Politics & News > Politics

Only logged in members can reply and interact with the post.
Join SimilarWorlds for FREE »

I Don't Think Guns Make Us Safer

I think it is a double edge sword. One on end, you would think having guns means security and therefor protection, which equals safety. On the other end, the gun you have to protect yourself with, will the others will have them as well so the likely hood of resolving matters peaceful has a good chance to escalate to violence.

Top | Newest First | Oldest First

jackson55 · M

In the right hands they make us safer.

shadowplay · 22-25, M

The biggest risk of carrying a gun is can you use it to kill someone? i bet most can not ,not when your face to face with another living breathing person. most if not military or police trained will hesitate if not outright freeze. shooting a person is not like shooting a target.that hesitation will get you killed,many times with your own weapon ,which has been taken from you .if you did not have the gun ,you might have survived. are you ready to kill?

walabby · 61-69, M

Yeah. I wonder what the statistics say about the number of assaults/robberies that were prevented by UNTRAINED civilians that actually fired their weapon?

kayoshin · 36-40, M

I agree there is nothing safer about everyone having a gun. A gun is a weapon not a shield. Besides if a person goes nuts it's better that they don't have the firepower to kill a bunch of random people and with a bit of luck he can be detained before he even kills one. If everyone goes armed it does nothing by the time they can realize what's going on he can fire off several shots etc. The silly things people say are "criminals will get guns anyway", which is true but HOW MANY of them? It's not the same when career criminals and organized crime cells have guns to when every little pickpocket is packing and each and every crime comes with a gun attached. If criminals know you have guns they'll just have more guns and shoot first cause you know... they're criminals. While in most countries criminals don't carry guns cause they know their victims don't either and small criminal activities don't end with someone getting shot dead. The bans on guns might seem inefective because some criminals do have them even in european countries that ban guns, but HOW MANY do have them, very few simply because being a banned and scarce object (to sell an illegal gun you'd first have to steal one and since close to no citizens have one you have little merchandise for a lot of demand) and you know what scarce offer means right? High prices. So an illegal gun might be a couple hundred in the US while it will be closer to thousands in a country with a gun ban, and it doesn't even make sense to use a gun in a crime since it makes you easier to find in a gun ban country. So you'll say "oh but the criminals would still come at you with a knife!" true.. but how many people have you ever heard got stabbed in a "drive by" or innocent bystanders stabbed in a public hit on someone?

walabby · 61-69, M

Whether a gun carrying population makes people safer against assault is always going to be debated. One aspect of a large number of gun carrying civilians that is not debatable is the number of accidental shootings....

TexChik · F

Oh please ... medical accidents , car wrecks , work place accidents are all much more common than accidental shootings. Schools should teach firearm safety . Period

Marriedfeet · 51-55, F

@TexChik: True. But there is also strong regulation on all those things from medical practice to driving a car etc.. I don't think anyone should have their guns taken away from them.. but to be apposed to background checks and getting rid of gun show loop holes.. there has to be common ground met in the middle.

TexChik · F

@KathyW: all that is liberal BS propaganda ... you can NOT buy a gun at a gun show with out first filling out the paperwork , having a valid drivers license ,And then having an FFL dealer make the call to the FBI to do a back ground check . There are no gun show loop holes. Just libs, lying about it .

BizSuitStacy · M

There is a study published at Harvard's law school. It states that 90% of firearm homicides are committed by someone with at least 1 felony on their record. The average is 4 felonies. The point is that gun crimes are almost always committed by people with a history of violence. Given there were more than 9,000 firearm homicides last year, and God knows how many shootings, I'd say far too many people got access to a gun who are not legally eligible.

And guns are a deterrent. When polled, criminals say they look for situations in which they won't encounter someone who is armed.

View 9 more replies »

BizSuitStacy · M

@kayoshin: Immigration? Odd, I've heard that explanation before.

Criminoligists seem to believe that the spike in violent crime, and in particular gun crime, was a result of the NFA Act. Criminals simply have less to fear.

And yes, I did track the rates of homicide and violent crime in years subsequent to the NFA Act. The rates remained elevated for a number of years until the police force was increased in order to get the homicide rate back down to pre 1997 levels, however, assaults and other forms of violence are still high...higher than in the US.

Your theory that it took time to confiscate guns from criminals has merit.

kayoshin · 36-40, M

Of course they ard but also you keep ignoring the population density while us is a continent sized country UK is a similarly multicultural country with a large segment of population on welfare and just above and they are framed up on a tiny island. Why don't. You compare with countries that have the same policy but a lower population rate.
Again you act like crime would be lower without guns when you have no proof of that except for guesswork, while poverty and overpopulation are proven to equate with higher crime rates.

kayoshin · 36-40, M

On the police numbers I wouldn't. Worry about that USA has the biggest and most armed police force. The first years would suck but the long term benefits would be great. Just like your ancestors took a gamble and fought the British or another fought a civil war, a generation needs to be brave and fight that war on guns and take therisks for their sons to have a better life. People these days are just more cowardly and prefer the fake sense of safety of the gun. The reality is your gun sits at home while you get robbed and shot on the street.

Tonydang · M

I personally think it would be a scary thought knowing everyone has a gun and on a bad day might actually use it in a way we are lucky in Australia our gun laws are a lot tighter but on a positive side at least having guns you might be able to thin out the heard by shooting all the stupid people !!!! Lol 😂

BizSuitStacy · M

And what is the fastest growing crime in Australia? People illegally carrying concealed firearms. Huh!

Ynotisay · M

Because America! And because Freedom!

[image deleted]

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

View 4 more replies »

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

BizSuitStacy · M

Consider this...since 1993, gun violence in the US has been declining steadily year over year. It's down more than 50% since then, and you can verify that via the FBI Uniform Crime Report. There were roughly 180 millions legally owned firearms at that time. Today, it's estimated that Americans legally own approximately 400 million firearms. So...gun crime is down significantly, yet gun ownership is up significantly. These facts are undeniable.

Now...I'm not going to say that reduction in violence is the direct result of increased gun ownership...but it's clear that more guns DO NOT make us less safe.

walabby · 61-69, M

It is certainly true that gun violence has been declining for the last 25 years or so in the USA. The reasons for this are not so clear. I heard of a theory that put forward the possibility that the introduction of unleaded gasoline in the early 70's has had a lot to do with the reduction of violence. There was quite a lot of evidence to support this theory, but I suppose we'll never know for sure...

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

Marriedfeet · 51-55, F

totally agree.

TexChik · F

So what ? You're going to cower in the face of your attacker expecting someone else to risk their life to defend yours?

MartiniTime · 56-60, M

It's a complicated issue. I will admit that I am in favor of gun control. If there is a gun around, I want to control it. HA!

cruzelya · 36-40, F

we had a 2 day active shooter safety drill for faculty staff and students where I teach. it was noted that there was a legally armed student at the Oregon community college mass shooting who simply escaped and did not engage the shooter. we was instructed that a legally armed person is not an impromptu police officer.

walabby · 61-69, M

Compare USA crime and shooting statistics with other countries.. The horse has probably bolted, though. There's probably no possibility of any change.

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

walabby · 61-69, M

@OhAngel: Oh, there's lots of things that could be done, and many are in some states, but the gun lobby seems to think that ANY regulation is going to be the thin edge of the wedge...

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

BizSuitStacy · M

@Ynotisay: accusing me of lying?http://www.theacru.org/harvard_study_gun_control_is_counterproductive/

There's the synopsis of the article. In it is the link to download the .pdf