Firearms

[jrgen]

What about people who only hunt as a hobby?

Hunting should exist only to provide necessities such as food and clothing. Hunting for these things is ok IMO, but hunting for fun is something I strongly disagree with.

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.

It is way easier to kill someone with a gun than with a knife. You don't stab someone by mistake because you are nervous, but it's very easy to just pull the trigger in a stressed situation. It is not easier to defend yourself with a gun in your posession. It might help you protect your property, but it only endangers your life further.

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.

Well, to make criminals aware that you're willing to use your firearms, you need to have shot someone before.

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.).

Rights are something you are granted, not something you have by nature. I just don't understand why it's important for so many to have the right to own tools of killing.