heyrob Loc: Western Washington

Explain to examples of the opposite mindset, Switzerland, and Kennisaw, GA. The former requires every male over 18 to own a military rifle, one of the lowest violent crime rates in the world. The latter passed a law in March of 1982 that requires every head of household to own a gun. Crime dropped 89% the first year following the law, (state rate only fell 10%) and an additional 40% the following year. The city went 25 years without a murder, and is still the safest city in the state. At least two other cities I'm aware of have now passed similar laws. So please tell me how guns are bad.

Skellum0

Switzerland does have high gun ownership but they also have very strict gun control. Very very strict by American standards. Check your facts before posting. Kennisaw is a small town. Many, many small towns all over the World, with or without gun control go long periods with no murders so it is completely irrelevant.

Show me a large city where gun ownership is high, gun control low AND homicide rate is low. While you are at it, check the the 50, or the hundred most dangerous cities in the World and look for the coo on theme.

heyrob Loc: Western Washington

Gun control or not, the fact that every male 18 years + has a gun puts a lot of guns in private hands, so why the low crime rate? So please don't give me that crap about their gun control laws, that doesn't wash. As for Kennesaw, yeah it's a smaller town, but it's 5 times larger now than in 1982 and yet the crime rate has remained very low, and is tiny by comparison to the rest of the state, and to similar sized cities in the rest of the nation.

You can say that Chicago gun control laws pale in comparison to other countries, but let's not compare apples to oranges. The fact is Chicago has some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation and they still had over 500 murders in 2012. Seattle has no laws much beyond the Washington State laws, which for a liberal state are really pretty tame, yet Seattle had only 23 murders in 2012. While that's still 23 too many, it's only 4.6% of Chicago's numbers. So if gun control is the answer please explain this disparity.

The fact is that criminals prefer unarmed victims, and gun control laws only serve to embolden the criminals and leave their potential victims defenseless.

If you don't like guns, fine, no one is forcing you to have one. But I thank God, that I have a guarantee in the 2nd amendment that people like you can't touch my God given right to have one if I choose.

Disarmament is the first step toward genocide and total government control.

Skellum0

If you are unable to see that every single democracy in the World with significant gun control are now running homicide rates at a quarter those in America and you believe that it is just coincidence that the 100 most dangerous cities in the World are countries with little ( or no) gun control, then nothing I can say will open your mind.

I grew up with guns, the first ten years of my working life automatic weapons were my tool and I was passionately against gun control in any form. These days I have seen the difference it makes, and how, the longer a country goes with tough gun control the better it gets. In the last three years since I returned to Australia the only shooting deaths I have seen in the news have been gang on gang. In the UK they toughened the gun laws right up after the Dunblane massacre in the 1990s. Looking at the published data for England and Wales ( they report separately) homicides have fallen from around 1100 in 2002 to 550 last year. Violent crime has also seen a significant decrease.

30,000 people a year die in America in gun related incidents including shootings, suicides, accidents. The rate, 10 in 100,000 is up to 100 times higher than some other countries. I know suicides can find other means but it is also a fact that suicides are significantly higher in gun culture countries because guns are so accessible and convenient.

heyrob Loc: Western Washington

My mind is open just fine, I have a right to own a gun, and I will not give it up quietly. What others do that is outside the law should not and will not infringe upon me and other law abiding citizens. PERIOD! When drunks kill innocent people, no one blames the car, when terrorists bomb innocent people, no one blames the bomb, so why do folks like you blame violent crime on the guns?

Gun control is not crime control the Chicago vs Seattle example I gave, proves that. You fear guns, when you should fear the criminals, and don't tell me you don't fear them. No one advocates the suppression or banning of anything that they don't either fear or misunderstand. When was the last time you heard anyone advocate the banning of something that everyone loves?