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Why Should Gun Ownership not be unconstitutional?

At the outset of this discussion I want to make it perfectly clear that I understand that there are many Americans who own and use guns responsibly. Obviously declaring gun ownership in America to be unconstitutional would be an unfair blow to those Americans who do use guns responsibly. Having said that, I think a real discussion about the use of guns in our society is long overdue. Below I’ll list some statistics about the number of Americans killed and injured by guns. Then I’ll paste a link to an article about a man with a history of mental illness and domestic violence who used a gun to murder his wife and daughter. A second daughter is currently in critical condition. I’m hoping that, in the comment section, some of you intelligent people can convince me why guns should continue being so routed in our culture.

In 2009, guns took the lives of 31,347 Americans. To put that in perspective, in 2009 an average of 85 Americans were killed each day. In 2009, 66,769 Americans were treated for gunshot wounds at American hospitals. In 2009, firearms were the third leading cause of injury-related deaths in America. In 2009 guns were used in 68 percent of all the homicides that were committed in America. On average 33 gun-related homicides took place each day in America between 2004 and 2009.

Between 1955 and 1975 the Vietnam War killed over 58,000 American soldiers. That number is less than the number of Americans killed by guns in America during an average two-year period. In the first seven years of the Iraq War more than 4,400 American soldiers were killed. Almost as many civilians are killed by guns in the US in an average seven-week period.

Those statistics can be found at: http://www.lcav.org/statistics-polling/gun_violence_statistics.asp. The article about the mentally-ill man who shot his family is at: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RESTAURANT_SHOOTING?SITE=....

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Permalink Reply by Joshua Francom on April 16, 2012 at 7:18pm

A polite society is an armed society.

Ya know why the Germans never invaded Switzerland? Every house was a sniper nest and every barn was a harbor for field artillery.

Ya know why the Japanese never invaded the continental United States? They thought we were all hicks with machine guns.

The the more firearms the better. So long as they are all cataloged, accounted for and in good hands. Idealistic, I know.

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Permalink Reply by Joshua Francom on April 17, 2012 at 12:59pm

I was oversimplifying of course. I know my history.

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Simeone on April 16, 2012 at 7:39pm

Joe, Things like cars and saws are needed. How are guns needed? What purpose do they have?

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Permalink Reply by Joe C on April 16, 2012 at 9:46pm

Guns help provide affordable, nutritious food and occasional protection from the rare threatening animal.

They also provide a suite of fairly healthy sports, but i understand if someone wouldn't prioritize that as highly.

FWIW, i would argue cars are't strictly needed either. For many periods of my life (including now) i've biked everywhere. Cars are actually a bit of a nuisance and a noticeable danger, but i'm not going to suggest banning them because i realize not everyone's lifestyle is like mine, and other people need their cars to get by.

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Simeone on April 16, 2012 at 7:42pm

Joshua, Everyone is in the "good hands" category until they aren't anymore. Statistics show us that as long as guns are so easily obtained the wrong people will access them and use them for bad purposes. We can't even continue a state-by-state system of gun laws because a bad person could go to a state where buying a gun is easy and bring it to a state that wants to outlaw guns or restrict their use.

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Permalink Reply by Mitch Keene on April 16, 2012 at 7:47pm

I was also going to bring up cars Joe.

Yes they are very useful tools, when the time calls for them and they are used for for sport and competition. I don't have the facts on this, but highly doubt very many people are injured or killed at competitions. As for hunting, accidents do happen and its usually do to negligence, ex: not wearing an orange vest or when your bird hunting not paying attention to where you are shooting etc.

Not to mention some of my family relies on hunting and fishing heavily to support themselves. I don't kill anything when I am hunting anymore(so I guess I'm just observing most of the time) unless someone actually needs the meat. Yes there are people who still rely on hunting and fishing, they also plant their own gardens. There are bows, but they are only really useful for deer and boar, try killing smaller game with a bow, I doubt there is anyone who can do that consistently, if there is , its a rare feat. Not to mention bows are not anywhere near as effective and I would almost consider it inhumane to kill something with a bow, considering the animals tend to live more often or live longer. Plus they severely lack in range vs a gun.

I would also like to add, its very hard to gauge how many people guns save versus how many they kill, and I think a push to teach proper safety and maintenance would drastically reduce deaths attributed to guns, since it isn't going anywhere soon.

Also if anyone decided to invade our country(however unlikely that is already), The fact that many Americans it further decreases that likelyhood and would severely dampen any invasion. Again not a huge point.

Personal account on at least one life saved. Someone tried to rob me at knife point about 2 years ago, I have a concealed carry license(I am no stranger and neither is my immediate family, law enforcement, to the horrors this life can bring) and I pulled my gun on this fellow, Neither person died and I retained my money. Now if I wouldn't have had a gun, I would have had a knife(I carry both) we both could have possibly died, I wouldn't have let him take my stuff without a fight. When my adrenaline is pumping, I get angry, fight or flight, if i'm on an even field I fight, If they have the advantage I run or try to make the decision that allows me to live another day. Since I had the advantage and control I was allowed to push the situation the way I wanted it to go, and I don't know the fellow's intent , but I generally wouldn't have taken any chances and would have fought.

I also think guns get a bad rap is because their original intent was a weapon, but I seem them not just weapons but tools.

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Simeone on April 16, 2012 at 10:08pm

Comparing the societal value of guns with that of cars doesn’t make sense. If we were to ban cars we would soon become a primitive society. No cars on the roads would greatly curtail our nation’s economy and dramatically change almost everything about the way most Americans live. Banning guns, on the other hand. Would only cause a small minority of Americans to change the way they eat or keep them from participating in a sport they enjoy. Our modern society wouldn’t function without cars. Guns don’t add any value to the lives of many Americans. The two are not comparable.

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Permalink Reply by Joshua Francom on April 17, 2012 at 1:01pm

Or we would invent a system that drove our cars for us. Like an invisible railway on our roads guided by GPS. Its not like that isn't already in the works.

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Permalink Reply by Richard ∑wald on April 16, 2012 at 10:18pm

Godwin'd by page two. Who didn't see this coming?

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Simeone on April 16, 2012 at 10:27pm

I guess it’s time to end this discussion. The arguments are getting silly at this point. Masturbation has never killed anyone. Nor has there ever been a proven link between masturbation and pedophilia.

Conversely, we have mountains of evidence that prove a direct link among the amount of guns in a society to the amount of murders in a society.

This will be my last reply on this topic.