If I arm a mine and bury it, I've done nothing overtly harmful. It's the poor fool who steps on it who's to blame. So long as I put up a warning sign, I should be able to mine my lawn. As for nuclear weapons, I'm simply saying I should have a right to own them. After all, we know that the weapon itself is harmless; it's just me that's dangerous, exactly the same as it is with guns. If you can say, "a gun is just a gun, it's the person who chooses to kill", then you can say the same for any weapon that requires a conscious decision to use it.Originally Posted by Sasquatch
It'd mean the authorities have more power to remove guns from more people. Just because someone's never been caught and convicted doesn't mean they've never been involved in crime. If guns are simply tougher to get, and there are more restrictions on who can own what, then it's easier overall for weapons to be taken away from those who intend to use them illegally.More gun control laws would only take firearms away from law-abiding citizens.Fact: In the US, if you own a gun and keep it in your house for 'self defence', there is one chance in a million that you will use it against an intruder. There is one chance in fifty thousand that an intruder will take your gun and use it against YOU.It MIGHT effect the numbers of firearms in the hands of criminals, but in doing so, it would durastically decrease the entire idea of an armed populace, and the many many criminals that would still have, or be able to get ahold of, guns would encounter very little resistance with whatever muggings, rapes, assaults, robberies, and home invasions they intend to take part in.
Gun licences and other controls don't prevent all people from owning weapons; it simply makes it tougher to do so. Criminals, both convicted and intending, lose their access to - and ownership of - weapons more easily. The police can't take weapons off "bad people" unless those weapons are prohibited by law.
I can't imagine a more fearful climate to live in, than one where everyone you pass on the street could be carrying a loaded, concealed firearm.