I just do not believe that the banning, regulating, controlling, etc... of guns would lessen the amount of gun related violence in this country. In a perfect world, maybe.
I do not personally own any guns, nor do I wish to own any guns, so I am not speaking from the "Don't take away my guns!" point of view. It's just that I do not believe that limiting the kinds of guns I can own, or making me register the guns that I own, or preventing me from owning guns at all, will prevent people like Rodrick Dantzler from murdering people with a gun. Do you think he owned that gun legally? Nope. The laws to prevent him from owning a gun are already in place (he was a convicted felon) and it certainly didn't make any difference.
I'm sorry, but the "only criminals will have guns" argument is quite valid. If it is illegal to own a gun... criminals will still own guns. Stopping me from owning a gun does nothing but prevent me from owning a gun... it doesn't stop gun related crime.
Also... comparing the gun ownership issue in the U.S. to another country is misleading. This country was literally founded on the right to bear arms (among other things, obviously) and the right to bear arms is an integral part of the American culture... unlike elsewhere. That's why people are so resistant to the idea of gun control. It asks them to change a deep seated cultural mainstay. Sooner convince the Brits to give up tea.
I find it sad that anyone would actually believe that the simple act of owning a gun will turn a person into a killer. If a domestic argument ends in gun fire then the people involved were obviously violent people. If they didn't have a gun, a kitchen knife may have sufficed. The vast majority of gun owners NEVER end up shooting another person. Not even those they may occasionally wish to see dead. Owning a gun does NOT make it more likely that a person will kill someone.
Most gun related murder is not committed with legally owned firearms. More laws against owning guns will not (cannot) change that. The only thing that could change that would be making guns scarce and difficult to obtain... and THAT is an impossible task. Make obtaining one illegal and I can get one from the black market with ease. There are far too many guns in existence to prevent that, which is what I mean by 'it's far too late'.
I do not personally own any guns, nor do I wish to own any guns, so I am not speaking from the "Don't take away my guns!" point of view. It's just that I do not believe that limiting the kinds of guns I can own, or making me register the guns that I own, or preventing me from owning guns at all, will prevent people like Rodrick Dantzler from murdering people with a gun. Do you think he owned that gun legally? Nope. The laws to prevent him from owning a gun are already in place (he was a convicted felon) and it certainly didn't make any difference.
I'm sorry, but the "only criminals will have guns" argument is quite valid. If it is illegal to own a gun... criminals will still own guns. Stopping me from owning a gun does nothing but prevent me from owning a gun... it doesn't stop gun related crime.
Also... comparing the gun ownership issue in the U.S. to another country is misleading. This country was literally founded on the right to bear arms (among other things, obviously) and the right to bear arms is an integral part of the American culture... unlike elsewhere. That's why people are so resistant to the idea of gun control. It asks them to change a deep seated cultural mainstay. Sooner convince the Brits to give up tea.
I find it sad that anyone would actually believe that the simple act of owning a gun will turn a person into a killer. If a domestic argument ends in gun fire then the people involved were obviously violent people. If they didn't have a gun, a kitchen knife may have sufficed. The vast majority of gun owners NEVER end up shooting another person. Not even those they may occasionally wish to see dead. Owning a gun does NOT make it more likely that a person will kill someone.
Most gun related murder is not committed with legally owned firearms. More laws against owning guns will not (cannot) change that. The only thing that could change that would be making guns scarce and difficult to obtain... and THAT is an impossible task. Make obtaining one illegal and I can get one from the black market with ease. There are far too many guns in existence to prevent that, which is what I mean by 'it's far too late'.
