Armed Populace Debate

[mrsticky005]

I've noticed that with some gun control opponents the issue they are afraid of is not criminals getting guns but rather the average legal citizen with a gun. Basically they think that if everyone had guns then everyone would be on edge and it would only take a small spark before everyone massacres
each other with their weapons.

What do you think? Is an armed populace a danger to itself or not?

[Wooster]

Ruhenheim?
Guns don't kill people Monsters kill people.

[Vornmusion]

People are dangerous to themselves. Ban people.

[mrsticky005]

Ok it's like this.

Imagine the Aurora shooting.

Now imagine that the audience is armed. (conceal carry)

Would the audience kill itself out of fear and distrust?

[Wooster]

Probably not. They would kill the shooter.

[Larry01239]

Do you have to pass an IQ test and/or gun safety rules test to get a gun license? If not, you should.

[mrsticky005]

Originally Posted by Larry01239

Do you have to pass an IQ test and/or gun safety rules test to get a gun license? If not, you should.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4453899_get-...s-license.html

[mrsticky005]

Originally Posted by Wooster

Probably not. They would kill the shooter.

Yes but then wouldn't someone shoot the person who shot the shooter
because now THAT person is armed and dangerous and could shoot them.
This goes on until everyone is dead.

How reasonable does this sound?

If not explain why.

[Vornmusion]

Originally Posted by mrsticky005

Yes but then wouldn't someone shoot the person who shot the shooter
because now THAT person is armed and dangerous and could shoot them.
This goes on until everyone is dead.

If those people lack that kind of common sense and situational awareness I'd say the world is better off without them anyway.

Not like their argument even matters. If everyone had a gun then eventually culture will adapt and people won't fly off the handle every time someone pulls a gun out. If we have to weed through the idiots to get that far, meh. Bad guys will still have their guns; it's all just another dot on the timeline in the end.

[mrsticky005]

Originally Posted by Vornmusion

If those people lack that kind of common sense and situational awareness I'd say the world is better off without them anyway.

Not like their argument even matters. If everyone had a gun then eventually culture will adapt and people won't fly off the handle every time someone pulls a gun out. If we have to weed through the idiots to get that far, meh. Bad guys will still have their guns; it's all just another dot on the timeline in the end.

Common sense and situational awareness is one thing.
But wouldn't the fear of "they might shoot me" cause
people to act irrationally? Don't people not think straight
when they are scared? Do we really want scared people with guns?

Wouldn't arming a populace give them more incentive to use the guns?
and therefore become criminals themselves?

[Cloukora]

I don't know, I'm kinda on the fence about it, because what IF people start killing each other just cause they have a gun. Yes, it will make it safer, but there's that possibility. HOWEVER, one good point I see brought up a lot on the pro-gun side, is that theater banned guns, and yet, someone still managed to bring multiple guns in and do what he did. I also heard there were Marines inside the movie theater, and I'm sure if they had a gun, they would have took him out. Like I said though, I'm still on the fence about it, I wouldn't vote either way, but the pro-gun side seems to be making sense.

[Bacon]

With or without guns, people will cause massacres. All guns do is provide the people with a general sense of comfort against peers.

[JLI2infinity]

Originally Posted by mrsticky005

Common sense and situational awareness is one thing.
But wouldn't the fear of "they might shoot me" cause
people to act irrationally? Don't people not think straight
when they are scared? Do we really want scared people with guns?

Wouldn't arming a populace give them more incentive to use the guns?
and therefore become criminals themselves?

^THIS WAS BEAUTIFUL

Look I'm not sure where I stand on the whole gun control issue, if someone put a gun to my head ( ahh ahhh, i know you guys liked that one) I'd probably say I'm moderate like most rational people are with this issue. The idea that we should ban guns altogether is a joke. Just like weed the amount of guns circulating though the American public is enormous, it would probably make one of the quickest, easiest black markets in American history (it'd be simpler than the one back in the 30's during the alcohol prohibition), but everyone having a gun is just as big of a joke.

People have this idea that popping one off is something people casually do, some more informed debaters on the topic might say that people need training before they get a gun but the fact is training simply can't adequately prepare an ordinary citizen for an even where he or she would need a gun. That's like saying driver's ed can prepare someone for the autobahn. It's not because people are stupid it's because people are people.

You always hear about that amazing story of a mother under stress lifting a 500 pound piece of debris off her baby or that pilot who saved his crew from crashing when the plane's engine gave out but there are two things that get ignored in these situations...

(1) In the words of House "he's on the plane too" for all we know these people do extraordinary things because they feel like they have to or they couldn't deal with the consequences.

(2) The reason these events get so well publicized is because they are extraordinary, yes the media clings to tragedy but it slips our minds most of the time or just gets ignored. I remember seeing a headline scrolling under the CNN news bar where it says pick up truck flipped 25 people die in car crash the day after the shooting, yet that was COMPLETELY overshadowed by the event in Aurora. We tend to remember isolated tragedies like these. We also remember isolated triumphs like the mother who lifts the giant stone slab to free her child rather than the mother who goes unconscious from seeing the kid's crushed leg or has a nervous breakdown and flees from the scene (like that man who left his girlfriend and child in the theater).

So...........

To those arguing that having guns are the solution how much "situational awareness" are you expecting from people in the middle of a trance like state while watching a movie hyped to be the event of the year, that gets suddenly disrupted by a man who was basically a walking tank gassing the entire room and letting off clips left and right. And what could they have even done (like I said they were caught off guard, stunned by the gas, and to top it all off he was wearing armor).

To those arguing that having no guns is the solution what's to stop people this determined from finding heat elsewhere. All you really need to get a piece for the job he was planning to do, where he was going to give up afterwards and it wouldn't matter if the weapon was linked to other crimes, is anywhere from $50-$300 and a very eager "protection salesman."

[BMC1994]

Ima just quote some good ol' Chris Rock here. " We dont need some gun control we need bullet control. I think every bullet should cost 5000 $"

If the above was the case then free guns from everyone even for babies