Can You See A Day When Firearms Are Banned In The US?

They might well have been a bunch of fuds and they have created an almighty headache for the current government.

They certainly didn't have sub machine guns and bazookas in mind when they were creating it that's for sure.

 

Exactly.

"Hey billy bob, thanks to our 4 fathers writing some * on a piece of paper hundreds of years ago when they carried guns that took about 5 mins to load after each bullet, i can now walk in to my local supermarket and buy a sub-atomic machine gun incase i need to defend myself"

"Defend yourself from who?"

"Erm, burglars, ragheads and the government"

 

Aye you don't need a sub-atomic machine gun smiley-laughing002 to defend youself from burglers. A simple handgun will suffice.

 

The big issue now isn't what the founding fathers were thinking about, but what the current Government could actually do. What do you expect them to do?

If they announced a new law tomorrow that the firearms laws would reflect that of the UK from January 1st 2015 there would be * * on earth in the US.

It doesn't even bear thinking about to be honest.

 

Of course a blanket ban on gun ownership would cause * on earth, but are tighter laws really that hard to implement? Jorge seems to think it would be repressive, but if it doesn't affect people like him, who fall within gun ownership criteria, what's the problem?


This incident highlights the holes in the system regarding gun/ammo ownership and mental disorders.


Good article on it.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/gun-control-mental-illness_n_2318421.html

 

I assumed Obama was looking to implement tougher rules on gun ownership, no?

 

He tried to close loopholes that prevented detailed checks but it's being delayed due to opposition from the NRA etc and the decision is expected to be pushed back to 2015.

I'm sure Jorge can answer in more detail, but if you fit the criteria and have nothing to hide, where is the problem for tougher checks and regulations?

 

Agree. Let them get on with it.
I always wondered how Heston would have felt if his son/daughter was killed while going about their business at school by a nutter one day. Do you think they would change their tune then? I do.
It has and always will be a case of "I'm alright, Jack" in these situations.

 

Gun ownership shouldn't be a right, it should be a privilege. End of.

 

I think Michael Moore summed it up pretty well

With due respect to those who are asking me to comment on last night's tragic mass shooting at UCSB in Isla Vista, CA -- I no longer have anything to say about what is now part of normal American life. Everything I have to say about this, I said it 12 years ago: We are a people easily manipulated by fear which causes us to arm ourselves with a quarter BILLION guns in our homes that are often easily accessible to young people, burglars, the mentally ill and anyone who momentarily snaps. We are a nation founded in violence, grew our borders through violence, and allow men in power to use violence around the world to further our so-called American (corporate) "interests." The gun, not the eagle, is our true national symbol. While other countries have more violent pasts (Germany, Japan), more guns per capita in their homes (Canada [mostly hunting guns]), and the kids in most other countries watch the same violent movies and play the same violent video games that our kids play, no one even comes close to killing as many of its own citizens on a daily basis as we do -- and yet we don't seem to want to ask ourselves this simple question: "Why us? What is it about US?" Nearly all of our mass shootings are by angry or disturbed white males. None of them are committed by the majority gender, women. Hmmm, why is that? Even when 90% of the American public calls for stronger gun laws, Congress refuses -- and then we the people refuse to remove them from office. So the onus is on us, all of us. We won't pass the necessary laws, but more importantly we won't consider why this happens here all the time. When the NRA says, "Guns don't kill people -- people kill people," they've got it half-right. Except I would amend it to this: "Guns don't kill people -- Americans kill people." Enjoy the rest of your day, and rest assured this will all happen again very soon.

 

This is a moving speech by one of the murdered peoples' parents, and he righteously excoriates the NRA and the politicians they own:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-27562743

 

* sake if worse comes to worse there's always Amsterdam you daft *.

 

Second amendment "rights" > human lives.

 

What a creepy little *

 

You're right Obama did propose more gun control which was immediately blocked (thankfully) by the NRA and GOA. The proposal would initiate another "assault weapon" ban, limit magazines to 10 round capacity, require background checks for all gun sales and require background checks tap into the mental health system in states, among other things. The problem with this is, practically any weapon can be designed to appear as a "assault weapon", so this law can be used to blanket ban a vast array of firearms and be used to disarm law-abiding gun owners. Further, the vast majority of gun crime, over 99% of gun crime, is not committed with assault-style weapons. The 10 round limit is absolute rubbish as well. Almost all semi-automatic handguns which are popularly used for home defence come stock with a 15 round detachable box magazine. The law not only would ban the magazines themselves, but also the weapons capable of holding magazines which contain more than 10 rounds. This is another snake in the grass proposal that would be used to disarm Americans. The extended system of background checks is also a snake in the grass. Many, many American veterans have at some point in their life sought counseling for battle fatigue. Most of them are perfectly mentally stable, they just needed someone to talk to after many long, difficult deployments to multiple war zones. This law would label them all as "mentally ill" and permanently bar them from owning firearms. Further, the law could be used to label any opponents of gun control or any government policies as "mentally ill" and bar them from gun ownership. If you look at history, every single country that has implemented strict federal-level registration and gun control has eventually completely banned civilians from owning firearms. The same thing happened in the United Kingdom and Australia. First came gun control. Then came gun registration. Then came banning certain makes and models. Then came barring civilians from owning firearms. And it wasn't long before they were going door to door and confiscating firearms. Most gun crime in this country is not committed by law-abiding citizens, which is who this type of gun laws are aimed at. It is committed by gang bangers in the inner cities here who listen to the hip hop music that you all enjoy so much in the UK and in Europe. My feelings on the matter is as following. I believe that if you are caught using a firearm in the commission of ANY violent crime that you should be sentenced to a mandatory life imprisonment in a work camp. These work camps should be surrounded by razor wire fences and guarded by guard posts armed with AK-47 rifles. They should be completely self-sufficient (e.g. grow their own food etc for prisoners) and so horrible that no one in their right mind would ever want to risk going there. I am in complete favor of putting our worst violent criminals in slave labor camps. Second, I believe in implementing a program that would relieve the stigma of going to see mental health professionals. When people see that someone is mentally disturbed and needs help, they should help to see that person goes to see a counselor to talk about their problems, at the very least. Mental health professionals need to be more readily available in this country and when people appear to be a danger to themselves or others a system needs to be in place to get those types of people to help ASAP. That is where America is failing in terms of THESE TYPES of mass-killings. Not with our gun laws. And if you really want to know more about mass shootings in America, go and read online about them. You will discover that most are committed, as I said before, by gang bangers in drive-by shootings. Six people dead on the side of the street by a drive by shooter is a common occurrence in cities like Chicago and Washington DC. But they aren't sorority members. They are gang bangers. That is why there isn't the media sensationalism about it that you see with this case.

 

That's actually a decent post, Jorge. I don't necessarily agree with all of it, but it certainly offers a decent argument.

 

I agree with Daibhi, a well informed post. Obviously, we are all going to have different viewpoints on this matter, especially those of us looking at the gun situation from afar.

The lack of readily available help does seems to have played a role in this latest incident. Totally agree with you about the system failing those who need urgent help.

 

Havent read the whole thread, but in answer to the OP, nope!