Scribd Guns Debate

Guns! Guns! Guns! Posted 12 hours ago by philippi666

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violence

gun

control

Description: What’s with this fascination Americans have with owning guns? To people from other countries, where buying a gun is a big deal and requires a plethora of permissions, this is truly baffling. What’s with this fascination Americans have with owning guns? To people from other countries, where buying a gun is a big deal and requires a plethora of permissions, this is truly baffling. Most of us ‘foreigners’ would not even contemplate buying a gun. What the heck do we need it for? Protection: against whom? Petty criminals and muggers don’t come after us with handguns: it’s just as difficult for them to get one as it is for law abiding citizens.

Every time there is a tragedy, like the horrific shootings at Virginia Tech, there is a hue and cry about having a re-look at gun control laws: but nothing happens. Incident after incident takes place, of some disgruntled employee striding into his place of work and shooting indiscriminately: but nothing happens: There was a justified uproar after the Columbine school massacre: but nothing happened. Won’t we ever learn?

Some would argue that controls are in place; citing the Brady Bill, for example. What controls; and how effective are they? Sure, the gun seller is required to do a ‘background check’ on the purchaser, before making the sale. Let’s get real here. The guy running a gun store is interested in getting rid of his inventory; preferably at a decent profit. He cannot second guess what the purchaser intends to do with the handgun; nor does he want to. The law requires him to verify whether the buyer has a rap sheet; and that is all he does.

Is that really a deterrent? Let’s face it. The overwhelming majority of folks who walk into a store to buy a gun do not have criminal records. They are normal law abiding citizens, like you and me. So you cannot stop them from owning a gun. It’s enshrined in the Constitution, for Pete’s sake. But what happens when one of those ‘normal law abiding citizens’ goes sick in the head, like that student at Virginia Tech. It’s too late, then, to bemoan the fact that he was able to lay his hands on a gun. Why shouldn’t he? It’s so damn easy.

So is there a quick fix? Of course not. Ideally, every person wanting to buy a gun should be required to first undergo a psychiatric evaluation, to determine his suitability to own one. But that would be quite impractical; and would probably put off most people intending to buy guns - too much bother, not to mention invasion of privacy and all that stuff. Exactly! It should be too much of a bother. It should be difficult and a pain-in-the-ass to buy a gun.

It’s not that inconceivable. Most of the rest of the world makes it difficult. In India, for example, the average citizen would not even know where to go to buy a gun; and he certainly would not be able to get one over the counter. He would need to wade through a morass of red tape first.

Owning a gun is a big deal. Do you suppose individual liberties and constitutional rights mean didley-squat, right now, to the parents of the young students, whose lives were so needlessly and indiscriminately snuffed out at Virginia Tech? You do not need to invade a country to find them: a handgun or rifle in the hands of a mentally unstable individual is a weapon of mass destruction. For God’s sake! Let something happen this time. Bluetriangle3 View Fullscreen Mail Send to friend Embed: (more options) URL: Download as: Listen: Related Same author No documents found Showing 1-20 See all similar docs A KISS IS JUST A KISS By philippi666 , 13 views A clinical study has discovered that a passionate kiss may stir the loins and make the heart melt... Similarity: BEING PAUL WOLFOWITZ By philippi666 , 10 views Paul Wolfowitz – hawk extraordinaire, loyal friend of George Bush; and a bit of a player – finds ... Similarity: CAN KILLING EVER BE A MERCY? By philippi666 , 23 views Can killing, taking a human life, ever be a mercy for the victim? does a human being have the rig... Similarity: TRIUMPHING OVER ADVERSITY By philippi666 , 16 views When Danny Biddle got into the London Underground train on that fateful morning, he could hardly ... Similarity: VIAGRA FOR WOMEN By philippi666 , 40 views The pharmaceutical industry has long been searching for the female equivalent of Viagra. Research... Similarity: ARE NEW YORK’S FINEST UNDERWORKED? By philippi666 , 18 views A 13-yr-old girl in New York was handcuffed and placed under arrest in front of her classmates in... Similarity:

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Posted by MT44, (not registered) 9 minutes ago ummm, aparently you live in "happy world", where crime doesn't exist. Its not my

fault I'm getting mugged, realy I can deal with getting the stuffing beat out of me. Oh no, wait, I have a licensed gun so that I can protect myself from muggers. Also, second amendment? Posted by Famulus, (not registered) 22 minutes ago I can't believe I spelled "through" as "threw". I think I just forfeited the entire debate. *bangs head on desk* Posted by Famulus, (not registered) 34 minutes ago "do you think the Virginia Tech could have stabbed to death 32 people in minutes? no, of course not!" No. But if he did you'd be trying to outlaw knives. Ya know, all internet crime is done on a computer. So we should outlaw (or make it really difficult to get) computers as well. And drunk driving is done with alcohol and cars. Let's outlaw both of those. AIDS is spread threw sexual intercourse. We definitely need to tighten the laws on that, too. Your "atom bomb" parallelism falls apart easily because atom bombs have no other use than to kill people. Guns, on the other hand, have valid uses as hunting tools and sport/hobby marksmanship. I'd also offer up a valid use as self/property protection. But since you are anti-gun I doubt you'd accept that one. Posted by Anonymous 36 minutes ago for the poster below, that world will never exist, sorry. Guns are a tool, nothing more. They serve both good and evil intentions. Hero and villain alike. Guns also save a lot of lives and prevent numerous crimes, funny you never see that on the news though. You make a comment "Petty criminals and muggers don’t come after us with handguns: it’s just as difficult for them to get one as it is for law abiding citizens." well I’m happy you’ve never had to deal with that, but it does happen a lot, especially around here, I live in Detroit, you know "murder capital of the world". So trust me, its not unreasonable to legally carry a firearm for self protection. Just because the criminal doesn’t have a gun doesn’t mean he isn’t a lethal threat. WAY MORE people die in the US each year because of blunt force trauma then by gunshot wounds. A man with nothing but a pipe, bat, knife, whatever is still a very serious threat. Not to mention if there’s more than one attacker. So the “people don’t need it for protection” logic is bunk, just because you’ve never personally experienced it doesn’t mean that type of crime doesn’t happen. Get rid of guns totally? well it wont work, just as any other item/service/whatever has been made illegal or banned people still will have access to it, look at prohibition, drugs, prostitution, gambling, etc..etc..etc... if people want it, it wont matter if its illegal or not, they will be able to get it. Posted by Anonymous 45 minutes ago Famulus - your logic is irrelevant. By your logic, atom bombs dont kill people; people kill people. So let everyone have their own atom bomb if they want! The issue is that humans and society evolves much more slowly than our weaponry does. You are right: people do kill people. But why give them the tools to do it more easily with faster results? do you think the Virginia Tech could have stabbed to death 32 people in minutes? no, of course not! Posted by Anonymous 1 hour ago What is needed is a world where guns are not needed. Until we find a way to get there a need for guns will continue to exist.

G. Posted by Famulus, (not registered) 1 hour ago Your logic is knee-jerk and flawed. You blame guns for gun deaths. But the tired mantra of gun nuts holds true: "Guns don't kill people; people kill people." People who want to do great harm will do great harm regardless of the availability of guns. Timothy McVeigh (the Oklahoma City bomber) was quite successful in killing/injuring over a hundred people without firing a single shot. The 9/11 hijackers were equally successful. The 3/11 train bombers in Madrid are another example. Nothing is gained by placing blame and restriction on the weapon. Blame is deserved only by the one who pulls the trigger. I myself am not a gun nut. I do not own any guns. However, I cannot follow the reactionary logic that seeks to further inflate government restriction and bureaucracy in the name of security. Take responsibility for your own actions. Hold others responsible for theirs. The tools are not the criminals. Traffic Analytics: Most recent 97. Wed Apr 96. Wed Apr 95. Wed Apr 94. Wed Apr 93. Wed Apr

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