Should people with Aspergers be able to own guns?

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I haven't even read anything more than the title, which I read aloud to my wife...her instant response was "The real question is, should people married to people with Asperger's be able to own guns." Apparently I'm hard to live with. lol.

why? what happen on Halloween was it bad

Absolutely; Aspies should be allowed to own guns, and I own more than one. One of the most common traits among us, is being cautious in situations where NT people might be wanton. Just another old comparison: A motor vehicle is far more dangerous than a gun, when mis-handled.

I held my first loaded handgun when I was 2, and I was trained in all aspects of gun safety and gun etiquette. By age 16, I owned several firearms. Now to be fair, I'm sure there are some Aspies (just as there are some NT people) who would not be responsible with a firearm, and should not be allowed to have one. Same with matches, fire, and electricity, and driving... Education, discipline, responsibility, and safety shall determine who does and doesn't have access to these things.

It's sad that some people; especially elected officials and law enforcement, do NOT have any understanding of Autism or Asperger's... I've heard many people equate all forms of non-Mainstream people as "mentally ill". That makes about as much sense as saying all human beings like to eat fish.

Charles

I think many people who have won the VC and American equivilent the Congressional Medal of Honour probably were Aspies-NTs keep their heads down when the bullets are flying.

Garand himself was an Aspie in my opinion.

no one should be allowed to own a gun.
are we crazy???

I use guns and bombs all the time at work

In the U.S. anyway, i think DEFINITELY. The Constitution applies to everyone. As long as you have not committed a felony, your rights must remain intact. To deny Aspies the right to own guns, denies the full privilege of American citizenship to aspies. What if they later decided that the 1st amendment applies only to certain people?

Now there are plenty of fellow americans i disagree with, a few who i think say downright ignorant things, but, they still have the right to say them, so long as nobody tries to deny me my right to speak, i will respect another's right to call me a moron.

I support the 2nd amendment. However, guns should only be owned by responsible people. The problem comes with who gets to decide who is responsible. I do support banning people with certain mental illnesses from owning guns. Illnesses such as schizophrenia, people with severe paranoid issues and such. A mentally unstable person with a gun is more dangerous than a crook.

But the trap to avoid falling into is when ignorants try to say that autism and aspergers is a mental illness. Its not. Autism is a learning disability.

They definitely should.

This aspie currently owns 13 guns, including so-called "assault weapons," and has never killed a person or even had an accident with any of them. I take safety and responsibility very seriously, even to the point where if I set a gun down and pick it up again, I will check to make sure it is safe even if it didn't leave my sight. It's all about making safe habits, however redundant they seem.

Guns become dangerous when people relax their safe practices, or are downright criminal.

That is exactly the point! I think that gun safety courses should be mandatory prior to gun ownership. I honestly would feel 100 percent safe if i encountered a nine year old with a handgun, provided he had training on how to use it. I treat every gun as if it were loaded, an accidental discharge would be not only dangerous, but the most embarrassing thing to happen to me.

And n4mwd Thats the thing, who decides who is responsible? certainly there are un-diagnosed schizophrenics out there. And if we start denying certain rights to segments of the population, we start down a slippery slope. Do we deny schizophrenics their first amendment rights because they are talking nonsense? Do we ban them from our churches because we dont like the way they act? Do we remove their rights against unreasonable searches because they "might" be dangerous?

When it comes to felons, by committing their crime, they give up their rights, they have unreasonably taken away the rights of another citizen.

Guns are not dangerous: unskilled gun users are. Even a NT can "snap" and go on a killing spree, so why deny the right to a schizophrenic who has done nothing wrong?

The problem with schizophrenics is that its really more of a WHEN and HOW BAD rather than IF. My neighbor down the street with it stabbed his own mother multiple times in the chest with razor tipped hunting arrows and nearly killed her. After that day, all guns and sharp things were locked up. The father and son were both hunters.

The 1st amendment gives people the right to worship as they see fit, it does not give them the right to go to church. A church is a private entity and can banish anyone from its property. So if a schizo went to one and was screaming and being disruptive, the church could have him removed.

I don't see a problem with banning people with certain mental illnesses from having guns as long as there is a way to step around that ban. Such as a note from your doctor saying that he thinks you would be OK.

Then there is the banning gun ownership based on prior felonies. What if the felony was non-violent and didn't involve a weapon?

Anyhow, I support ownership of guns by responsible people. I also support gun training classes for kids.

I remember when the NRA was doing the "Eddie Eagle" gun safety program, where they would go to elementary schools and talk to kids about guns, and what to do if you find one in your house. I hope they're still doing that.

Myself, I've been shooting since I was probably 6 or 7. I got my first rifle for my 10th birthday, after I had proved safe handling skills on my own with a Red Ryder BB gun.

mikey1138, are you in the military by chance?

If Republicans can own guns, then why not those with AS

Heh, nice.

It's a slippery slope, if AS automatically disqualifies someone from owning a firearm, what other rights can be stripped from us? I think I'm up to around 20 guns now, mostly handguns and a few semi-auto rifles and pump shotguns, and have had my carry permit for 7 years now without a single gun related problem, other than people making annoying assumptions about me. I'd go so far as to say that the biggest "danger" of gun ownership is constant stereotyping, I've probably wasted a year of my life correcting people's false notions on guns and their owners as well as countering the intentional misinformation spread by the anti gun advocacy groups.