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Seems to be a lot of controversial issues on the 'Bee in the last week or so, so what's one more:
What are your views on gun control / gun rights? What has caused you to come to this conclusion? What is your experience on this topic?
Wow. How many hours have you sepent arguing about controversial topics today?
I am very pro-gun control. I actually took part in a government debate club in school that spent a month researching and focusing on this issue. The pros and cons are way too detailed to get into in a chat thread, however.
You're missing an important option in that poll: I'm Canadian, and, politics and laws aside, think that Americans are cray-cray when it comes to guns.
Freals.
Also very pro-gun control... because guns are bad.
Technically I own about a dozen guns because FH does and they're lying all over the house. Hasn't changed my opinion.
I think that people should know gun safety and how to properly shoot a gun.... just in case of the zombie apocalypse.
Seriously though, its not the people with legal firearms that Im worried about.
My family is VERY anti firearms. Not a single member has ever owned a gun and and we've gotten along just fine. FI's family, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. His dad is a card carrying member of the NRA and nearly every male in his family has their pistal permit (except for FI).
I respect their right to own firearms because they are all obtained legally and everyone is VERY responsible with them but that doesn't mean that I like being around guns. FI and I lived with his parents for a few months in the beginning of our relationship and they made me very uncomfortable.
I shot my first gun a few years ago and I absolutely hated the feeling. It's something that I hope to never do again.
Just a note: I know that there's a huge cultural difference on this topic.
I grew up in the country. Most everyone hunts; it's how they get a good portion for the food for the year. I was raised around various types of guns, I first started shooting when I was 6 or 7 years old. I was in 4-H and one of the projects offered that I took a couple years was "shooting sports" (among others: dog showmanship, horse showmanship, sewing, cooking, photography, etc.). It's the norm for kids to take hunter safety as soon as they are old enough, age 12. I was raised to respect the useful and also potential danger of firearms (and tractors, and cattle, and powertools, etc.)
I've had the basic gun safety rules drilled into me every since I was a small child:
1. Treat all guns as if they are loaded
2. Never point a gun at anything you do not want to destroy/kill.
3. Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
4. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
Now that I live in the city, I've found a lot of my peers have never even seen a gun in real life.
@UpstateCait: Wait, didn't you start the "do you hunt" thread? I guess I assumed you were a hunter - am I mis-remembering that thread? hahaha...
@daydreamwanderer: I did start that thread but it was about FI's whole family hunting and me not being a huge fan of it.
Oh, I voted for no guns for anybody except for police/military, but I would have preferred Beluga's option. :)
Myself and my family are very big into the NRA and gun ownership. I belive everybody has a right to own a gun and if you're going to own a gun you should know how to use it properly. Frankly, when FI and I get married we're getting out of Illinois because we want to live in a state that will not take away our right to carry. lol Also, a few years ago, my wonderful brother gave me a .22 for Christmas!
ETA: I'd like to add that I DO believe in gun control.....it consists of holding the gun with both hands. :)
I voted for "I own a firearm, and support 2nd Amendment rights" - although I don't actually own any guns myself, my dad and brother own 4 or 5 between them.
Having been around the two of them and been taught all about gun safety, I have a lot of respect for the power of guns and trust in the ability of people to use them safely. I actually really enjoy going out to the range with my brother and shooting!
Honestly - as a PP said - its not the people who have guns legally that I'm worried about anyways. And strict gun control/bans isn't going to keep guns out of those people's hands anyway - it will only keep them from the law abiding citizens who safely use them for other purposes.
I my state it was a royal pain in the ass (as an upstanding citizen with a squeaky clean record) to get a general permit - not even to carry concealed. But if I lived in Kansas for example, all I'd have to do is present a license b/c I'm a citizen and I could get a firearm. I'd be willing to be there are less homicides by firearms in KS than in MA. Food for thought.
After some guy tried to kick in my front door at 1:30am last year, I'm not asking any more questions.
I work in a probation office.... because of that I'm going to learn how to use a gun and get a gun license, and BUY one!!!! Why? Because all the crazies have one, so I need one too so when they come to my house I can protect myself with more than a baseball bat. That being said, I'm not sure what I would fight as far as laws go. It's so easy to get guns on the street that I feel like making it illegal won't solve everything. I'ts such a complicated issue!
Btw, no, probationers (especially with felonies) cannot have guns... but they have them regardless.
My aunt personally knew people that were murdered during the Polytechnique massacre. My second cousin shot himself with a rife. Yes, I am trained to handle a weapon and I have hunted but FI and I are huge supporters of gun-control. FI's family is in law enforcement and none of them have guns at home. We are also Canadian and leave our doors unlocked. Weird like that...
@zippylef: hahah you know thats the exact reason we will be buying a gun?
I do think that guns should be hard to get. Not "nearly impossible" but as it is right now there are loopholes that allow people to get guns that probably shouldnt.
But, especially in these crazy times, I believe every person has a right to protect themselves. Think of Egypt, all that military with all that power, mowing people down and shooting people left and right. I would not want to be left defenseless in a dire situation. I do not fully trust my government that I would allow them to have guns but not myself.
I also believe that in the inevitable zombie apocalypse that we will be left with very little food, and I would like to be able to hunt.
Just a quick point to people who are saying they have to protect themselves from "crazies" (which, by the way, is fairly insulting to people who suffer from mental illness):
statistically, owning a gun increases your likelihood of being shot by a gun. this is for several reasons: 1. people make a ton of mistakes with guns, even those who are well trained in handling them, 2. people who own guns hang out with other people who own guns, and whenever there are more guns around bad things are more likely to happen with them, 3. kids get a hold of guns, and 4. people with tempers or abusers get ahold of guns during arguments or fights.
If you properly store your gun, i.e. in a locked cabinet where its less likely to be mishandled, found by a kid, or randomly grabbed when emotions are high, then its not going to be as useful when one of those "crazies" breaks into your house.
People let their emotions get the best of them when it comes to talking about guns: we think its American, and "our right" and for protection. But studies done in other countries, and studies done on guns in the US actually show that owning guns is more dangerous than not.
That said, I'm for strict gun control laws, especially around hand guns. There is no reason anyone needs to own a handgun (law enforcement/military aside). If you enjoy target practice, you go to a range and sign one out, then sign it back in. Hunting is a different story- but hunting firearms should be locked and stored properly, and there should be training required before you can be liscenced to own one.
@arenyth: I seriously heart you today, after this thread and the abortion one. I think we're soulmates.
Just to demostrate cultural differences, here's a page from my high school yearbook:
@ILuvDance17: It's so funny you said that, that's one of the reasons I was so sad to leave IL!
@abbyful: The parents in my town would freak the f**k out if that was in the yearbook.
@elivt: I wouldn't trust just "checking out" or "renting" a gun from some random person at a range. It is important that guns are properly cleaned and maintained to ensure their safety and I would not be comfortable leaving that responsibility to random strangers who work at the gun rental place.
@abbyful: Is it a MO thing? lol. I remember one of my high school yearbooks having an article about hunting in it and my college had a shooting team that were national champs like 5 years running.
Guns do not kill people. The person behind that trigger is the murderer every single time. Guns are tools that can be used for very good, useful things. But, just like any tool, you HAVE to respect it and you absolutely HAVE to use it appropriately. No matter what the government does or says, guns will always be in circulation. Always.
So, if criminals will always have some kind of illegal access to guns if the government bans them, I certainly think it should always be my right to have legal access to them so that I have a comparable means to defend myself and my family if it's ever needed.
With all that said..... I do understand why people are pro-gun control. Weapons like guns can do serious damage in the hands of the wrong person, and that's not something that I take lightly. However, what it all comes down to for me, is that I want the right to defend myself if I have to. I don't think anyone has the right to tell me how to defend my home. If it's my home, my family, my property.... then I want a say in how it's protected.
@elivt: I'm sorry, I cannot let that go. When you said "we think its American, and "our right" and for protection."
I do not mean to ruffle feathers, but is IS our right as Americans to keep and bear arms. As it says in the Bill of Rights: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." So when you say American's "think" its our right to own guns...that's because it IS our right.
I'm sorry, I just had to throw that out there.
statistically, owning a gun increases your likelihood of being shot by a gun. this is for several reasons: 1. people make a ton of mistakes with guns, even those who are well trained in handling them, 2. people who own guns hang out with other people who own guns, and whenever there are more guns around bad things are more likely to happen with them, 3. kids get a hold of guns, and 4. people with tempers or abusers get ahold of guns during arguments or fights.
Those statics include suicides. Of course of someone wants to commit suicide, they'll likely want to chose the most efficent and effective tool for the job.
Where I grew up, kids learn from a young age about firearms and what is and is not acceptable use of them.
Sane people don't shoot others if they get mad.
If you properly store your gun, i.e. in a locked cabinet where its less likely to be mishandled, found by a kid, or randomly grabbed when emotions are high, then its not going to be as useful when one of those "crazies" breaks into your house.
Loaded firearm in a blind-open safe, problem solved.
We have an unlocked loaded firearm in our bedroom, but when we have kids we will have a blind-open safe.http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shooting/Gun-Storage/Gun-Safes|/pc/104792580/c/104730480/sc/104369580/GunVault-Biometric-Safe/734827.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fshooting-gun-storage-gun-safes%2F_%2FN-1100213&WTz_l=Unknown%3Bcat104369580
People let their emotions get the best of them when it comes to talking about guns: we think its American, and "our right" and for protection. But studies done in other countries, and studies done on guns in the US actually show that owning guns is more dangerous than not.
Statistically, crime tends to rise when guns are banned. And likewise, it states that pass concealed carry laws, crime tends to decreases.
That said, I'm for strict gun control laws, especially around hand guns. There is no reason anyone needs to own a handgun (law enforcement/military aside). If you enjoy target practice, you go to a range and sign one out, then sign it back in.
There are some hand-guns are designed specially for hunting.
No right to self-dense? The average woman has a low chance fighting off the average man on strength alone. My fiance is not a big guy, he's about 180, and he can easily pin me down where I can't move. If I was living alone that a couple gang-bangers broke into my house, I wouldn't have a chance, I'd be 100% at their mercy.
It's much easier to be comfortable with a firearm if you consitantly shoot the same one.
Perhaps I'm jaded because fiance's cousin is a cop and my sister is former military police. And I know 2 girls that have been murdered, neither one in a bad part of town or doing things they shouldn't have been doing. (And neither one killed with a firearm; in fact a firearm would have been humane compared to what they went through.)
@SBourgeous: lol I don't know that I've ever heard anybody say that they were sad to leave Illinois.....interesting.
@zippylef - I went to high school in Northwestern Kansas; perhaps a Midwestern thing though!
At my high school, before hunting season started, they would announce over the intercom to remind kids that had guns or bows in their car that they needed to park off of school property.
@Mrs.KMM: I totally agree.
I'm in the process of getting my pistol permit (took the class, now just waiting for the background check, etc.). My husband and I (and my stepdaughter) love going to the range - it's really a fun family sport. He taught me how to shoot pistols (I'd done some shooting growing up, but mostly rifles) and he is the most careful, safety concious person I've ever met. I'd much rather shoot our own guns that I know have been maintained properly than entrust it to some guy at the range. You can never be too careful.
(I'm getting a revolver (my first) for my birthday in April. My man knows the way to my heart!)
@abbyful: lol. I saw KC and automatically thought MO. It probably is a Midwestern thing though.
@elivt: I'm a Social Worker and I don't treat people with mental illness by calling them crazy. By "crazies" I was talking about SOME of the probationers in my office who are willing to sexually or physically assault the people that they say they love. Yes, some of them do have mental illness, and I'm trained to deal with that and counsel them/give medication for that. But I was not referring to mental illness when I said crazy... I don't think people should equate the word crazy with mental illness ever.
Believe, I know and understand the statistics. But I also don't have kids or anyone else living with me. So unless someone breaks into my house, they're not getting my gun. And yes, I could totally fail emotionally if someone breaks into my house... but I could also hear them beforehand and have a chance to get my gun BEFORE they come into my room. We have this conversation so many times at the probation office it's not even funny. Everyone always has different opinions. My opinion is that as long as I have the right to get a gun, I'm getting one to protect myself from the crazy people who decide to steal/hurt other people for no apparent reason!
I fully support the right to own and carry firearms. Sadly, I live in the craptastic state of Illinois and I am not able to carry.
I live in MA but have gone to other parts of the country for work, namely Oregon and Kansas and buildings actually have signs outside of them to indicate that a gun is prohibited. It's amazing as you don't see that in MA...it's assumed no one brings a gun anywhere ever unless you have a license to carry concealed.
@elivt - I have a hand gun in my car. (I live in Kansas City, so I have to juggle with laws between KS and MO because I go between the two states a lot. MO allows concealed firearms in your car without a CCW permit; KS requires a CCW permit to have a concealed firearm in your car. I have my CCW permit so I've legal in both states.) With the style of clothes I usually wear, it's hard to conceal a firearm on my person, and I don't want to carry in my purse because a purse is easily snatched. My fiance carries one on his person most of the time though.
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