Do you think we should ban guns?

Nope. We can try to make it harder for criminals to get them, but banning them outright isn't going to work, especially when there are hundreds of millions of them already out there.

No, that is stupid. Who would think that would solve anything? I mean, how would you even implement that?

We tried to ban cocaine, weed, etc....look what is still happening or has happened.

Online casino is illegal, but there's a way to circumvent towards that still.

Just because the government ban guns doesn't mean that nobody could get their hands on one. People can still get it illegally...etc.

Just look at Japan. They didn't ban guns. They just made it extremely difficult to get your hands on one. Japan has exams, classes, mental health evaluation, background check, and must retake test & class every 3 years.

Also it's hard for America to ban guns because their country is so huge...it's arduous but easy to smuggle illegal stuff into the US if effort was made let alone the full-fledged manufacturing of guns in USA. If fact it might hurt the unemployment rate if guns are banned because it's a pretty huge industry.

Despite your inane statement in the other thread, the large majority do not want to ban all guns. They do want to regulate them much better. And those same people are also the most likely to support additional funding/effort around mental health. Because that is what sane people, who are not obsessed with paranoid 'the gov't is trying to disarm the people' fantasies, generally think.

No.

Well you need to do something anyway, this much is clear.

I am going with the 80% of the poll and say.

Banning guns doesnt work. Preventing psychopaths from getting them, as well supporting a larger effort around mental health seems like a much more practical solution than banning them outright. The gun control in my country seems pretty effective, so of course I am in favor of such a solution.

I don't think we need to ban them, I think we need to do a much better job of letting stupid people get their hands on them.

Bullets should be very hard to aquire

How about a restriction on the type of firearms one can purchase for self-defense and Collections to simply include Revolvers/Pistols, Shotguns and Hunting rifles ( Provided you have a hunting license) and a increase in gun control to ensure another couple of weeks for the retailer to screen the customer.

If one wants to shoot an AR-15 for example, then gun ranges could provide one with a rental firearm to use within the range.

No, a gun ban wouldn't do much good at this point. For starters, there are way too many guns in America (and the world) as it is, and you'd have to confiscate guns in order to make a difference, and there is no way in hell that is happening.

Second, gun bans and bans on different types of guns and gun accessories have been incredibly stupid historically. Just look at California. Bans on pistol grips. Bans on rifles that are black. Bans on magazine sizes. To what end, what point?

I think what we need is better gun owner control. For starters, have more types of gun licenses. Have licenses for numerous guns if you want to be a collector. Better background and psychological evaluations. Need to check in yearly. Offer a gun "buyback" for people who either need money, don't want to shoot any more, and so forth (tax refund, "cash for clunkers" type of deal, etc).

I'm just talking out of my ass here but there's a really nice gray area we refuse to deal with because it's either "all the guns, all the time, for all the people" or "BAN GUNS! GUNS ARE EVIL!"

That would certainly be a start.

Home Defense license would let you have a revolver or shotgun.
Hunting License, Small Game would let you have rifles to .22/5.56
Hunting License, Medium Game would let you go to .308 or something

The licenses wouldn't be cost-prohibitive, and some would be cheaper than others, but they'd be expensive enough to the point where you'd have to really enjoy your hobby to buy multiple licenses.

I'm not sure about renting, too many people like to get their AR-15's and customize the hell out of them, end up spending thousands of dollars. I think if there were ranges where you could rent a locker, almost like a sort of "local arsenal" for civilians, that'd be cool. Or maybe you can only buy ammunition at the gun range and, if you wanted to go hunting, could only buy enough rounds for a couple animals. Make re-selling your ammo you don't use illegal.

It wouldn't totally stop people from killing other people, but at least it might stop mass shootings.

Guns dont kill people, bullets do

Perhaps change the culture surrounding guns.

As a non American, I get this impression that guns(in US) aren't viewed as deadly weapons, rather toys to play with.

Yes, there need to be stricter gun laws.

But that will never happen.

Unfortunately.........and yes we need stricter controls.....it may surprise you though that not all Americans own guns.

I am not surprised by that.

Damn I'll have to try harder. ;p

I wanted to link to this video in my previous post. But couldn't find it before now.

That seems irresponsible. Granted I have no idea what is in the direction the gun is pointing, however by the looks of it, that bullet will travel far.

@horgen: Yep. Hopefully no one is anywhere remotely close. Sometimes hunters hit people with their rifles. That can do some real damage. The gun culture isn't always responsible. Recreational shooting should be done at a range.

Guns will never be banned, same with abortion.

They are both boring, ad nauseum topics that make far too much money "combating" than they ever would solving

Bullets are not protected under the 2nd

Silly America cow boys.

I've always said that the increase in gun violence now stems from a rising poverty level, unfair distribution of wealth, and a lack of mental health acknowledgment.

All shootings are from someone with some form of mental health that wasn't treated, and gun violence on the rise are in cities with a high poverty level with lots of desperate people.

It's so much easier to point a finger an blame one thing than to accept that our society is deteriorating and needs help across the board.

I was about to mention that. Bullets should cost a few hundred buck each. With some kind of trade in value after being used.

Now you might recognize a 10 year (or more) gun control sketch by Dave Chappelle (again, I think) in this post :P

I got the idea from a song about as old 10-15 years old.

but yeah it makes a lot of sense to do that.

I still think we need better control. More restrictions on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. More stringent procedures for obtaining a license (like training). More thorough background checks, including confiscation procedures for people committing certain sorts of crimes like domestic abuse.

That being said, you're right that we do tend to fetishize guns in America, which is part of why we have such high ownership rates, which is why we have higher rates of gun violence and gun related accidents and injuries. I don't know exactly how you go about reversing that, but I think cracking down on people who should not own guns to begin with is a start.

Also, I just now realized that there was a shooting the other day. Someone shoots up a public event, conservatives start asking if people support gun bans, then other conservatives freak out because liberals supposedly want gun bans. It's seriously depressing how successful conservatives are at this sort of manipulation.

@horgen: To illustrate your point, a cookout I attended last month had a shooting range set up outside while there were roughly 15 kids running around. I had to tell children numerous times to stop running around the range. Neither the kids nor the parents seemed to register it as a danger.

Remember that time when we tried to ban alcohol, Al Capone and his goonies didn't like that.

War on Drugs?

just increased the number of people in prison

I think if we bann bullets at least people who are against it and work hard to get bullets illegally will have a better understanding of the drug they enjoy so much, shooting that bullet into human flesh.

You're the worst troll.

Others seem to agree with the idea.

most do not

I don't expect kids to recognize the danger, but their parents should.

Can not agree with this idea at all, you can go through the statistic on some governmental websites and you can compare the level of crime in different States and it would surprise you a lot!

Gun and bullets don't kill people, people do. Guns and bullets are inanimate objects.

nope the bullet is actually literally the thing that kills the person.

its as hard, direct and literal as you can get.

its not the person, its literally the bullet

Let's send our troops overseas without any guns and bullets then. They must not add ANY advantage to taking lives.

Should but there is a lot of stupid parents in the world...........

Inanimate objects don't fire themselves. That is the most stupid saying pro gun advocates can use.

That is what I said, inanimate objects don't fire themselves, people fire them.

So you're for stricter gun control?

But we need guns for the revolution!

The communist revolution. ;) That's how the 2nd amendment works, right?

At the very least, you need to have proper controls in place to limit access to weapons to those people who shouldn't be anywhere near them.

Yes, bans work.

No drug bans and gun bans are not analogous.

All you really need is the willpower to do it.

Ban them all.

Nope, that would be ignorant.

I think we need to do a far better way of preventing obviously mentally ill people from obtaining guns. Some of these last shootings, the perp was obviously disturbed, and yet they were able to easily obtain a gun. That is unacceptable.

I don't think guns or accessories to guns should be banned but we should have better gun control.

I think people should be referred by parents or other family members to purchase a gun. I think people shouldn't be allowed to purchase guns from other people that aren't licensed to sell to a gun.

What the Right does and their follows just follow it without thinking is to translate the request to 'regulate' as 'banning'.

Most people on the Left dont want to 'ban' guns we want to 'regulate' guns

No.

limit the type of guns you can on, yes.