[Politics] I read the news today, oh boy

[kdavoli]

Despite evidence to the contrary, I don't have fully formed opinions about everything. I am honestly undecided about several major political issues, including capital punishment, immigration (illegal and legal), and minimum wage hikes. The news has gotten me thinking about one other such issue: gun control.

As Eddie Izzard says,

Comments

[epinephric]

Convicted felons are already not allowed to own guns, at least as far as I recall from NC, which had pretty permissive laws.

I tend to be emotionally of the unlimited armament theory (let them buy as much as they can afford of whatever types they desire), mostly because to defend against a federal military would require military-grade weapons and armor. However, this is social dysfunctional in the average case, and won't work.

Beyond that, I'm pretty OK with banning violent felons from owning weapons. It might make impulse control a bit easier, and it might just add another charge to put in front of the jury.

I'm fairly pro edged weapons, because I like knives. I think most people who buy good fighting knives will know how to use them, and therefore avoid a fight at all costs. Knife fights are nasty and frequently even fatal to the 'victor'. Knife laws are an inconsistant patchwork that are mosty about what each jurisdiction is most afraid of. A lot of that should be cleaned out.

[ringenberg]

Let me start by saying that I am very for gun control to the point where I think any movie with gun violence should be rated R or X (I also think that any movie with smoking should be rated R as well, but that is another issue). Having grown up in a major urban setting where I have had neighbors shot and relatives held up at gun point, I am all for making guns harder to get. On a less personal note, there are certain studies (I do not have the references, sorry) that show that a large number of the guns in criminal hands were purchased legally and then stolen by said criminals. Another sad statistic is the number of children who are killed because they found their parent's gun. For those of you who think that hiding it is good enough, obviously do not have children. So, what about gun locks and locked cabinets. Well, those are great when they are used but only tend to be used by collectors, not your average joe/jane who is buying one "for protection." The gun would not be filling its roll if you had to find the key to unlock

[ravens_prentice]

I really, really, REALLY feel that to get a gun license a person should have to pass some basic tests, at least to the point of showing that they know how to put the safety on. This would have no impact on murders, but would lower accidental gun deaths, which is a good place to start