The second amendment of the constitution guarantees the right to keep and bear arms. As the specter of gun violence continues in our workplaces, roads and schools, the question keeps arising: do guns keep you safe, or just increase the level of violence?
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Too Many Guns Already
- From Freedom States Alliance
By Freedom States Alliance - Working to Prevent Gun Violence
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Easily shown to be a false argument
Firstly, about half of all gun deaths are suicides. There are numerous studies that show there is no correlative link between suicide rate and availability of a specific means, let alone a causative one. So we're now down to 15,000 deaths a year, the vast majority of which occur in inner cities where highly invasive gun control laws are the norm. Clearly they are having no effect. In point of fact, there is not a single reliable and valid study out there that shows even a medium correlation between gun control laws and a reduced violence rate.
- ravenshrike
September 5, 2008 8:35AM
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Side: Yes
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Too Many Guns Already - Verified Expert
First off, have you ever heard of fighting fire with fire? Certainly there are way to many criminals with guns. That is ONE of the reasons I own guns. I have been a gun owner for 39 years, since I was 16 years old. During that time I have owned a couple of guns (all you anti gun folks would probably have apoplexy if you knew how many and I'm a piker as I know people who own 300 and 500 guns). So, would you say my friends and have too many guns? And if so, on what do you base that determination? Further, what gives you the right? I am a former peace officer. I have never used a gun illegally. At the risk of sounding immodest, my expertise with firearms is above that of the average police officer (but less compared to other folks I know). I once knew a federal cop who competed in local shooting matches because the firearms training he received was inadequate. He knew that the rest of the people participating in these matches had training and experience that far surpassed his training. As a private person I have used a firearm to prevent assaults on my person on two occasions and as an off-duty police officer I have stopped one potential assault against me and my companion and I stopped an assault in progress of a neighbor and his friend. Actually, two men were in the process of beating them to death with a gold club and baseball bat. Those two people were defenseless and would have been killed had I not intervened, with a handgun. And guess what, it was not necessary to shoot any of the assailants. All of the assailants saw the wisdom of reconsidering their actions, immediately and without question. I currently have a permit to carry a firearm concealed and I never leave home without my permit and gun. I could continue like this for some time. My main point here is to question the qualifications of any person who is anti gun to responsibly comment or lecture me about any aspect of private gun ownership. Verified expert indeed.
- daveinvegas
October 30, 2008 11:18PM
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Side: Yes
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Ban Cars Instead
By your unverified statistics there is 1 death per 9333 guns . FARS ( http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx ) reported that in 2007 there was 1 death per 5523 cars. A car is 59% more likely to kill then a gun.
Ban cars instead.
- thebigmike
March 27, 2009 5:13PM
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Side: Yes
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