Friday, October 2, 2015

ARGUMENTS AGAINST GUN CONTROL

As far as I can see there are three (3) basic arguments being made by anti gun control Republicans and the N.R.A:


  1. The problem is that there are not enough guns in possession of the people.  If every one had a gun, to defend themselves, there would be no massacres.  The problem is that there is a historical record, in the U.S., which completely disproves this contention.  In the newly acquired Western territories of the U.S., guns were ubiquitous and problems of violence were rampant.  In many instances town or city marshals were appointed to temporarily confiscate all guns at the town or city line as being the only way to keep the peace.  To my knowledge no case was ever brought before the Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of the confiscations. Perhaps it was because there was no N.R.A., or rather judges, in those times, had a different concept of what a "Well regulated militia" meant.  In any event, in the U.S., we have been there, done that.  
  2. Gun regulations and laws will be ignored by criminals so it is futile to have them.  It follows from that, since scofflaws will go through red lights, they should be abolished.  Likewise, since many people commit traffic infractions, let's get rid of all traffic laws.  Think how entertaining a trip to the supermarket will become with no traffic regulations.
  3. Stuff happens.  There is no need to act rashly.  What's the rush? Yes, mass murders are becoming more frequent but a few more deaths of our children are no reason to be stampeded into something that has been going on all these years.

4 comments:

  1. Gun advocates claim that if students on the Oregon campus carried guns that they could have stopped the shooter. Flaws in that argument: 1) There were other concealed carry students on campus with guns ... none helped. 2) The campus shooter was a student of that campus, himself ... he killed people with his gun. 3) Police killed the shooter, justifiably, but it's still a life lost. 4) Nobody would have been killed by anybody had no guns been present on campus.

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  2. We already have "gun control".
    University campuses already do not allow students to carry guns.
    The person shooting was already breaking multiple laws, including the gun control laws.
    The "nobody would have been killed by anybody" is not provable as there are many instances of multiple killings without guns (bombs, vehicles, even knives)

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    1. As long s the loopholes allow 40% of gun sales to go on without background checks, the best that can be said of existing gun control laws is that they are woefully inadequate. As for the statistics, how many mass murders have been committed with bombs, vehicles or knives as compared to guns?

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  3. You are wrong, Jeanie. The Oregon campus shooter was a student of that campus, a legal gun owner of numerous weapons (at least 13), and all were traced to a federal firearms dealer. Currently, Oregon state law does allow guns on public school campuses (private vary by institution), although some campuses do have restrictions. There were students on campus legally carrying guns at the time of the shooting. UCC's Student Code of Conduct, Sec. 721.3, Part 19 of Student Misconduct states that students may carry on campus with written permission granted in advance. This change requiring written permission became effective March of 2015.

    As Herb mentions, 40% of all gun transfers are considered private and do not require background checks. Also, persons already owning guns, who are later declared incompetent or mentally unstable, are not required by law to relinquish their weapons. Neither are people with restraining orders or domestic abuse charges required to relinquish their weapons. According to federal data, the majority of gun deaths in America are suicides, not homicides as most people believe. The majority of homicides in America are of of family members and relatives, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, and accidental shootings (often children). Very few gun deaths are by a good citizen gun owner shooting a criminal. So how exactly are guns making us safer?

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