[ratty]

Well Mr/Mrs Jingle I hope you do realize that the background checks we already have in place are even more extensive than the one for a driver's license. At one point in time I sold guns at one of the biggest hunting/fishing stores in the entire U.S. In some cases I saw NICS (the national criminal background check system) would even take up to several months for someone to be cleared. Not only did we run someone's information through a FBI system but we also had them fill out a long questionnaire. Finally the last set of defense is the seller's judgement. We are told that if someone appears suspicious, appearing to do a straw purchase (purchasing a firearm for someone who can't due to legal or age reasons), under the influence (even of legal drugs), if they appear distraught or emotional, we are able to decline the sale. So not only do we have all of these systems in place, we also have the common sense of gun sellers and on top of that even physical paper work. One thing I can agree with is the fact that we need more education. The fact that if you are 18 and can purchase anything that isn't considered a hand gun with no training is quite scary. I say this because the majority of 18 year olds I know who purchase a gun with no prior training or even basic knowledge always has accidents. If there isn't a accident at the very least they are putting everyone around them at risk. I've even had someone play around with a shotgun by aiming it at my face and "fake" pulling the trigger as a joke. After I got mad I asked the person if it was chambered with a slug and they said no, I checked and it was very much loaded (even off of safe). These accidents happen because of misinformation and because people simply don't have access to the proper education on firearms. If our government can provide us firearms, they can also provide us at the very least a 3 day class on safety. In order to get a hunting license in most states you have to go through a hunter-safety course with a exam included at the end. So we can force classes onto people just so they can go hunting but not for the gun they have in their hands that they need to go hunting in the first place?

That is all good to know, I wasn’t sure if every state went by the same background checks. Also yeah I definitely agree probably the biggest point is just educating people about firearms.

[Nicol Bolas]

I do hold strong opinions on this topic, but do not consider myself educated enough on the topic. As such, I will keep it to myself.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[⋆ Fx ⋆]

I'm Anti-gun. Americas obsession with fire arms is ridiculous. Other developed countries have shown with stricter gun laws/no guns there was a strong decline in gun violence/shootings. I hope one day we can achieve that. Until that day comes I'll continue to flinch when I hear a loud bang.

[dong]

My family owns a bunch of them, but they’re really only gonna be used for self defense, and judging by the current state of our country it’s a pretty justifiable reason.

Just do more extensive background checks and prevent loonies from getting them. Big thing to consider though is that people will find ways to get their hands on anything, no matter the stipulations 
.

[^aethy]

I'm for America brother

[Jammin]

Im a bigger fan of the crowbar and holy hand grenade tbh

My brother is a cop, so having a firearm is necessary for him to perform his duties. I personally do not own one and don't necessarily wish to, but have been contemplating purchasing one for self defense purposes only. I'm not in a crime hotspot but crime is not a foreign concept here. I feel anyone should have the right to defend themselves.
I would find it hard to use a gun on someone else, even in my own defense; it would take my family being at risk to take such drastic action. Even so i would shoot to stop, not necessarily to kill.
My city's police department is pretty responsive and I have an alarm system, so I feel their response would be plenty quick in an emergency situation (hence I can save up for such a purchase)

[Salty]

I'm Anti-gun. Americas obsession with fire arms is ridiculous. Other developed countries have shown with stricter gun laws/no guns there was a strong decline in gun violence/shootings. I hope one day we can achieve that. Until that day comes I'll continue to flinch when I hear a loud bang.

Yeah sure, you can have that argument, but the murder homicide rate in countries that have outright banned firearms for personal defense have increased. Look at the UK stabbings rates since they passed stricter legislation. You also have to keep in consideration, that AGAIN, most of the gun homicide occurs in low social-economical areas. More specifically, I am referring to black on black crime through illegally obtained weapons. Even if you pass anti-gun legislation, people will find ways to illegally obtain these things if they want to kill someone.  The last thing I'll say in regards to this is there are areas in the United States that culturally NEED a firearm to survive through means of hunting. Not everywhere is like California, New York, or Atlanta where everything is readily available; people who live in extremely rural areas do not have access to a grocery store or a restaurant; they sometimes have to travel up to an hour for one of them. 


I get what you're saying, I'm just simply explaining why I disagree with your viewpoint; HOWEVER, America does have a gun obsession, and that comes with the context of how we revolted against the British and that's just never going to go away.

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My city's police department is pretty responsive and I have an alarm system, so I feel their response would be plenty quick in an emergency situation (hence I can save up for such a purchase)

This is something else to consider; not everyone's got a police department that responds quickly. The AVERAGE response time is 15 minutes. someone can easily break into your house and kill/ rob you and leave within 15 minutes if you aren't capable of protecting yourself. Also, I agree that you should shoot to stop, not to kill unless they are intentionally trying to kill you.

[White Owl]

I'm Anti-gun. Americas obsession with fire arms is ridiculous. Other developed countries have shown with stricter gun laws/no guns there was a strong decline in gun violence/shootings. I hope one day we can achieve that. Until that day comes I'll continue to flinch when I hear a loud bang.

Yeah sure, you can have that argument, but the murder homicide rate in countries that have outright banned firearms for personal defense have increased. Look at the UK stabbings rates since they passed stricter legislation. You also have to keep in consideration, that AGAIN, most of the gun homicide occurs in low social-economical areas. More specifically, I am referring to black on black crime through illegally obtained weapons. Even if you pass anti-gun legislation, people will find ways to illegally obtain these things if they want to kill someone.  The last thing I'll say in regards to this is there are areas in the United States that culturally NEED a firearm to survive through means of hunting. Not everywhere is like California, New York, or Atlanta where everything is readily available; people who live in extremely rural areas do not have access to a grocery store or a restaurant; they sometimes have to travel up to an hour for one of them. 


I get what you're saying, I'm just simply explaining why I disagree with your viewpoint; HOWEVER, America does have a gun obsession, and that comes with the context of how we revolted against the British and that's just never going to go away.

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My city's police department is pretty responsive and I have an alarm system, so I feel their response would be plenty quick in an emergency situation (hence I can save up for such a purchase)

This is something else to consider; not everyone's got a police department that responds quickly. The AVERAGE response time is 15 minutes. someone can easily break into your house and kill/ rob you and leave within 15 minutes if you aren't capable of protecting yourself. Also, I agree that you should shoot to stop, not to kill unless they are intentionally trying to kill you.

I would like to give two situations I have encountered that can help people understand why in some parts of the U.S. and in other parts of the world, people actually need them.
 
1: I went hiking while I was on vacation and I had a firearm with me. I absolutely had no idea a bear was following me down the trail, if I didn't have a firearm to scare off the bear it would have mauled me in the middle of no where with no cellphone or service to begin with.

2: I live in a city with a huge drug/violence problem, as so do many other people in the U.S.. I was at the bar one day and someone came up to me behind the bar while I was peeing and was told that if I didn't give him everything I had he was going to kill me, I could clearly see a ruger LCP pistol in his hand (as I also own this pistol so I know how it looks). I was unable to get to my firearm at the time but someone else walked up behind us very slowly and lifted his shirt to expose his firearm to the person robbing me. That person immediately left the scene as fast as he possibly could. If it was not for the "good guy" having a firearm in that situation, I would have been killed behind a bar and no one would have known what happened to me. Now let's imagine we live in a society where all firearms are illegal and this same situation played out, the only person in this situation with a gun IS the bad guy and now everyone at that location is one step behind the criminal.

Now keep in mind everyone is saying that in other parts of the world where firearms are illegal violent killings have stopped. This is UNTRUE! As a European I can verify that the same amount of killings occur except it's with a bomb, vehicle, or a knife. So either way people die no matter what, except the criminal has an advantage over the law abiding citizen.

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Im a bigger fan of the crowbar and holy hand grenade tbh

My brother is a cop, so having a firearm is necessary for him to perform his duties. I personally do not own one and don't necessarily wish to, but have been contemplating purchasing one for self defense purposes only. I'm not in a crime hotspot but crime is not a foreign concept here. I feel anyone should have the right to defend themselves.
I would find it hard to use a gun on someone else, even in my own defense; it would take my family being at risk to take such drastic action. Even so i would shoot to stop, not necessarily to kill.
My city's police department is pretty responsive and I have an alarm system, so I feel their response would be plenty quick in an emergency situation (hence I can save up for such a purchase)

A home defense shotgun can cost at the minimum $150. Instead of eating out 3 days a week or even buying virtual things online, save up for 4-5 weeks and you will have enough to buy a firearm that can save your life and the life of other's as well. That is a investment to your life, not a investment to please yourself with "superficial" items.

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I do hold strong opinions on this topic, but do not consider myself educated enough on the topic. As such, I will keep it to myself.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

That is how you learn the knowledge to actually have a opinion solid enough to talk to other people about it, by discussing it. Shutting yourself out of a conversation not only doesn't allow you to learn more, but you are already one step behind the people who know more than you. Even if your opinion is wrong, at the very least a discussion could maybe make you look at a bigger picture.

[Jammin]

My "saving" isn't more along the lines of the actual gun but the training to shoot it, proper registrations for my state and county, etc.
I don't have a family at the moment so its not something I feel I need to expedite. Should I wish to do so later I may.

And Not everybody else lives where I live. Those with slower polcie departments should arm themselves to be sure they are protected.
If I lived ~7 blocks east (into the city of Detroit) things would be a lot different - more crime and much slower police. I'd surely be armed then.
But for now, I feel secure with my alarm system, my 4-minute response time from my police station (based on a false alarm time I had last year). and overall lack of violent crime in my particular area. Someday I'll get the money I need for the proper firearm and licensing that my state/county requires, plus I would need to take courses on how to use it. I don't see any reason to do that for now.

[RussEfarmer]

Guns are a lot like cars. They're tools that are completely safe when used by someone who has been taught how to use them and respects the destructive power of them. They only become dangerous when someone using them doesn't respect the tool, doesn't know how to use the tool or wants to use the tool for harm for whatever reason.

Getting rid of a potent tool that people use to cause harm won't change anything, because it doesn't change the number of people that WANT to cause harm. If every gun in America magically disappeared, people that want to cause harm are just going to find another way to do it. In the UK's case, it's knives.