The right to bear arms.

[SethLive!]

Originally Posted by LiquidSnake

Here in switzerland about every guy who served has his rifle at home with i think 20 bullets (in a closed packet. if u had to serve again they'll check the packet, if it was open one day u will go to jail i think). Here we also have a debate about should the rifle be allowed to be kept at home? (about a week ago some guy shot a 16 year old girl for no reason with the army rifle). Though i think it's a good thing to keep the rifle at home, because u get teh feeling of some kind of security. On the other hand there could always be some idiot who shoots people.

yeah but in Switzerland you have one of the lowest-if not THE lowest-crime rates in the whole world. the homicide rate is also incredibly low. everyone is afraid to rob someone cause they will end up getting shot.

[LiquidSnake]

Originally Posted by SethLive!

yeah but in Switzerland you have one of the lowest-if not THE lowest-crime rates in the whole world. the homicide rate is also incredibly low. everyone is afraid to rob someone cause they will end up getting shot.

QFT

Side note again^^: we have one of teh highest suicide rates (maybe even the highest) here in "der Schweiz"

[[R-CON]Alex6714]

I would say it is the people who are the problem, not the guns, they just make it easier for them.
Whats the answer? I don't know, harsher punishments? Better parenting? Not restricting something that can be used perfectly sensibly by sensible people.

Same can be done with knives, cars, almost anything....

But that is just my opinion.

[Fullforce]

I think it'll be interesting in the coming years/decades when more and more people wise up to Less-than-Lethal weaponry, and use it to defend themselves. I don't know if that'll happen, but it would certainly change the world. Anyone who's a threat could be dropped with a Tazer or whatever, with no side-effects (IE: DEATH) nor damaging psychological effects to the person who Tazer'd them.

Even if Tazers are potentially lethal, I'd rather see everyone walking around with Tazers as opposed to Pistols.

Originally Posted by AOD_Morph

I think its obvious that this kid got an Ak47 illegally. Since that was the weapon used, we don't just give firearms to every nut case roaming the streets.

It was an SKS, AFAIK. Same thing really though

[[R-MOD]Wasteland]

Fullforce, if I was going up against an armed psycho, I'd much rather have a pistol than a tazer (I'd also rather have an SMG than a pistol, but whatever)...

[JohnnyPissoff]

Originally Posted by [R-CON]ZZEZ

I doubt that they let people with psychological problems in the US own guns.

The main problem is, there are way too many "hot" or stolen handguns floating around.

Right now, probably because of the strong underground markets created by
the so called "drug war", some people (ironically mostly kids) know where to buy or even rent illegal handguns if they really want one.

Also, in some states background checks apply to handguns only. In some states infact, anyone with an ID (drivers licence) can buy shotguns, rifles, or any type ammo over the counter without any type background check. Also there are more lax restrictions for so called "gun shows".

[markonymous]

here in Sweden gun laws are very strict thereby its hard to get a hold of them. Because of that we don't need to defend ourselves. Its working out great we have about 50 murders a year. Personally i don't really believe in the right to carry arms.

and wasteland if you have a tazer and taze him his not gonna be able to do much. 50000 volts.

[Lothrian]

I am going to say something that in the past I generally disagreed with, however, it makes sense to me now.

The problem is not with gun ownership, especially in the states. It is the mentality that you need to defend yourself with lethal force. If civilians are armed to the teeth, then the criminal underworld goes up a level.

That said, in cases like these with the shootings, its not a problem with gun culture. They want to have attention, and they want to be remembered. That's why every time, they kill themselves before facing the music.
Making guns harder to obtain is the only way to slow it, and identifying high risk people and giving them the psychiatric help they need. Importantly, there is no way to stop it entirely because no net is infallible.

[[R-MOD]Bob_Marley]

Originally Posted by gazzthompson

well we can own shotguns in UK , so thats bearing arms , just not rifles or pistols

Not true.

Barring the Section 5 theoretical legality (If an special dispensation is granted by the home secretary for a weapon listed as section 5, such as rocket launchers, pistols and fully automatic weapons, etc) a British Citizen, provided they can meet the criteria for either a Section 1 (Rifles, etc) or Section 2 (Shotguns) FAC can legally possess straight pull bolt action rifles, semi automatic .22 rimfire rifles, Shotguns with a magazine capacity of more than 2 rounds, Muzzle loading rifles/muskets/handguns, air rifles with less than 12 foot-pounds of power and shotguns with a magazine capacity of 2 rounds or less. In addition one can also own, without restrictions, weapons with non-commercially available ammunition and air rifles with power equal to or less than 12 foot-pounds and air pistols with 6 foot-pounds or less of power.

[[R-MOD]Wasteland]

Johnny, I hear you about the Drug War being the cause for much of the illegal firearm trade. I've been offered pistols for purchase several times (all in Canada), and every person who offered them was a large-scale drug supplier. Come to think of it, they were all Asians who had stakes in the port areas, so I imagine they were imported, not originally legal.

Originally Posted by markonymous

50000 volts.

Range.