Stop and think - and you will realise that banning guns is a waste of time

[The Don]

This is what I have to say on the matter...

Your entire argument is built around the false assumption that every criminal would be able to gain access to a gun if they were banned which simply isn’t true. Since you haven’t bothered to solidify your points with any evidence I’ll bring in statistics.

There were 6,285 firearm offences recorded by police in England and Wales from September 2010 to September 2011 which accounted for 0.2% of all recorded crime. Here’s the interesting part, 9.3% of all homicides in England and Wales involved the use of a firearm (meaning over 90% of all homicides did not involve a gun) this is polarised by California’s statistics where over 2/3rd’s of all murders during 2011 (68%) were committed using a gun. If your argument was valid (which it isn’t) then the percentage of murders committed using a firearm would be far higher than it actually is. Since a gun is superior to any other weapon such as knives etc. then by your logic all murders committed would include a firearm of some sort since every criminal, according to you, can easily obtain a firearm. In the real world, it is much harder to obtain a gun if they are banned (using the UK as an example) than you actually think it is. Legalising them would certainly have a negative effect and would be senseless to do so.

Rather than fighting fire with fire by placing armed guards in schools, which is preposterous might I add, the US should focus more on mental health care and preventing things such as columbine (where there actually was an armed guard on duty there at the time who was unable to keep the 13 students murdered safe) before they actually happen.



And fact ought to be used over baseless opinions which aren't backed up whatsoever.

Sources:
http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datab...crime-us-state

[Kardan]

This is what I have to say on the matter...

I would rep you, but alas I've given too much out because of the silly Christmas rep thread

[GommeInc]

Banning guns in the US would be completely useless now, the damage has been done and it's simply too late to attempt such a thing.

[Kardan]

Banning guns in the US would be completely useless now, the damage has been done and it's simply too late to attempt such a thing.

I agree sadly, but I think the debate is once again on about legalising guns in the UK.

[GommeInc]

I agree sadly, but I think the debate is once again on about legalising guns in the UK.

They sort of are legal, and we really do not need them if ownership was set to be opened up further. Less guns in circulation the better, the relevant authorities see to the gun black market and are quite effective. Plus the amount of crimes that would need a gun are non-existent - these days petty crimes are on the up and arming yourself against those sorts of crimes is useless, especially when it's mostly the elderly who would probably end up shot dead by their own weapon(s) as they are the primary targets.

[peteyt]

Why did we need another post for this. Yes loads of stuff can be used for weapons but I'm sure if the guy came in with a knife and not a gun the other day the people around him would have been able to with strain him a lot easier. Guns are bad, and 99 percent of gun use is bad, so banning them would help more than hinder in my opinion.

Until something is done I fell we are going to get more and more incidents like this.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Interesting that you bring up mental health, yet are a big advocate of legalising or relaxing drug laws.

Well, you could hurt them a whole lot more if you used a gun.

And if the staff had a gun they could shoot the ******* dead as soon as he got off the first shot.

I stopped reading there to be honest. 'Of course you wouldn't is absolutely ridiculous, and then 'You would have to be mad to do such a thing...', well, yes, most people that do murder many people usually are mad.

This one dude's point of view won't change my views on it. Using the argument 'But knives kill more people, so lets ban them' is stupid, and I know Undertake, you use it quite often, because you always like to bring in banning homosexuality and sex in general. We're talking about things that are used to mainly murder people and have no other use in society today. Kitchen knives for example, 99.999...% of the time, they are used in the kitchen as expected. Same for cars, not many people go on a murderous rampage compared to the amount that use them everyday for transport. Guns however, well, what other uses are there except for injuring/killing.

This is quite an old debate really. Many more people are anti-guns, but there will be a few that support it, and so be it

This argument comes up often, and to which I respond gay sex isn't a need either. Nor are one night stands in clubs, nor are certain knives and nor are cars which can reach speeches of over 70mph+. None of these things are needed, but because we live in a free society (or used to do so) we accept the risks that go with the benefits of freedom and being able to make our own choices.

If you want to ban guns to protect people then thats fine, but that also compels you to look at regulating or banning many other areas of social life - from all kinds of sex to pornography, from violent games to fast food, from fast cars to dangerous sports. If you think you know best then by all means, start campaigning to have a range of things banned.

Personally i'd value my freedom with a little risk a lot more than being told what I can or cannot have by the faceless state.

There probably isn't now, since teenagers can't freely get their hands on guns, but if guns were made legal? Who knows. All I know is, I would rather have an intruder in my house come at me with a knife, rather than point a gun at me.

So if he comes at you with a gun, would you rather have a gun or a knife?

Why did we need another post for this. Yes loads of stuff can be used for weapons but I'm sure if the guy came in with a knife and not a gun the other day the people around him would have been able to with strain him a lot easier. Guns are bad, and 99 percent of gun use is bad, so banning them would help more than hinder in my opinion.

Until something is done I fell we are going to get more and more incidents like this.

We are not talking about if he comes in with a knife, he came in with a gun and madmen will get hold of guns. Period.

So the only question that remains is, should law abiding citizens be able to defend themselves with a gun or not?

That is the debate, the rest is hypothetical rubbish.

[Kardan]

So if he comes at you with a gun, would you rather have a gun or a knife?

Neither, I'm screwed either way. If someone breaks into my bedroom whilst I'm asleep and I wake up and see he has a gun, bang, I'm dead. If I see he has a knife, at least I have a chance to leap out the way and try to escape whilst he lunges for me.

You say give people guns because criminals have guns, heck, what about stopping criminals having guns? And I know it's been pointed out *so* many times, but the amount of criminals with guns here in the UK is really low compared to everything else.

And with the 'Arm teachers in schools debate', how could the teacher kill the dude after he got the first shot off, if he shot the teacher first? All it takes is for him to keep an eye on the door and shoot any adult that comes in before he continues with killing the children. And then of course, even if teachers do have guns, do they have the balls to shoot someone dead, especially in front of children? The majority of teachers in the latest massacre focused on getting their children to safety rather than the two ladies I think it was who decided to go after the gunman and ultimately died.

[Chippiewill]

And if the staff had a gun they could shoot the ******* dead as soon as he got off the first shot.

Solution to guns in schools, more guns in schools? You're ridiculous.

[xxMATTGxx]

Undertaker really thinks staff in the schools should have guns? LMAO. Oh my god, you are ******* crazy. Your comparisons are also crazy and unrelated 98% of the time. You are ridiculous.