Gun Ownership
I'm opposed to gun ownership in general. Two years ago, my city had the highest homicide rate in the United States, and the vast majority of those homicides were committed with firearms. Last Saturday at 4:30 in the afternoon, there was a shooting right in front of my building. Literally half a foot from the front door of my building. I hear shots fired in my neighborhood at least once a week, sometimes more. I'm getting a little tired of diving onto the floor, and that doesn't help me if the first shot fired is the one that comes through my window.
The counter-argument might be that homicides won't disappear if guns are removed, and will still be accessible if they are banned. I say give it a try. Everything else hasn't worked. I'm getting tired of living on my floor, and I'm getting tired of turning on the local broadcast news to see that another little girl was shot with an automatic weapon while playing in front of her home.
Of course, banning firearms would still be a band-aid. People here in the inner city don't have equality of opportunity even. Many of them are stuck without an education and without jobs, certainly decent jobs that they can make enough to live on. Hence they turn to crime and gangs. Even with banned firearms, people will still engage in criminal behavior unless society adjusts and makes an effort to accomodate them with work and education. One of the things I like about my city college is that any number of my students are getting higher education where they might otherwise not, and a chance to make a better way for themselves. The problem is that only the tip of the iceberg even makes it into a city college classroom.
on
| § 3
§ 3 Comments
[ You're too late, comments are closed ]
The rampant crime certainly
The rampant crime certainly doesn''t make it easier for the poor to get a leg up. Reduced violent crime rates would help the poor, who are the primary victims of it. Civilian gun ownership helps the poor.
So why don''t we have vending
So why don''t we have vending machines for guns, B? Right there on the street corner, next to the bar, conveniently available after fisticuffs with other patrons? I forgot -- guns don''t kill people, people kill people, etc etc etc.
Surely you can admit that it''s all about access to firearms. Plus, it''s about the kinds of firearms you have access to.
Canada has nice low crime rates, overall. Very low gun death statistics. But, surprisingly high gun ownership rates. The difference -- handguns are strictly illegal. There isn''t any such thing as concealed carrying and nonsense like that.
The reason there''s a million handguns on the streets of this country is that there''s an industry that''s finding a way to keep pushing them.
What percentage of gun usage is legitimate self-defense? Maybe one gangsta defending himself against another is legitimate self-defense, in your book.
Current estimates indicate
Current estimates indicate that defensive gun use instances (including brandishing, but not firing, a weapon) number in the millions per year. FBI statistics show that when civilians use guns in self defense, they shoot someone in error less than three percent of the time. Our well trained police officers'' error rate is four times higher. Criminals shoot the wrong person 100% of the time. Who do you want to have guns?
Where concealed carry laws are enacted, violent crime drops. (And if the trend was already downward, it drops faster.)
The reason there are millions of handguns in this country is also that there are millions of people like me who wish to own them.
Crowing about low crime rates in Canada? How many people are up there, anyway? 10, 20? of course they have a lower crime rate.