| Private guns in American families | |
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| Nov 15, 2007 21:21 | #11   |
 | Quote: "As Griz has said in other posts they need them for protection from animals and to deter crime. " Alan, it is not a good way to own private guns to deter crime. There are a lot of gun-related crimes in America. If everyone around you has a gun, you would not feel safe. Last year, the Vice President of USA Cheney mis-shoot a man and claimed that he mistook the man as a bird. Interesting! Mike, In America, gun ownership is a very special issue. I have ever heard that many individual states tried to deplete the high levels of gun ownership. However, there are many different interest groups who are against the motion. In Bush Administration, the issue of gun ownership didn't make any progress since Bush himself has a close connection with amunition-producers. He represents the interest of ther interest group of munitioners. |
| Nov 15, 2007 23:09 | #12 |
| GUESTKUNGFUC... | "In America, it is legal for individuals to own private guns. Why did the American government allow individuals to own private guns?" To answer bluntly because they have no choice. The American system of government says that every human has basic rights wich cannot be taken away by the government. In fact it is against the law for them to do so. the right to have firearms is one of those rights. how far that right goes is constantly debated. "However, so many guns owned by the average people did cause great loss for Americans. Every year, numerous people fell victims to the private guns." this is true however the other side of the debate is that many people save themselves and others from from muder, rape, kidnaping, assualt, animal attack and robery by using guns. "In America, gun has become part of American culture. What do the families look like?" acctually families don't look like that the photos you have pasted are from a book where people were asked by the author to pose with their firearms. I'm not tring to argue about wether people should or should not own guns but there is lots of information on the internet and in books that you can use to decide for your self. please try to look at all sides an agument and make an informed decision. |
| Nov 16, 2007 10:59 | #13 |
| Guestkun makes some very rational observations. Individual liberty and personal responsibility are fundamental to US democracy. Whereas other governments around the world feel empowered to tamper with the rights and liberties of their citizens on the grounds of protecting people against themselves, in this case the US government is constrained by law not so to do. I do not live in the US, but I guess that most people there wish there were less guns in 'circulation', and are concerned about the level of gun crime. However, I suspect only a small minority of those people believe that the problem should be fixed by the government restricting the freedom of its law abiding citizens. I think it is probably true that the gun is a part of American Culture, but recoginising the very high number of guns per head of population, I also believe that US citizens who possess firearms for legitimate reasons, do so with a sense of responsibilty and maturity which would be difficult for the citizens of other nations to match, were they to enjoy the same liberty. The 'culture' is also one of familiarity and respect for the gun. I am glad that where I live, in the UK, we have a long tradition of mostly un-armed police officers, and relatively low levels of gun-crime. That has been achieved at the cost of substantial restrictions on personal liberty, generally accepted as a reasonable 'trade' by the population. Unfortunately the levels of gun crime are increasing, and increased restrictions on personal liberty seem unable to check the rise. I dearly hope we do not end up in the situation of having comparable levels of criminal gun use to the US, but where law abiding citizens have sacrificed most of their personal liberty losing the battle! |
| Nov 19, 2007 15:01 | #14 |
| >>>However, so many guns owned by the average people did cause great loss for Americans. Every year, numerous people fell victims to the private guns. This is a misleading statement. Guns owned by law-abiding, taxpaying citizens cause very little harm. Yes, there are gun accidents; but murder and armed robbery by good people is very rare. For the most part, criminals with guns shoot and kill other criminals and less frequently - innocent people victimized in a crime. Gun crime in the US is highest in the cities and states with the most restrictions on firearms. The real reason gun crimes are a problem is that the American justice system sets criminals free to do more heinous acts. In Montana, USA many families feed themselves by killing deer and elk at this time of year for family meat. I just finished butchering one deer and will begin butchering a pronghorn antelope killed on my hunting trip. If I am fortunate, I will kill one or two more deer before hunting season ends. |
| Nov 19, 2007 19:49 | #15 |
| Gun is only a tool or force. It can be used for both good deeds and henious crime. The weapon itself is no fault. It depends on who hold the weapon in the hand. A rogue would use it to rob or kill people. A responsible citizen will use it for the purpose of defence. |
| Nov 25, 2007 21:07 | #16 |
| Griz326, Quote: "However, so many guns owned by the average people did cause great loss for Americans. Every year, numerous people fell victims to the private guns. This is a misleading statement. Guns owned by law-abiding, taxpaying citizens cause very little harm. Yes, there are gun accidents; but murder and armed robbery by good people is very rare." Acutually, it is not a misleading statement at all. The key is that numerous people actually were victimized by the private gun ownership. Law-abiding citizens are irrational frequently. |
| Nov 26, 2007 03:42 | #17 |
| GUEST5273 | Gun crimes happened very often on the campus of American schools. Anyhow, the right to own a private gun is protected by American Constitution. The right can not be infringed by any states. |
| Nov 26, 2007 16:54 | #18 |
| GUEST40200 | Gun ownership is a right most Americans choose not to accept or endorse by utilizing this right. There are a number of Americans who believe that if gun ownership were more prevalent crime would decrease. It's kind of like a Nuclear Detent - if everyone owned THE gun, then rest assured someone would kill you if you tried to bring harm to another individual or their property. Texas is an interesting state when it comes to gun ownership and utilization. Recent amendments allow you to protect a neighbors (fellow citizen) property with deadly force provided you have been previously endorsed to do so. Meaning that if your non gun loving mother asked you to keep an eye on her house while on vacation, and you notice a burglar (non-violent crime in most cases) entering mom's house, you are well within your right to bust a fawkin cap in his arse. I fully believe that guns do not kill people...people kill people, and if you are dumb enough to break into my house and endanger my family, then it should be my right to reduce you to a headless lifeless lump of flesh. The laws of gun ownership were set forth in the constitution to prevent the very thing many of you are protecting. Government has shown time and time again around that world that when it comes to absolute control, its not a far leap from Maggy Thatcher to Hussein. America was founded on the belief that government should be "of the people" - not some power hungry dictator, and private gun ownership WILL prevent this. We have the right to dismiss any tyrant and band together, to form a militia at any time. Private citizen gun ownership is part of this mandate for a militia. Our forefathers saw fit to equip us with the ultimate ability of preservation of government. I just wish they had thought about the various perversions our government has seen fit to permit - Same sex marriage is but one thing going on in our country which would have our forefathers turning over in their graves. One thing I can't stand is the world's perception of America being a bunch of cowboys running around with a six shooter strapped to their hip. When you come to America you may never see a gun on an average citizen. That doesn't mean they won't be armed...we have elaborate concealed carry regulations and licensing, and most who carry a weapon for self protection have had to prove proficiency with the weapon. The pictures posted above are hardly representative of the average gun-toting family in the US. |
| Nov 26, 2007 22:21 | #19 |
| Quote: >>One thing I can't stand is the world's perception of America being a bunch of cowboys running around with a six shooter strapped to their hip. When you come to America you may never see a gun on an average citizen<< GUEST40200, You mean that America's gun-toting family was not like the case described in the above pictures. Maybe, it is an overstatement of the case. However, it is said that every American has a gun on average. Is this true? |
| Nov 27, 2007 14:30 | #20 |
| GUEST40200 | no, in fact MOST Americans do NOT own guns. But laws of averages being what they are, the guy that has 50 weapons makes up for the 49 guys who have none. I personally have 2, both long guns, and both for hunting, and not protection (though the sound of a racking shotgun is enough to stop all but the stupidest of stupid people brave enough to endanger my family). We are not a bunch of renegades - the USA is one of the safest places to travel to. I personally live in Las Vegas and though our overall crime rate is a bit higher than I'd like, Vegas - like the rest of the USA is a very safe place to travel to. |
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