changing the Constitution for a hot button topic of the day is foolish.
Doesn't really seem knee-jerk to me; you're just talking about a change in weapon licensing laws. The problem in America is that any change is somehow a Constitutional violation. You could argue that removing access to fully automatic weapons violates the amendment; it just depends on the mindset of the priest -- I mean Supreme Court justice -- hearing the appeal. Restricting gun ownership simply isn't on par with say detention without due process; unfortunately everything regarding Constitutional changes becomes a "slippery slope" argument with teh result that no change is possible.
Abortion is really a side issue, but indicative of the same problem: it's legality is based upon the flimsiest of interpretations and as long as the legislature is unwilling to risk political capital on a proper statute, it can be rendered illegal at any time. Constitutional amendments don't really come into it, but relying upon some vague notion of privacy law implied in some passage therein is more perilous and subject to the whim of an individual (in this case a judge) than actually sitting down and writing a law, whether a Constitutional Amendment or otherwise.
Let's say there were a scenario in which guns were banned in America: How do you figure it would work? How would all the guns be collected, and what happens to all the guns floating around? What about the concerns of jump starting an even large black market?
It's one thing to say that guns should be banned, but I'm curious about the follow through here.
"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."
Let's say there were a scenario in which guns were banned in America: How do you figure it would work? How would all the guns be collected, and what happens to all the guns floating around? What about the concerns of jump starting an even large black market?
It's one thing to say that guns should be banned, but I'm curious about the follow through here.
Well, there's already a large black market for guns in the USA (pretty sure I've read many times that the majority of weapons used in crimes were originally legally obtained, but illegally sold on) so outlawing them would only serve to remove the biggest outlet for supplying the black market.
I would think you could have a phased approach: eliminate the concealed carry permits and large-calibre weapon sales, drop handguns; restrict rifle/shotgun sales; eliminate availability of semi-automatic weapons. Expire registrations and have some kind of buyback program to encourage surrender of them for cash; otherwise confiscate if found. I'm not proposing house-to-house searches by armed police here. Clearly many will hold on to them, but with the removal of easily available ammunition and parts (clearly you'd have to strictly regulate any remaining arms makers to ensure they were only selling to authorised bodies, like military/police) over time these would slowly disappear.
They'll never be %100 eliminated, but it can be done in such a way that most of them can be removed from harm's way.
@Sean Aaron It sounds simple on paper, doesn't it? I just don't know if the hundreds of millions it would take to implement would pay off.
On the plus side, if guns were banned under your plan, I could make a killing. I can assemble pretty much any rifle from its parts and even cast my own ammo if need be (although handling molten lead isn't exactly the best idea) .
"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."
@The Fox Your obviously very protective of your right to own a gun and that is all well and good,each to their own and all that.,but what I still can't get my head around is why do you feel that you need to keep a gun on your premises? If you enjoy the act of shooting as sport/recreation why not keep your gun at the range and go on organised shooting/hunting trips. Do you not think that a lot of gun crime,school massacre's, accidental killing's would be avoided this way.Your stance that it would be too difficult an act to accomplish to ban guns seems strange to me. I mean nothing ever changes by staying the same does it. People thought that racial equality couldn't be improved,that women couldn't vote etc but you have to try. Do you really not see the harm that guns cause?How do feel about the glamouristion of guns paticulary in Hip-Hop culture and in general media which is going to have a massive effect on the younger generation, do you see this as a good thing?
@The Fox Your obviously very protective of your right to own a gun and that is all well and good,each to their own and all that.,but what I still can't get my head around is why do you feel that you need to keep a gun on your premises? If you enjoy the act of shooting as sport/recreation why not keep your gun at the range and go on organised shooting/hunting trips. Do you not think that a lot of gun crime,school massacre's, accidental killing's would be avoided this way.Your stance that it would be too difficult an act to accomplish to ban guns seems strange to me. I mean nothing ever changes by staying the same does it. People thought that racial equality couldn't be improved,that women couldn't vote etc but you have to try. Do you really not see the harm that guns cause?How do feel about the glamouristion of guns paticulary in Hip-Hop culture and in general media which is going to have a massive effect on the younger generation, do you see this as a good thing?
Wow, that's a lot of questions. A-As for why I feel the need to keep them on my premises, I don't know if I can give you an answer that anyone will understand. I just like collecting them, I guess. And I don't like using the ones at shooting ranges because I've worked with and tweaked my guns until I feel I get the best preformance out of them. I suppose I could leave mine there, but I just really like being able to take them into the county and firing off some rounds without the hassle.
B-The school shootings and accidental deaths are tragic (although shootings don't only happen in the U.S, they are most common here) and you won't find me mincing words on that. Guns are dangerous and they kill people. If you figure 5% of any countries population is bat shit crazy (and I think we can agree that is probably being generous), that means there are a lot of people that should never be allowed near a gun. I wish I had a simple answer, but I don't. Even tougher controls won't stop every whack job from getting one, I admit.
C-I don't know if womens rights and civil rights are really an apt comparison. I mean, those two were really dealing more with a fundamental issue of equality and were societal inevatibilities.
D-As for the glamourisation of guns, there no doubt is some impact. You can say the same with booze, smokes and drugs also, though. People have always been fascinated by guns, from the cinema to books and video games. I'm no sociologist, so I can't really say how influencal it is. I mean, I ordered a Saiga 12 Shotgun recently (you can see demostrations of it on Youtube) after seeing it in a movie and then doing research on it, so maybe my mind has been twisted by Hollywood also. I smell lawsuit!
Going to shooting ranges is like having designated smoking areas. I don't smoke, but if I did, I would NOT want to be forced to smoke only in certain areas. I DO own guns, and I DON'T want to have to be confined to a shooting range, where I have to pay 3 times more than I should to shoot at a place I don't want to be. Sure, school shootings could be avoided, but that's more on the parents, and the nature vs. nurture argument, to avoid people going crazy like that. If it's not guns, then the kids will find a way to hurt and terrorize their peers. Bombs are REALLY easy to make...
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