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-   -   Is Gun Control Responsible for Crime? (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=807842)

  • Feb 3, 2015, 04:54 PM
    catonsville
    Is Gun Control Responsible for Crime?
    Driving home, I had a thought. Is Gun Control responsible for much of the crime in this country? Aren't the politicians responsible? They pass laws to disarm the victims. How good are the laws, that are supposed, to disarm the criminals working for us? Not very well. How many criminals would be dead if the victims were armed, good question I think. How many crimes would be stopped? The Police can't be everywhere.
  • Feb 3, 2015, 05:11 PM
    talaniman
    Criminals are responsible for crime, plain and simple, and the problem is catching and punishing them, since the cops can only react after they have committed a crime. I know of no laws to disarm ordinary citizens, just insure a nut from the loony bin doesn't get one, or a convicted felon.

    What's wrong with that? Now we can argue if you should have an uzi to defend yourself, or a high capacity clip,or a cannon, or bazooka.

    I guess you are against a simple background check too.
  • Feb 3, 2015, 05:28 PM
    joypulv
    This question is argued endlessly. I can't believe you don't run into it every day - my friends on Facebook, people in towns like Sandy Hook, politicians, the NRA... on and on.

    I happen to agree that gun control hasn't worked, because criminals and anyone who really wants a gun gets them easily anyway. A few mentally ill might be stopped, or someone momentarily enraged by a cheating spouse... but not enough.

    Gun control advocates show that deaths by cars have steadily dropped, which they attribute to safety regulations, while deaths by guns have increased.

    I think the solutions are complex, too complex for the average politician.
  • Feb 3, 2015, 07:24 PM
    catonsville
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by talaniman View Post
    Criminals are responsible for crime, plain and simple, and the problem is catching and punishing them, since the cops can only react after they have committed a crime. I know of no laws to disarm ordinary citizens, just insure a nut from the loony bin doesn't get one, or a convicted felon.

    What's wrong with that? Now we can argue if you should have an uzi to defend yourself, or a high capacity clip,or a cannon, or bazooka.

    I guess you are against a simple background check too.

    The answer to your last statement is NO I am not against "simple background checks". I did not throw my post out, for anyone to question my feelings, more to give people something to think about. As for laws to disarm the ordinary citizen there have been many successful and many overturned. I am supportive of "concealed carry" as a useful tool.
  • Feb 3, 2015, 07:44 PM
    Wondergirl
    What laws are there to disarm the ordinary citizen?
  • Feb 3, 2015, 07:45 PM
    talaniman
    Wasn't trying to question your feelings, just engage in the exchange since you threw it out there. Pretty obvious since there are as many guns in America as citizens, local attempts at restricting access is a non starter. It's a right to own and carry, and an individual choice, but no guarantee of not being a victim.

    Criminals thrive on getting the drop on their victims.
  • Feb 3, 2015, 07:56 PM
    Alty
    Scary thought, what if there were no guns period? No guns for us, no guns for the criminals, simply no guns at all! That's the only way to truly control who has guns and who doesn't.
  • Feb 3, 2015, 07:59 PM
    catonsville
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Wondergirl View Post
    What laws are there to disarm the ordinary citizen?

    Just as a starter the expense and hoops that one has to jump through to get a "concealed carry permit". How about the DC Gun Law that was knocked down and since that time, I could be wrong but they have only issued 3 permits in all of DC.
    Also what about Chicago's gun laws?
  • Feb 3, 2015, 08:28 PM
    smoothy
    The gun grabbing gun control advocates... might not be directly responsible... but they created a situation they share a moral if not legal responsibility for fascilitating.

    Pull up the statistics for violent crime in the UK. Compare it to the USA. Far higher than here. Lack of a gun never stopped or discouraged anyone from committing a crime or assault. Humans were beating other humans to death since the earliest caveman leaned to use tools to hunt. It didn't suddenly appear with the advent of firearms.
  • Feb 3, 2015, 08:50 PM
    catonsville
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by smoothy View Post
    The gun grabbing gun control advocates... might not be directly responsible... but they created a situation they share a moral if not legal responsibility for fascilitating.

    Pull up the statistics for violent crime in the UK. Compare it to the USA. Far higher than here. Lack of a gun never stopped or discouraged anyone from committing a crime or assault. Humans were beating other humans to death since the earliest caveman leaned to use tools to hunt. It didn't suddenly appear with the advent of firearms.

    Good to see you are back. Been a while since I have seen you post. Also have to agree with you. Your first paragraph is right on also.
  • Feb 3, 2015, 08:56 PM
    Wondergirl
    Hoops to jump through for concealed carry permit? One of my nurses at the health-care rehab I was in a year ago had a FOID card, took a weekend course, and got her permit.
  • Feb 3, 2015, 09:01 PM
    smoothy
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by catonsville View Post
    Good to see you are back. Been a while since I have seen you post. Also have to agree with you. Your first paragraph is right on also.

    I have a new job.. and rotating shifts... HUGE amount of training to go through.. Just haven't had a lot of free time in the short term. I will have more time in the coming months however. Never really left.
  • Feb 3, 2015, 09:15 PM
    catonsville
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Wondergirl View Post
    Hoops to jump through for concealed carry permit? One of my nurses at the health-care rehab I was in a year ago had a FOID card, took a weekend course, and got her permit.

    That is great and wonderful. Fortunately she must live in a state that is interested in the protection of one's self. Stop and think about the politicians who arm themselves and or have armed guards but pass laws that denies the ordinary citizen
    the same protections.
  • Feb 3, 2015, 09:23 PM
    catonsville
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by catonsville View Post
    That is great and wonderful. Fortunately she must live in a state that is interested in the protection of one's self. Stop and think about the politicians who arm themselves and or have armed guards but pass laws that denies the ordinary citizen
    the same protections.

    PS I think some of the Politicians are not all there and are they tested?
  • Feb 4, 2015, 03:44 AM
    Catsmine
    Statistics can be bent(or cherry-picked) to favor either side. The basic question is: Do individuals have a right to lethal self-defense? The British Commonwealth countries say no. Other Western nations such as the U.S. Switzerland, and Israel say yes. Politicians in all those countries are trying to change the laws. Indiana Jones reference - Choose Wisely.
  • Feb 4, 2015, 05:38 AM
    NeedKarma
    Quote:

    U.S. Switzerland, and Israel
    Very different cultures in all three of those, hard to lump them together as one example.
  • Feb 4, 2015, 09:05 AM
    Wondergirl
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by catonsville View Post
    That is great and wonderful. Fortunately she must live in a state that is interested in the protection of one's self. Stop and think about the politicians who arm themselves and or have armed guards but pass laws that denies the ordinary citizen
    the same protections.

    Illinois, the state you alluded to in an earlier post.
  • Feb 4, 2015, 10:00 AM
    catonsville
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Wondergirl View Post
    Illinois, the state you alluded to in an earlier post.

    Figured it was Illinois. Big difference in Chicago and Illinois and every other Big City around the Country. Do you go into places where you do not feel safe?
  • Feb 4, 2015, 10:04 AM
    Wondergirl
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by catonsville View Post
    Figured it was Illinois. Big difference in Chicago and Illinois and every other Big City around the Country. Do you go into places where you do not feel safe?

    Illinois was the last state to approve concealed carry. There are MANY parts of Chicago that are perfectly safe, and only a few neighborhoods that should be avoided, even during the day.
  • Feb 4, 2015, 02:28 PM
    catonsville
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Wondergirl View Post
    Illinois was the last state to approve concealed carry. There are MANY parts of Chicago that are perfectly safe, and only a few neighborhoods that should be avoided, even during the day.

    Same is true in just about all Big Cities and that is not just true for whites.
  • Jul 11, 2015, 07:19 PM
    Palmer Eldritch
    The US should have stricter gun control laws. More guns equals more deaths due to guns. Accidental shootings or catching a stray bullet from a shoot out. Country's where guns are not aloud have far fewer deaths due to them and far fewer gun masacures, school shootings etc
  • Jul 11, 2015, 08:21 PM
    catonsville
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Palmer Eldritch View Post
    The US should have stricter gun control laws. More guns equals more deaths due to guns. Accidental shootings or catching a stray bullet from a shoot out. Country's where guns are not aloud have far fewer deaths due to them and far fewer gun masacures, school shootings etc

    Sure, hardly a day goes by that law abiding citizens don't take out their gun and kill 3 or 4 people. S**t happens and everyday someone dies be it in a car, or by a gun, a knife, a baseball bat, poison, you name it. Maybe we should remove all the cars from the road and go back to the days of the horse and buggy too.

    PS Not up to date with what is going on in other countries, could be those other countries also have fewer crazy and evil people walking around.
  • Jul 11, 2015, 08:35 PM
    smoothy
    The US doesn't NEED stricter gun control. What we need is to execute far more repeat criminal offenders and drug addicts and dealers. They are who commit MOST of the crimes. Fewer criminals alive and fewer addicts running loose = fewer crimes committed by them. But then, the Marxists have never liked an armed populace. They won't put up with unlimited amounts of manure being forced down their throats.
  • Jul 11, 2015, 08:38 PM
    Palmer Eldritch
    Obviously there are many ways to kill one another however guns can inflict a mass of casualties in one shooting such as the horrific church massacre. I don't understand why America is so pro gun when they have so much crime and death as a direct result of them.
  • Jul 11, 2015, 08:42 PM
    smoothy
    .

    How about this simple fact... that escapes the comprehension of Marxists and many non-Americans.

    We have a constitution and a Bill of RIGHTS (something Few countries have and without it the population is subject to whatever whims the idiots in political office have at any given moment)... in that constitution and the Bill or Rights we are granted the RIGHT to be armed and the Constitution requires extraordinary measures to alter. An armed populace is what Marxists and wannabe tyrants the world over fear more than anything. Because the people can stop their attempts to terrorize them.
  • Jul 11, 2015, 08:46 PM
    J_9
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by catonsville View Post
    Sure, hardly a day goes by that law abiding citizens don't take out their gun and kill 3 or 4 people.

    Murder is against the law, therefore "law abiding citizens" don't commit murder, thugs do.
  • Jul 12, 2015, 12:08 AM
    catonsville
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by J_9 View Post
    Murder is against the law, therefore "law abiding citizens" don't commit murder, thugs do.

    Just to keep it simple I was being Facetious meaning: treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant. One might even say it was ridiculous.
  • Jul 12, 2015, 01:48 AM
    tickle
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Palmer Eldritch View Post
    The US should have stricter gun control laws. More guns equals more deaths due to guns. Accidental shootings or catching a stray bullet from a shoot out. Country's where guns are not aloud have far fewer deaths due to them and far fewer gun masacures, school shootings etc

    It doesn't matter if guns are not allowed, anyone can get a gun and use it. People die from various other illegal ways as well.
  • Jul 12, 2015, 03:48 AM
    Catsmine
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by smoothy View Post
    .
    in that constitution and the Bill or Rights we are granted the RIGHT to be armed

    Minor inaccuracy here, Smooth. The Bill of Rights recognizes and codifies the right of self defense. It does not grant it.
  • Jul 12, 2015, 07:31 AM
    DoulaLC
    It's a sad fact that, yes, some law abiding citizens will have a gun that gets stolen and used by a criminal, or is used in an accident. Often, however, it is due to the irresponsibility of the gun owner.

    It is also true, however, that many people have saved themselves and/or others because they had a gun which was legally owned.

    Two major problems with gun control laws are that, one, current laws are not enforced as they should be, and two, criminals don't follow gun laws. You can fix the first issue quite easily.

    Two major goals, to fix a great deal of the nation's problems, would be to have major campaigns to recognize and support mental health and drug issues in people, and to work towards getting families stronger so that they are better equipped to raise their children better. The breakdown of families, and individual responsibility (which the lack of is becoming generational), are a major cause of the issues we face. All the other things that politicians and the media focus on are just Band-Aids, and they won't heal the root cause.
  • Jul 12, 2015, 08:55 AM
    Catsmine
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by DoulaLC View Post
    The breakdown of families, and individual responsibility (which the lack of is becoming generational), are a major cause of the issues we face. All the other things that politicians and the media focus on are just Band-Aids, and they won't heal the root cause.

    One might even say THE major cause. Nail-head-BOOM!
  • Jul 12, 2015, 10:05 AM
    talaniman
    You want a stronger family? Then stop giving the resources away. Poverty has always been the root cause of fear and instability and great uncertainty. Small wonder gun sales are up, because you have to have something to equalize all that fear.

    Gun control is irrelevant, what we need control of is the fear, I mean when you close a factory, and replace it with a Walmart how do you expect a family to survive? That's the generational cause for all of this, NO MONEY! No opportunity for money for those that are NOT college bound. And a lot more predators out there that a gun won't solve. We are just so outraged by the gun violence that's all over the news but it has been there far longer in people's lives.
  • Jul 12, 2015, 06:18 PM
    DoulaLC
    Certainly people would benefit from stable jobs....no question about it.

    I'm referring to stronger families in the sense of raising children to be more responsible for their choices in behaviour. Take education seriously as a means to do better in the future, for example.

    Far more parents these days do not expect better behaviour from their children because they lack it themselves. Thus the cycle often continues. It doesn't have to be a poverty issue.

    Plenty of people in poverty raise their children to be respectful, honest, and hard working because they model and expect that behaviour. It costs nothing to be those things.

    There has always been poverty and there have always been guns. The main difference now is what behaviours society (parents, media, etc) have turned a blind eye to or allowed... in some cases even encouraged. Just look at how much media attention is given to the issue of guns (which fits the narrative) and how little to the breakdown of families, what is deemed acceptable behaviour, and help for the mentally ill ( no agenda that the issue fits).

    Now we try to reign that back in without focusing on the cause. Until change happens in the acceptance of poor behaviour, things will not change. Too many people are out for themselves... too many parents lack the interest, knowledge, or desire to do the job well anymore....and no one wants to address that.
  • Jul 12, 2015, 06:26 PM
    Wondergirl
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by talaniman View Post
    YNo opportunity for money for those that are NOT college bound.

    And a college education doesn't solve the job problem. We need more vocational guidance early on plus training to create plumbers and electricians and auto mechanics and cooks/bakers and CNAs and child-care workers. Today's Chicago Tribune listed the fastest growing jobs of the future. College wasn't important for many of them.

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