USA and Guns; Yay or Nay?

[Corey]

*hasn't read all the replies cos lazy*

I'm absolutely terrified of guns. I'm an American and have never handled a loaded gun, and never plan to. In my personal opinion, I think guns should be pretty harshly controlled. I don't think the argument "guns don't kill people, people kill people" is valid at all, because it's much more difficult and personal to kill someone without a gun. And then there's the argument that "spoons can kill people, ban spoons," which is quite ridiculous. Guns are specifically made to kill, while spoons, knives, etc aren't, which is the argument Jacob made.

They say that if people can't have guns, then people will just use knives or whatever else they can. And that's true. But they're still not as dangerous, lethal and long-range as a gun. And I know who I would rather be facing.

This. And again, the purpose of kitchen knives are not for killing (though there are combat knives, which is a whole other thing). Killing with knives or even bare hands is much more personal than just shooting someone, and it's be much harder for some people to do because of how personal it is. There are definitely some depraved individuals that could easily kill with or without a gun, but not all criminals are psychotic. They're no saints either, but the point is that the personal level of the crime would put a good chunk of people off.

I have also always wondered, and I will pose the question to your guys now... why do they need guns capable of killing so easily? Why not use tasers or tranquilizers or even a gun that only allows 2 shots or something that can incapacitate but not usually kill? Then you are still protected, right? But you can't go massacring people.

And this too! There are a very small minority who advocate from eliminating guns all together, but most just want guns controlled. It just needs to be more difficult to get guns, with all the loopholes closed. Getting a gun is pretty easy in America, with loopholes that allow criminals able to get guns legally (gun shows...). Banning assault rifles and ammunition clips is definitely what needs to be done, as well as mandating complete background checks. Like Jacob said, this makes it much more difficult for some to fall through the cracks.

If self-defense is the argument, then a small pistol with 2-3 shots should definitely suffice...I'm honestly not sure if I could shoot someone even in self-defense. If you can live with taking another life, no matter what the situation, then you're doing something better than me. If you want to hunt and you're not a convicted criminal, then you should have no problem getting a gun to hunt with. And I'm not sure what people have against being registered into a database if you buy a gun. You have to do that to get Sudafed, COLD MEDICINE, to prevent you from making meth. If you're not buying the gun to kill someone with, then what's the issue?

Clearly there is no way to completely eliminate gun violence, but it can certainly be reduced. There's no way to completely eliminate drugs either, but we still have drug laws, which makes drugs harder to get and harder to abuse. And I also agree with Sarah that the US maybe too far in to this whole gun craze...But that doesn't mean that nothing should be done.