Ban handguns? U.S. Supreme Court taking a new look

Thursday 01st October, 05:09 AM JST

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Alphaape at 05:31 PM JST - 1st October

skipthesong: darn good post!
smithinjapan at 06:40 PM JST - 1st October

skipthesong: "Only a government who is either afraid of its people or a people that want to be completely controlled by a government want a ban on guns."

Or simply a government that takes the statistics of gun-related deaths into account, and the fact that they occur at an average ratio of something like 1000:1, and realize that when you take away the guns you reduce the number of gun related deaths. Period.
Badsey at 06:59 PM JST - 1st October

I have no problem with guns what-so-ever. -However I do have a problem with fools with guns. Dick Cheney (accidently shot somebody), Hillary Clinton (Lib), Pelosi (dumb as a rock) should not be gun carriers/owners.

I would rip that gun right from Hillary's cold dead hands and say you don't deserve a gun.
smithinjapan at 07:05 PM JST - 1st October

skipthesong: "Countries with the strictest of gun laws usually have some of the highest crime rates."

With guns? Where are your stats, skip?

"The US is not the reason Mexicans are dying by guns,..."

Funny you would bring that up, seeing as the guns in many cases come down from the US as the drugs in some cases flow up. Your idea that your average Juan in Mexico being allowed to bear arms would DECREASE the number of people being killed by gangs and drug wars is ridiculous and more off the wall than usual.

Moderator: Readers, comparisons with other countries are not relevant.
Sarge at 07:37 PM JST - 1st October
You Democrats! Protesting wars, banning guns! If you Nancys had your way, nobody would ever shoot anybody.
And then where would we be?"
- Denny Crane
Sarge at 08:24 PM JST - 1st October

Assistant District Attorney: Show me where in the Constitution it says you can walk the streets armed without a carry permit!

Denny Crane: The Constitution says whatever the Supreme Court says it says. As for what the Supreme Court says, that depends on who's President.
dolphingirl at 08:58 PM JST - 1st October

Gun control-yes! There have been studies done that show a high corelation between gun ownership and gun-related homicides and suicides.

I don't think that owning a gun shouldn't be a right, it should be a priviledge. Like driving a car. If anyone could just go out get a car and drive, can you imagine the number of accidents? It seems like common sense to me that fewer people with guns means fewer gun-related deaths.
LIBERTAS at 09:09 PM JST - 1st October

Sheriff Wyatt Earp had a simple rule: "No guns in town." I prefer the other quotation, the one on my bumper sticker: "Gun Control is a Steady Hand."

Long live the 2nd Amendment!
Sarge at 09:53 PM JST - 1st October

From Madverts: "Surely the pro's and con's of gun control can be compared to the US, a contry afterall which has never known it?"

From the article: "Justice Antonin Scalia suggested that... many gun control measures could remain in place."

Posters really should read the article before posting so as not to make themselves look silly.
usaexpat at 11:14 PM JST - 1st October

Banning handguns would only work if the police searched every residence in the country and confiscated the illegal guns. That's not a fun proposition as the government already has too much power over our lives. I don't own a gun and never have and would be perfectly happy if no one else did either. The problem is that most of the killing in the US is done with illegal, untraceable guns. Tell how you're going to get criminals to hand over guns?
TheQuestion at 02:03 AM JST - 2nd October

ammunition (especially handgun) is damn hard to find.

Where the heck are you looking? Kroger? Me and my bro split the difference for a pallet of 9mm rounds last year, it'll take months to expend all of that.

Gun-nuts are a bunch of scared little children who hide behind their foolish idea of 'rights'.

Or, you know, they could just like guns. I just happen to enjoy the smell of gunpowder and WD-40, plus I periodically shoot skeet with my dad, brother, and his kids so we get the whole family bonding thing...with guns.
SuperLib at 05:05 AM JST - 2nd October

smithinjapan: Or simply a government that takes the statistics of gun-related deaths into account, and the fact that they occur at an average ratio of something like 1000:1, and realize that when you take away the guns you reduce the number of gun related deaths. Period.

The "gun related deaths" number is skewed because something like half are due to suicide. Maybe some of those people would still be alive today if they didn't have a gun, but I think a majority of them would simply find another way to kill themselves. I think guns should be banned but I think using that as a statistic isn't part of an honest debate.

usaexpat: Banning handguns would only work if the police searched every residence in the country and confiscated the illegal guns. That's not a fun proposition as the government already has too much power over our lives. I don't own a gun and never have and would be perfectly happy if no one else did either. The problem is that most of the killing in the US is done with illegal, untraceable guns. Tell how you're going to get criminals to hand over guns?

It's not like guns would go away overnight if they were banned. But over time more and more guns would be taken off of the streets and we'd have a generation of children growing up in a country where they are banned and ownership would be more and more taboo. If you think about the long term benefits it makes sense to ban them even if gun crime doesn't end the day after you change the laws.
ballboy at 05:13 AM JST - 2nd October

"The problem is that most of the killing in the US is done with illegal, untraceable guns. Tell how you're going to get criminals to hand over guns?"

usaexpat...that is the question gun control advocates fail to address time and time again. I do not own a gun and never have owned one. I can see difference between a regulated, legal gun in the hands of a citizen and a criminal with an illigal gun. Too many people on this site make no distinctions between the two and therefore lose the chance of swaying Americans that do not own guns.
SuperLib at 07:14 AM JST - 2nd October

ballboy: I can see difference between a regulated, legal gun in the hands of a citizen and a criminal with an illigal gun. Too many people on this site make no distinctions between the two and therefore lose the chance of swaying Americans that do not own guns.

That's a true statement. My uncle is the only one in my family who owns a gun and he owns maybe a dozen of them just for collector's purposes which he keeps under lock and key. They're never fired and they don't leave the house. A majority of gun owners have them for hunting or they keep them in their homes for self defense. That's the typical gun owner, not the gang banger in downtown Los Angeles.

So when people talk about banning guns they're talking about taking guns away from my uncle or the hunter in Texas or the guy who keeps it in his closet. Those are the people fighting for the right to keep their guns. They aren't "nutballs" or "wingers" or whatever, they're people who live in a world where there is little to no gun violence and they act responsibly. I'm against gun ownership but I keep telling the anti-gun crowd that they're going about the debate in the wrong way but the just don't want to listen. They read a shocking story on the news and think all gun owners are part of the problem, which they aren't. And those are the people whose minds they have to change.
michaelqtodd at 06:30 PM JST - 7th October

Seems like you guys refuse to progress from the days of The Wild West when and for which the 2nd Enactment was enacted.Surely if any of you drew up blueprint for an ideal society then guns would not be part of your plan.Have the criminal element really got such control that the guns cannot be removed from them?