So tired of gun violence...

[MoJingly]

I never get involved in non-graduate school discussions on this forum, but I want to chime in here. I grew up around guns, used to shoot .22 rifles competitively, and have a deep understanding and respect for the power of firearms. I always try to add this perspective to "gun-control" discussions because there is a lot more to "gun control" than people carrying around handguns in their pockets, and sometimes it's easy to forget that.

I grew up in a rural area and we would use guns to protect our animals from the coyotes that would venture on our property. We'd shoot nocturnal animals that were obviously rabid and wandering around in the daytime. We'd put injured deer laying on the side of the road after being hit by a car out of their misery. As a young female living alone in my house, I do keep a shotgun in my room when I sleep to protect myself and my property if i need to. And I know how. To me a gun is a tool more than a weapon.

There is MUCH more to the world of firearms than the handguns and assault rifles that people use to shoot other people. There are a lot of people out there that handle guns safely and use them wisely. I just hope that as we debate gun control in America we don't forget this perspective.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

There is MUCH more to the world of firearms than the handguns and assault rifles that people use to shoot other people. There are a lot of people out there that handle guns safely and use them wisely. I just hope that as we debate gun control in America we don't forget this perspective.

I totally agree. I grew up in a housing projects in Brooklyn where the only people with guns were the police and the criminals. The criminals would've gotten their weapons regardless, whatever the gun control laws were. And I don't know the exact numbers, but I would imagine that the majority of violent crimes committed via gun are by criminals of some sort who accessed the guns illegally. Gun control really only affects the law abiding citizens who 999 out of 1,000 aren't going to commit some dangerous crime. City people fail to realize that guns are a big part of people's lives, and rightfully so, like MoJingly mentioned, such as people in rural areas, farm areas, etc who use them on a regular basis as a "tool." I don't own a gun but I'd feel safe knowing that I could get one because no way I'd want the only people with them to be the police and the criminals.

[ANDS!]

There are a lot of people out there that handle guns safely and use them wisely.

Point in fact, the majority of gun owners are responsible gun owners. It is the individual with no ideas who responds in a knee-jerk manner with the idea that "Gun control, gun control, gun control!" is the solution here.

[comp12]

But what about the irresponsible gun owners?

Again, gun advocates have returned to the nonsensical line of "if you outlaw guns, only outlas will have guns" rhetoric. Can't we move past that?

Gun control advocates are not saying they are trying to stop all crime. Crime happens.

Gun control advocates ARE trying to stop these shooting spree outbreaks that kill innocent people in this country at rates exponentially greater than other places. Meanwhile, there are tons of statistics that prove correlations between stringency of gun laws and murder rates. Meanwhile, we have a wealth of examples and predescessors of nations that have been in America's shoes before, and have clearly successfully transformed their problem.

This is no knee-jerk reaction. This has been a long time coming, and way overdue.

I can't imagine why anyone wants to uphold the status quo here. I'm sorry that a small portion of the population will be inconvenienced, but I think the many of 10,000+ lives lost every year would be prevented in the future, with some careful legislative action.

[1Q84]

I never get involved in non-graduate school discussions on this forum, but I want to chime in here. I grew up around guns, used to shoot .22 rifles competitively, and have a deep understanding and respect for the power of firearms. I always try to add this perspective to "gun-control" discussions because there is a lot more to "gun control" than people carrying around handguns in their pockets, and sometimes it's easy to forget that.

I grew up in a rural area and we would use guns to protect our animals from the coyotes that would venture on our property. We'd shoot nocturnal animals that were obviously rabid and wandering around in the daytime. We'd put injured deer laying on the side of the road after being hit by a car out of their misery. As a young female living alone in my house, I do keep a shotgun in my room when I sleep to protect myself and my property if i need to. And I know how. To me a gun is a tool more than a weapon.

There is MUCH more to the world of firearms than the handguns and assault rifles that people use to shoot other people. There are a lot of people out there that handle guns safely and use them wisely. I just hope that as we debate gun control in America we don't forget this perspective.

Now it makes sense for rural farms to have a access to a rifle of some kind for reasons you outlined above, in much the same way that it makes sense to drive a gigantic 4-wheel drive pickup if you live on a rural farm but not if you live in downtown Manhattan. But aside from the incidence of a rabid animal, I still don't see why it's necessary to own or use a gun.

Use a knife. Use pepper-spray. Use a taser. Use a captive-bolt pistol like Mr. Chigurh. Use anything else but a gun.

It makes no sense to me why people insist on having guns lying around their house. I'm not talking about you in particular but people need to realise that if you have it lying around, the kids will think it's cool and take it to school; if you hide it, the kids will find it; if you lock it up, the kids will find the key, and on and on. Why run the risk? No one plans to have a gun accident at home.

I totally agree. I grew up in a housing projects in Brooklyn where the only people with guns were the police and the criminals. The criminals would've gotten their weapons regardless, whatever the gun control laws were. And I don't know the exact numbers, but I would imagine that the majority of violent crimes committed via gun are by criminals of some sort who accessed the guns illegally. Gun control really only affects the law abiding citizens who 999 out of 1,000 aren't going to commit some dangerous crime. City people fail to realize that guns are a big part of people's lives, and rightfully so, like MoJingly mentioned, such as people in rural areas, farm areas, etc who use them on a regular basis as a "tool." I don't own a gun but I'd feel safe knowing that I could get one because no way I'd want the only people with them to be the police and the criminals.

Same old rhetoric. This is not 1776. This is not the Wild West. You are not a cowboy.

Yes, criminals access guns illegally. No one is talking about gang warfare and robberies here. The fact is that in every single one of these mass murders, the gun (or guns) have been legally acquired and kept "for sport" or whatever inane reason people have for leaving pistols lying around their house.

[damequixote]

Exactly. Generally speaking, the people who commit these mass murders of late aren't the kind of "criminals" with access to those who sell illegal or unregistered guns. The assertion that criminals will get guns no matter what doesn't really have relevance here.

[Two Espressos]

Exactly. Generally speaking, the people who commit these mass murders of late aren't the kind of "criminals" with access to those who sell illegal or unregistered guns. The assertion that criminals will get guns no matter what doesn't really have relevance here.

Yes, this. And I have no problem with farmers and such owning hunting rifles and using them as tools when needed. I live in a quasi-rural area (there are farms near me), but I still don't think my neighbors need assault weapons or anything like that. You don't need to spray three dozen bullets into a rabid animal to kill it.

[ANDS!]

This is no knee-jerk reaction. This has been a long time coming, and way overdue.

Yes it is. It has been repeated over and over again - CT has some of the strictest gun access laws in the country, and one of the lowest in gun ownership. But the first thing folks grabbed on to was "Lets start talking about guns. . ." Ignoring the other more salient and defined issues that existed to create this problem. No one is talking about America's culture problem. No one is talking about our mental health problem. No what we are doing is digging into the old tired well to blast a community based on the actions of a few. Gee, where have we seen that before. It's funny how certain tactics become acceptable when it's addressing something you disagree with.

Edited December 18, 2012 by ANDS!

[damequixote]

I think most of the people posting here are very concerned about the culture of violence and our high rate of mental illness in the U.S., but guns are part of the issue too and regulating guns is one of the best ways to make these problems less of an immediate threat to others. In China and Japan there are mass stabbings where very few (often no) people die; obviously in the U.S. this is not the case. Guns don't kill people, but they sure make it a hell of a lot easier.

[1Q84]

So... I'm just going to leave this here.

Utah boy brings gun to school, cites Newtown fears

[budgiepie]

Mental health needs a rehaul, there's ridiculous amounts of stigma attached to it still. You don't hear many people telling a diabetic it's all in their head. Not to mention access to mental health. Then to add onto the dozens of issues we have a culture where image is everything and violence is cool. Lastly, I haven't heard of guns being used against tyranny since the 1800's and guns are no match for tanks and drones. Just saying.

[ZacharyObama]

Well we now know, the NRA Proposal: an armed guard in every school. So who's buying the kevlar backpack now?

 

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