Firearms

[Madame Adequate]

Here in America, our entire culture is based mainly on violence. Extreme violence in the media? A-ok perfectly American. Mother's breastfeeding their babies? AH NO SEX! HUMAN BODY! PROTECT THE CHILDREN! I don't have problem with most gun use, but the lift of the assault weapon ban was idiotic. No citizen needs their own personal Uzi. It's not like that this will stop criminals from gaining them, but it could cut down on the many accidents.

The automatic weapons ban was horrifically overexaggerated. It actually banned very little. Changing the stock, changing the ammo, and changing the barrel (I can't remember the specifics, it's been awhile since I read up on it and I'm no firearms expert anyway.) was about all that was required. It didn't actually prevent a good 90% of the guns people presume it did from being legally traded. (Moreover conditions on trading made it possible to trade previously owned guns perfectly legally, if I recall correctly.)

The reason for allowing law-abiding citizens to carry firearms is quite easily summed up in Gary Kleck's studies on firearms. A particular study indicates that as many as - and maybe even more than - 2.5 million Americans per year use firearms to prevent crimes in progress, and in the abundant majority without doing more than simply displaying the weapon.

In addition, the study indicates what whilst non-violent resistence results in injury for about 25% of assault cases, the figure drops to only slightly more than 12% for those who used guns to defend themselves.

http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/kleck.study.html

http://www.guncite.com/gcwhoGK.html (Read especially Dr. Wolfgang's peer review.)

If there are less weapons in a society, less potentional killers will have a weapon in this society. And if someone breaks into your house with a gun, you are not less likely to be shot if you run up to the burgular with a weapon. No matter how illogical it may seem, handing out guns to everyone does not increase safety, nor does it decrease gun-related crime. I'm not saying your government is breeding dangerous people. I'm saying it's their job to protect you from them. If they fail to do so and you need fire-arms to protect yourself, your government has then, in my opinion, failed on this point.

The first sentence is a flawed argument. Guns make it easier to kill people (Put aside that it makes it easier for people to defend themselves.), but if you're determined enough to kill, I daresay you aren't going to make much odds between a gun and a knife.

If a burglar knows his victims may be in the possession of firearms they are willing to use, he will be dissuaded. This isn't speculation or supposition, this is the proven case. Moreover, if he's a burglar he won't care about the law anyway and thus may already have a gun. I'd rather have one of my own to at least even the field than have to try and take down an armed criminal with a can of soda or something.

Finally, you are misunderstanding some of the founding tenants of the USA. Self-reliance and self-defense are extremely important factors in many places and have been since frontier times. The two main reasons for owning a firearm are that 1) You recognize it is an impossibility for all but the most totalitarian of states to be able to actually prevent all crime, and 2) You understand that there may be situations where the government itself is incapable or unwilling to defend you, or even that it may be oppressing you (Which is why gun control arouses such heated debatel; it's seen as doing exactly that, and paving the way for more in the future.).