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Really Confused Over U.s Gun Laws.....

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Smowball | 14:02 Mon 25th Jul 2016 | News
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I'm sure I'm stating the obvious but why can you buy a gun so easily in the U.S and then everyone is horrified when there is another mass shooting incident?? What possible reason could anybody have for owning a gun apart from the police/military? Protection possibly but then if someone is determined to break into your home they'll find a way whether you're armed or not. Why do they not simply ban all gun sales?? I just don't get it. Am I missing something??
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So.... Does that mean that because you can buy knives with out a permit you wouldn't batter an eye lid if there is a mass stabbing? I mean why don't they simply ban all knives?

What you have to understand here that the second amendment clearly states everyone has the right to bear arms for self protection and to resist a corrupt government. So you start trying to ban guns and it is a direct threat to peoples freedom and the basis on which their country was found.

Its always nice for people such as yourself to think banning guns is the only way but it isn't and it will not help the situation of mass shootings.

You can always buy guns on the black market and also the places in america where the gun laws are the most strict are the areas where you are most likely to die from gun violence.

So its easy to say banning guns will help. But it wont help and it will be detrimental on peoples freedom and rights.

If the government agreed to melt their guns then it would be a basis for tighter gun controls and banning of guns. But guess what that will never happen in a million years. So let people shoot each other. It doesnt effect you so why are you so bothered?
US gun laws are rather, ermm, liberal, but to answer part of your question hunting is a fair reason for owning a gun. Much like it is in the UK, you'll be hard pushed to find a farmer without a gun and many other country folk.
second amendment my dear, the US is built on it, hard to step back from it.
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Ok fair enough so some people have a legitimate reason for owning a gun, as Eccles states. And I imagine they have to have a license and I would hope have checks done on them. I'm on about people who are buying guns on the Internet and in random shops etc where they don't appear to be checked whatsoever. Why is it so easy?
The difficulty here is cultural attitudes.

American society, for all its sophistication, still at heart retains its original 'frontier' mentality - the notion of a man protecting his homestead and family. This, combined with the enshrinement in the Constitution of a man's right to bear arms gives America the gun culture it now endures.

It is difficult for us in the U.K. to grasp the day-to-day acceptance and indeed interaction that America has with guns - fathers teach children to shoot, husbands buy guns for wives, guns are kept at home which leads to an appalling number of shootings by children.

As far as mass shootings go - the gun lobby simply use it as a reason why more people should carry guns - if everyone had a gun then mass shooters could be killed before they get going.

It's barmy as a piece of logic, but believe me, it speaks to the heart of a gun-loving society.

It really is possible for the average American gun owner to see a difference between himself and a mass gun-rampager - even though the difference is merely a mind set which circumstances can alter very quickly indeed.

The end result is - no President, in office, or campaigning, would go near the notion of even tightening gun controls, such would be the furore and overnight loss of political support.

In the same way that we are saddled by history with the overall cultural acceptance of an alcohol culture, so America is tied to its guns for the foreseeable future.

So banning gun sales there is as likely as banning alcohol sales here - not because it is not a good idea, but because too much history, culture, and money, are tied up in both to make the notion feasible.

If you really wanted to buy a firearm in the UK you would be able to find a way to do it.
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I know whiskey, that's true - it's harder here though(I hope).
Agree Andy there's no logic at all to it - people buying guns because they are scared of - people with guns!
The real answer is money, arms companies are making money hand over fist and their supporters riled up to think any gun control measures are unconstitutional. It is mental.
Ron - we may be able to get hold of guns but it's illegal to carry them. If anyone gets caught with a gun they will be sent to prison.
The trouble is that back when the gun laws came about, guns were not as they are now! Guns have advanced somewhat. No one back then could have Antipated guns as they are now. Basically the Americans have a mentality based on the past.
ummmm
'Ron - we may be able to get hold of guns but it's illegal to carry them. If anyone gets caught with a gun they will be sent to prison.'

there are gun clubs in britain -I was at a clay shoot last week - we weren't using pop guns they were real shotguns -I was not arrested.
I can, just about, understand the desire to carry/own a weapon for 'personal/family' protection........but quite how that transmogrifies into the need to possess Uzis/AK47s and the like, I have no idea....

The Brady Bill was bought in after Hinkley tried to assassinate Reagan and that insisted upon background checks which were more stringent than previously.

However, Arms Dealers are a huuuuuge business in USA and it is not in their interests to have gun-ownership curtailed. They have very deep pockets and bank-roll enough Senators to ensure that any damaging gun-laws never get off the drawing board.
Retrochic - //ummmm
'Ron - we may be able to get hold of guns but it's illegal to carry them. If anyone gets caught with a gun they will be sent to prison.'

there are gun clubs in britain -I was at a clay shoot last week - we weren't using pop guns they were real shotguns -I was not arrested. //

I think the reference is to carrying unlicensed firearms in public places - obviously gun clubs are exempt from that legislation.
// Ron - we may be able to get hold of guns but it's illegal to carry them. If anyone gets caught with a gun they will be sent to prison. // When you are out are you aware of anyone carrying a gun ? You cannot see concealed weapons.
I and most of us could own a gun........if we have a license.
andy -yes anyone who gets caught with an unlicensed gun...guns don't have licenses in the UK -its the owners who have the licence to carry and use them for a legitimate purpose.
I always quote Ben Elton in debates like this - I really appreciate his approach - "If you ask someone if they would like to own a gun, and they say yes, they should immediately be banned from ever owning a gun!"
There is a limit on the type of fire-arm we could own, though.

Farmers/gamekeepers can have shotguns and not Kalashnikovs...
Nellie May, that ( mentality based on the past) might be the answer but it would take a strong President to push it through. Everybody can carry a gun but it would be the type that was only available when the second amendment was added.
Then Ben Elton has never either lived in the countryside nor wanted to participate in the Olympic sport of target shooting ;-)

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