Gun Violence and the outlawing of firearms in America
 

I ran a test some years ago, with a couple of my personal firearms. One was an AR-15, the other an SKS. I loaded both and put them on the back porch of my rural home under the watchful eye of a DVR video camera. For one week, the firearms sat there on the back porch, fully loaded... seven days.

During those seven days, neither gun ever attempted to kill anyone.

they both lay there, behaving in a peaceful manner, never acting in aggression or making any movement whatsoever.

however...

in that same seven day period, 18 people were arrested for DUI, 3 for reckless driving, 1 for endangerment of a child, 4 for methamphetamine possession, 15 for shoplifting and 1 for domestic abuse.



personally, it makes more sense to outlaw idiots than it does guns.

Yeah, that was quite a busy week. In seriousness, I agree with you. I am not a gun owner, and I probably never will be one, but I support your right to own one or more.

Glad you live in a safe neighborhood where nobody will dare steal those weapons to use them for robberies and such. BTW I dont know of the legality of what you did. Some states have laws requiring safe storage when large weapons are not in use.

I dont get the crying anyway. The supreme court has ruled TIME after TIME against gun laws.

What kind of SKS? I have a Yugo. Nice carbines, fun to shoot.

Gov'ment 'gonn take our religion and our guns...

I've always sat on the fence where gun control is concerned.

On one hand their just a tool like any another. A skill saw, table saw, hammer drill, powder actuated, whatever. Like any tool it's designed to do a specific job. And Tools typically don't go off by themselves, someone has to use them.

On the other hand, some tools are designed to do a job that you probably aren't going to be doing as a civilian, at least not lawfully (exception here being castle laws).

To waffle again, id love to own an M16-A1 or an A2, it would be nice to hold one in my hands again and squeeze off some rounds, and to waffle again, it's not a tool id like to see in the hands of some gang banger in Pomona , south central LA, or whatever.

So yeah, here i sit on the fence. :88)

I'm kind of on the fence about gun control, but also an avid shooter and gun lover. I really don't think that blanket laws keep dangerous weapons out of the wrong hands, but I'd be interested to see a solution that actually works for everyone.

Isn't this a repeat of "How graciouse of them"?

oh what a comprehensive test you've done!!! that really proves a lot!! how silly we all are! :doh:

yeah well how about you give a fully loaded SKS to a mentally unstable kid, or a gang member in the inner city and see if it's used to kill people.

I agree with ducimis though...I like shooting My K-98 and it can also be a fine hunting rifle when properly equipped (or in military configuration) but an Ak, M-16 or ANY type of pistol have one job: killing people. I think these guns should be harder to get.

The US has 65% of its murders with firearms.Only Colombia and Uruguay have a higher ratio of guns murders/murders with about 80% and 75% of it's murders by guns

No it is not. That thread is about how nearly half the judges disagree with the constitution.

Oh and GR I'm not sure I would have made this experiment public in as much you put the public in reckless endangerment by not having direct supervision of the un attended firearms....

:03:

totally agree...I shoot often and the first rule is gun safety, 100% of the time. and leaving a loaded gun unattended is something that should never be done.

Here is the run down for all the anti-gun people out there. Sure you can ban guns. As a matter of fact I hope you never even touch one. When some one breaks into your home or steals your car with you kids inside. I want you to think after that and wonder. If you had been properly trained and armed you might have been able to save your family. The next time you see them is in the morgue. Criminals love anti-guns laws. That means they have the guns and you don't. They don't care if they break the law. They are criminals. Thats what they do.

You're not waffliing ... you're ignoring your instinct.

Do you really think that a law banning a murderous gangbanger from owning a gun is going to stop him?

I doubt you do.

It's just like telling the burglar that invading people's homes is illegal. Hmmm...

Are some of you that stoopid to think GR really left two loaded weapons on his back porch.

I think he was giving an example. I know he's not that stoopid.

I never thought of that, good point. If someone ever steals my car with my kids inside I can shoot at the car with my kids inside it.:doh:
I wonder if you think?

Don't expect to much Tribesman :DL I often wonder too sometimes.:haha:

First, why don't we try looking at this for the slightly humorous... Fictional situation it is and see the point.

Besides, even if I had left those somewhat expensive firearms out in the elements locked and loaded... At the time, my nearest neighber was about a mile away.

For the duration of my ownership of such things, they have only been in two places, either on the shooting range or locked in a gun safe where they belong.

The point of the exercise- illustrate that guns are a tool just like a car. When owned by a responsible law abiding citizen, they are used responsibly within the confines of law.

Secondly, the supreme court decision is not what this thread is entirely about, but since it was mentioned... It is NOT the big gun owner victory it's painted to be.

At least here guns have to be stored in specific cabinets when they're not used. Bit of a hassle to own, really.

I guess in some cases the government has to show people how to be responsible when they are incapable of being responsible on their own. ;)

The problem a lot of you are over looking is that the more guns there are available, the easier it is for the wrong people to get them. Further, the more guns are readily available, the more likely people are to use them to settle a problem.

Here in Canada, guns are fairly uncommon, and not found very often in the hands of criminals. The biggest source of weapons for criminals is the US as they get smuggled up illegally from states with loose gun laws. To own a gun here you need a gun license, criminal check, etc. Handguns and semi/auto weapons are restricted. Our gun violence levels are very low (so are our murder rates, but I would attribute that more to societal & demographic differences), with gun violence being highest in cities which boarder close to the US.

Lets face it, the biggest source of guns for criminals are stolen weapons (or illegally sold & reported stolen guns), and gun fairs / states with lax gun laws.

Also about the US Constitution. Why do you guys consider it to be some holy writ that is unalterable (and thus must be perfect)? It's been amended and altered many times since its initial drafting. As for the right to bear arms, well that was written at a time when the US was fighting for its independence, feared possible re-invasion from Britain, and when the difference between military and civilian firearms was non existent (unlike today where there is a huge difference between your typical bolt action hunting rifle, and a mil spec assault rifle). I don't think the founding fathers of the US considered the possibility of civilians running around with assault rifles with 100 round cmags; back then the weapons were all single shot with a lengthy reload period.


As for me, I support gun ownership to a point; but I don't see why civilians should have access to military grade firearms, concealed or open carry, or be allowed to have massive stockpiles of guns and ammunition. I also think laws need to be seriously tightened up, and administered at the federal level (I know you all are gonna love that idea) to ensure equal enforcement across the country.