likely to suffer a break-in if you live in a highly populated area, while your risk of losses to fires is, on the one hand, fairly constant overall so long as you have flammable items around, you're cooking, storing fuel and what have you, and on the other hand varies by the landscape that happens to surround you, from that baseline. For example, if you live in parts of California or Arizona, then wildfires are a seasonal occurrence, due to the profusion of dry scrubland and hapless campers or people flicking cigarettes out their car windows.

So for example, a person who lives in Mayberry is relatively safe from robbery or burglary, but still in danger from fires.

[logan the god of candy]

The rose in spring

logan the god of candy

Old Blue Collar Joe

logan the god of candy

Old Blue Collar Joe

logan the god of candy

i'm like, wtf is a gun license? lmfao

Illinois you have to have Big Brother's permission to buy anything firearm related. There's quite a lot of private companies that will flat out refuse to ship any thing to Illinois because of their government.
Most disarmed citizens around, and over 500 murders. Yep. It's working like a champ.

yes, i know. i was just poking fun at how ******** stupid the idea is.

compare illinois and vermont. illinois is full of crime and has the strictest gun control of pretty much any state. vermont has the second lowest crime rate in the country... and the most lenient gun control. concealed carry without a permit. hmm...

All gun control laws merely state 'safe criminal zone'.

schools. no wonder so many kids shoot those places up. lol what if every teacher had a mossberg?

Why should I put the life of my child in the hands of an armed, underpaid social worker with inadequate sleep and pay and hatred for kids? Nevermind we do it with police anyway.

because otherwise your child's life is in the hands of an underpaid social worker with inadequate sleep, pay, and hatred for kids that can't stop anybody from walking in the school pulling out a gun and shooting your child in the face.

personally, i'd rather have free, armed teachers than a bunch of dead children or a prison facility of a school house to keep guns out.

hell, it's a lot easier to screen your teachers for carrying in school than it is to control every other person in the country with more laws.

[GunsmithKitten]

Admiral Dardanos

What always puzzles me is why 'defense' is such a big thing in the US. On a personal level, I mean. Is it really THAT dangerous there? Or are people just really paranoid and insecure? In most first world countries worrying about having to defend yourself is barely even a thing. And I live in Northern Ireland for frack sake! It's just not something people worry about here. And we are certainly not naive or sheltered.

Now, I'm not opposed to guns per se, but at the very least, people should be required to take courses in firearms use and safety. Proper intensive courses with a qualification or something.

And certainly no automatic weapons.

It is.

Also, when it comes to self defense, you're on your own. Cops can legally sit by and watch you die.

[Nyghtmare Nyx]

You have a lot of great questions. I am a bleeding heart liberal, but also a gun advocate. Hunting and home defense are both practical uses for guns, as well as the subcategory of live trapping. Aside from that recreational and competative shooting are also big reasons for gun trades. I don't think banning guns will help at this point, because the guns that are already out there cannot be legally or completely recalled. Once you've bought a gun legally, the government cannot revoke your ownership post illegally unless you become a felon. However, there are compromises that can be made. For example, upon purchase of a gun here on out, why not mandate the purchase (or proof of prior purchase) of a gun safe. I'm not naive enough to assume everyone will lock up their guns, but its a start. Moreover, like we have with cars over the years, why not focus on making guns safer? The last real advancement in this area was a safety. Some pistols still don't have them to this day. Another thing that ought to become mandatory is a more thorough criminal and mental history. Both in regards to gun retailers and gun shows, I think the history of the new owner should be more thoroughly examined as well as those of anyone registered as living in the same home. There's an article you ought to check out in response to the recent shooting called "I am Adam Lanza's mother". It stresses how our newly rekindled passion for banning firearms might be better suited also focusing on the flaws in our mental health system.

Personally, I own a .22 lr, assault style, and have regular access to a .9mm pistol, a 12 gauge shotgun, a judge, a .22 pistol, and a mini 14. I don't hunt, but I plan to eventually. And while the guns are a nice thought for self defense, I mainly use them for recreational target shooting. I enjoy shooting clay pidgeons and bottles filled with colorful water from a distance to practice my marksmanship and let off some steam. Like most gun owners I could never fathom shooting another human being unless it really were a devastating situation of self-defense/life or death, etc. Most gun owners would do anything to keep their arms. This includes but is not limited to refraining from shooting others or otherwise abusing their weapons.

[XxTheSmittenKittenxX]

Basically, GUNS don't kill people, PEOPLE kill people.

Also, if you take the guns out of the hands of the law-abiding citizens, who has the guns now? There will always be smuggled guns for the criminals to get their hands on no matter how much police effort is made against smuggled guns.