fuzzylights wrote:
Guns and gun culture are the problem, plain and simple. Americans don't want to admit it, but the statistics don't lie. More guns = more violence. Guns are glorified and seen as a necessity for safety, and this simply isn't true. If you remove the guns, gun violence on this scale cannot happen. Sure, there will still be gun violence, but it will be drastically reduced. The 2nd Amendment does NOT guarantee the right of private citizens to own guns, it guarantees a state's right to an armed militia. Not to mention it was written at time when guns fired a single bullet which rarely hit its target. Guns today can fire 200 rounds a minute. It's not designed for hunting (I've heard this argument before and it's ridiculous. I grew up in rural Ontario where hunting is incredibly common, and I don't know a single person who uses a military grade assault rifle to mow down a buck) it's designed to kill as many people as possible. There is NO need for a citizen to own this kind of weaponry.
Technically, no. There is absolutely no NEED to own a firearm (there isn't a need to own a computer, vehicle or phone either, but that isn't the point - it still stands that individuals possess a right to keep and bear arms, however controversial that may be - I am neither here, nor there on that). Needs are the things necessary for the continuance of life, such as food, clothing and shelter (though I often argue that if you live in an area where you aren't likely to experience cold temperatures and have shelter, you do not need clothes. The need for clothing is mostly applicable to areas with cooler climates - you can always hide from the sunlight in your dwelling). The firearms you describe as firing "200 rounds a minute" aren't the ones civies own (unless you have special licensure). The guns on the market are semi-automatic "rip-offs" of the "military versions," a point many people do not understand. These aren't the SAWs or M60s you see in the battlefield, nor are they the M-16s typically associated with the military. I hunt with an M4 and AR-15 among other weapons (I use higher-caliber weapons for the deer and .22 for the squirrels and other rodents - because I still want some meat left on the bone), so there is an application in the realm of hunting. What you are implying is that people are routinely trucking along a Browning M2 or SAW and claiming that it's their "hunting rifle." That simply doesn't happen (unless you were my grandfather at the military base, located next to a busy road and surrounded by a vast forest).
17 Jan 2013, 2:26 pm
