Science Right-to-carry laws make us less safe

so..is the perception created by the NRA sticker? The Smith & Wesson T Shirt? Or the "I fucking dare you" look in your eye?

 

My opinions on Gun Rights have also been partially formed from watching the news (the other half from studying texts and books about the issue). And seeing as how dangerous this country can be, and how incompetent and petty our government is, I find it baffling that anyone would want to put "public safety" in their hands; especially the issue of gun ownership.

I don't personally understand why the law-abiding looks at how violent our society can be, and then thinks "yes, that's right....I'll trust the government to know what's best for me, and if they say I shouldn't defend myself with a gun, then by golly I'm going to believe them!"

I don't believe this, and I'll tell you why. And it's very simple.

We have over 300 million guns in this country; almost enough to arm every person. 180 million out of about 330 million people total in this country own the majority of those guns.

If we had an "epidemic", I have to believe it would look FAR worse than this. What's the number that many gun control advocates throw around? About 29,000 deaths a year from firearms? I don't believe or agree with that number, but for the sake of argument, I'll play with it.....

When you take away self-defense cases, criminals using guns illegally (which is the majority of that number), and cases where no shots were fired (such as simply drawing a gun), then the number becomes quite a bit smaller. The number that is most concerning left over is about 1,000 or so people across the US each year committing suicide with a firearm. And while that is very tragic, that is hardly at the levels of an "epidemic".

And if lawful, law-abiding gun owners and legally-held firearms were the issue....well, as a fellow gun owner once said to me...."trust us Liberals, you would know about it."

The guns have always been here. Something else has changed. We as a society are far more stressed out and emotional, and it's showing by the fact that our mental health system cannot keep up with the sheer amount of new cases each year that occur. Furthermore, there is a higher population of poor people who do not have access to proper education, and that greatly contributes to the rise of criminal activity in this country.

The effort to fix "the epidemic of gun violence" in this country would be better spent towards improving mental health access, education, and jobs. Fix those three issues, and I promise you in a couple of decades that gun violence will be an afterthought.

As for #2....they may be well-meaning politicians, but that doesn't make them informed or educated on certain subjects.

 

Don't belong to the NRA. Don't like bumper sicker T shirts. I warmly greet every friendly soul I meet.

 

Walter Huston was a hoot! Bogart was pretty good too.

 

LMFAO, at first I thought you said "Walter Huston was hot!" I was like "oh....okay, well.....right...."

 

Careful son! I can be riled.

 

I honestly don't want to see an armed adult attending my grandchild's school recital ever or a Blazer's game.

 

Well river, I guess that is your position. It appears you think guns are evil. Where as I think men are the only thing that can be evil.
A gun alone will not harm your grandchild, a gun in the possession of a non evil man will not harm your grandchild.
An evil man may harm your grandchild with or without a gun, unless you are personally ready to prevent it.

 

Silly.

The right to carry at all times is inalienable and absolute for all persons born on this earth.

The Bill of Rights recognizes this and through the 2nd Amendment further forbids our government from enacting any laws of any kind that could affect our rights.

 

nope...just don't trust enough people who would carry them around....big difference

 

Yeah, it would be wonderful if I were the only one armed.

 

It's not like concealed carry permits are handed out like candy.

 

Guns back there could shoot a musket ball every couple minutes...let's say weapons have changed

 

But they came for their bazookas and surface-to-air missiles, didn't they? And I feel my liberty to own a suitcase-sized nuclear weapon is cruelly restricted. At least let me have a flamethrower, tyrants!

 

Why? River, very few people who carry a gun are truly unsafe or even borderline criminal.

If anything, when I personally got my permit, knowing that I had a gun on my hip completely changed my outlook on things. It makes you more conservative in your every day life. It makes you reevaluate your behavior, where you go, who you associate with, and how you conduct yourself in public. Because you have a tool on your hip (or wherever you choose to carry it) that has the ability to kill someone.

That is the majority of gun owners who legally carry a gun. Remember, there are millions of them, and you only hear about the bad apples when they make the news. So what about the rest of them?

I get it: it's your choice if you don't want to carry. That's your freedom to do so. Only you can decide whether carrying a firearm is right for you; nobody else.

I just hope you don't lump those who do carry legally into a group of people who shouldn't.

And I hope that you are never in another violent encounter with a criminal who has a gun. But....if you are, I hope a good guy is there with a gun of their own.

Muskets were the "Assault Rifles" of their day. Do you think the British wanted the Colonists to have them? Hell no.

.....and then there's THIS garbage. Unfortunately, this is the kind of sarcastic mentality that the majority of anti-gun people hold, which is why pro-gun folks win most of their arguments, and why nobody takes anti-gun folk seriously.

 

Its science.

 

You know, it doesn't take too many comments like this one before it is clear. You really don't give a shit what the Constitutions says or why in any case.
You just want some appointed judge to rule the moon is made of blue cheese, therefore a hunk of Limburger is the most lethal weapon you can own.
Libs do the happy dance.

 

When I was a young guy, information came by the radio, a boring Newspaper, and Catalogs in the mail. The Stoeger Arms was one of my favorite to read. It had the information on all the guns made every where in the world. This was a time when all of Africa was colonial countries, rule out in Europe. Stoeger had a whole section of the catalog reserved to the arms available for sale to the native populations of the countries in Africa. Of course, the Europeans could find their Jefferys 5000 or the 600 Nitro in the front sections. The Natives where restricted guns in the back section.
Small caliber single shot rifles and some large caliber mussel loaders. Black power guns.

If this were another thread, most in this forum would be outraged at this treatment if it were going on today.

But look at river's post above. I do believe he is suggesting this should be the way in the US today.