Views on Guns

Morph · Views on Guns

Due to the interest of the gun question shown in the Scottish Politics section, why don't people with any view on this matter place it here instead.

I am personally against the idea of armed society. One of the main problems which i have with this is the idea of protection. If every house has a gun, wouldn't you see an increase in house break ins involving guns? If people and the law enforcement agencies carry guns then this will encourage criminals to carry more sophisticated firearms. Where will this spiral end.

I do see the need for armed response teams to deal with crimes involving guns but this should be a highly specilised role and not one for every member of the police force.

Babygael

For me there is no right or wrong answer,each person should have the right to exercise their freedom of choice.You cannot have a caretaker Goverment, sh@# happens! it cannot be controlled.

Personally I dont want to arm myself because if I were to be in a situation where I would have to use it,I dont think I could live with the concequences.But at the same time,that doesn't mean I disapprove of others exercising their freedom of choice, by no means!

Instead of looking at that smoke screen, why dont you look at far worse situations, i.e http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1071812006 I put that link there but you may have to go back to the 25th July issue when you get there, look under "Sex attacker cronin's Red roses....SO many times the judgements in court are a joke!
This kind of crap is far worse than allowing law abiding citizens the choice of using (,or not,) fire arms!

these Judges set loose manaics knowingly on law abiding citizens who repeatedly harm innocent people.I say they who do that must be held accountable!! After all, if i were to release a dangerous animal on a busy high street,who do you think would be the worse person in the world in the paper next day? But its OK to set free known madmen??

Gimme a law abiding citizen with a gun and a license any day!!

kathyv

As an American who owns a gun I feel that I have a lot of input for you! LOL

I voted 'to a degree'. I think the right to keep and bear arms WAS very necessary at one time. When that was set up there were viable reasons for it, protection against natural elements, ie: bears, hostile neighbors. There were survival reasons, hunting to feed and clothe the family. There were also millitia reasons because there wasn't a formal military and these people were fighting against one of the most powerful and firmly established armies in the world. (red coats)

Today there are good reasons to own and use a gun. I like to target shoot and shooting sports are a big industry in som areas of the US. My hubby also hunts in the Fall for meat. We obey all gun and property laws in our area and respect the rights of property owners in regard to land use. We also buy the proper tags and licenses each year in order to responsibly keep our rights. We live in an area which offers places and venues to use guns safely.

What I disagree with are the masses of people who feel they need a gun to protect themselves, against WHAT? The world, their neighbors? Law abiding people who feel they must carry a gun in case they are attacked by someone? Unless these law abiding people are wandering around with thier guns drawn at the ready it's hardly likely they will be able to get it into place before it's too late and many times they have gotten this thing out of fear and haven't bothered to learn how to use it safely. There are stories all the time about people accidently shooting someone because they didn't know how to handle their gun or an other person finds it and uses it because the owner didn't know how to safely store it.

Granted, crooks are going to have weapons whether it's a gun or a baseball bat or a car, if someone intends to hurt you or steal from you, owning a gun is not going to stop them. Knowing how to use a gun isn't going to stop them.

American gun laws only keep the honest honest, the dishonest will always find ways around the law anyway.

Cymro

I think the US rules are a bit too liberal. But what we need to remember is that guns aren't dangerous. It's the people that use them wrongly that are dangerous.

I've used airguns since I was young (11) and have had 1 or 2 lucky escapes - a friend and myself where standing on a shed roof shooting crows when I was about 14 and he was using my shoulder as a rest for the gun, he stood back 1 step to many and fell of the roof just as he was pulling the trigger. I felt the pellet fly past my right ear but luckily I stayed still and it went straight past. Had I moved to the right I'd have been shot in the head.

But that was our fault for being stupid. I've used them 100's of times on targets and while shooting crows on farms.

I can kill someone with a tin openier if I tried hard enough. Should we legisltate on them too?

Morph

so do you think that is a more education based approach which would better deal with gun problems? eg talks in schools by victims or raising profiles of gun safety rather than just a ban?

garye

kathyv

All the education in the world isn't going to stop someone using a gun to commit a crime IF they are intent on doing so. If they can't get a gun, which isn't too difficult for a determined criminal, they will use what ever is at hand.

The US has legistlation controlling the purchase of guns which keep the honest that way.

What it boils down to is this: How do you convince the criminal to NOT commit a violent crime with any kind of a lethal tool?

IF Convenor

Even though you could throw a knife or a rock, in general the difference between guns and other weapons is that a gun can be used effectively at a greater distance from the target. With other weapons the intended victim has a better chance of defending him/herself, or of getting away.

kathyv

That is true but being shot doesn't automatically make you die.

And still the person using the rock or the knife decides to use it to cause injury. The big cry in the US is that guns cause all this trouble when really it's the person using it that causes the trouble. No one blames the car of the drunk driver that mows the family down on the street, they blame the driver (or the person who served him the drink, anything to avoid blame where blame is due sometines). If someone commits a robbery with a knife, and the crook injures or kills the victim, no one blames the knife for the deed. But, let a kid find Dad's pistol stored incorrectly with bullits in the chamber or the clip and someone gets shot, the parents can be held accountable BUT all the anti-gun people use it to convince the world that the gun did this thing.

I think the US should have some kind of use or need law similar to the UK. Landowners, hunters, shooting sports participants, even collectors should be able to have them but what in the world does the person living in New York City need with a hand gun?

Blackadder

Americans are rather quaint, aren't they? We get around ten at a time and use them instead of clay pigeons. See how they like being shot at indiscriminately. By the by ... it was something of a mistake allowing the firearms industry to thrive. If you had to use a sword to make your kill, I rather think there would be less of it. There's nothing like a foot of steel twisting your innards to make you see you are wrong to challenge a Blackadder. Not that it would be me doing it ... good lord no! that's what henchmen are for ... or Baldrick if I'm a bit skint.

Cymro

I think we need to look at educating people about safe use of these kind of things yes. At the moment all we're told is Guns = dangerous. Which is fine, but many accidents still happen with guns, especially airguns and other guns used as sports or on farms. It's for these people that we need education.

It's missuse of guns thats dangerous, be it willfully i.e. use if as a weapon, or accidentally while using it for other reasons.

Aventinian

Well Scotland has the highest murder rate in Western Europe if I recall correctly, and also perhaps the highest rate of violent crime. And even with todays gun laws (probably some of the strictest in the world) you still get incidents - for example, some drunk farmer once shot out the windows in my local pub with his shotgun because he'd had an argument with the landlord.

Let's put it this way: I'd like to have a gun to be able to protect myself. The government doesn't permit me to have one. Thus I am not happy. But equally I am torn between two views since I am happy that I am neither being shot at by the police or the local yobs - at least they'd only stab you.

Morph

well thats the problem should we be so worried about guns if our criminals seem to be so at home with knifes, bars and bottles,aybe we should educate about these first?

sandmountainslim

As someone who lives in the Southeast which is according to statistics where up to 70% of American guns are located I feel qualified to speak on this issue.
I am also a former employee of the local police dept which I believe also gives me a bit of insight.
The fact that practically every house in the county is a armed household does by no means "cause armed breakins" , rather it discourages home invasions as any sensible criminal is hesitant to break into a house knowing there is even a chance that he will be shot. I have never heard of a home invasion taking place in DeKalb County, burglaries while people are gone, Yes but no home invasions.
Compare this to "safe" areas like New York or Washington DC where guns are completely outlawed and you should see the point I am making.

Babygael

August 1st 1747....

On this day the act of proscription was introduced at Westminster.The Act forbade the wearing of Tartan in any shape or form and the carrying of a weapon by the Scots.
The legal penalty for a first offence was 6 months in jail,a second offence was 7 years penal servitude in the Colonies.These penalties were often not always adhered to and death was often a result of breach of the proscription.

I ken whit ma answer is!

Morph

well, i might pick up a gun then and get a free flight to austrialia Cool

Babygael

If you are a one dimension guy, then yes you migh! I get your drift!