Gun Politics in the United States

On April 16th 2007, a gunman went on a rampage at Virginia Tech university in the United States before killing himself, bringing the death toll to 33. Do American gun laws effectively and materially reduce violent crime? What further regulations are needed? Does the American Constitution permit federal, state, or local regulation of individual firearms ownership?

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Poster	Message
MingToo	17 Apr '07  12:33 : 0 recs Since the US has around 30K gun homicides a year, should we not also be discussing the 50 or so other people who died yesterday by firearm in the USA in addition to those 33 ?
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PaxAm	17 Apr '07  11:56 : 0 recs : edited 10 times : last edit 17 Apr '07  12:28 A ban on guns will be as useful as the ban on drugs. It certainly "prevented" the shootings at Westmount College in Montreal Canada last September. In that case the shooter was apparently more innept - he only killed one and left 19 wounded. In reality, the gun lobbies in the US are extreme - gun proponents will fight any and every infringement on their right to bear arms and gun "control" organizations will never rest until every gun is removed from citizens hands. In the middle is the unrequited common sense realm. The framers of the US constitution saw gun ownership as a means of self protection of citizens against government abuse among other dangers. It seems a quaint notion today - but not without a rational basis. At the same time, the founding fathers never envisioned modern society where so many citizens would fully yield their safety and protection to government and police agents. But its not a uniform yielding. I've lived in a US town that was rated the safest in the nation several years running - and it also had the highest per capita ownership of weapons. Criminals knew that they might crawl through a window into a private residence - but they also might not crawl out. Bans on weapons are legitimate proposals. But they wont eliminate tragedies like these which in reality happen periodically all over the developed world. Unfortunately, there is a copy cat impulse to marginal fringers that snap and loose their marbles in these kinds of horrible activities. Schools should respond accordingly - and from intitial reports, Virginia Tech was woefully unprepared even as there had been bomb threats in very recent days and an inexplicable 2 hour lag between the initial shootings and the subsequent massacre of 30 more souls - a period where most students were either unwaware of a killing on campus or simply unable to get information on what to do.
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Merlin	17 Apr '07  11:41 : 0 recs Its no so much guns as the type of guns. Handguns and automatic weapons are only designed to shoot people. They should not be availbe. Mind you would I prefer more guns and less burglary and robbery- probably.
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MingToo	17 Apr '07  11:04 : 0 recs Yes, common sense is not prevailing here. As we all know, the constitution gives the right to bear arms. But its not the wild west any more. Laws need to adapt to the changing nature of society. I can't see it happening though.
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Waterloo Sunset	17 Apr '07  10:54 : 0 recs Do American gun laws effectively and materially reduce violent crime? Does gasoline put out fire? Its more common sense. The more guns there are about the more likely one is going to be available when you get really mad about whatever. Lots of stabbings in the UK. Everyone carries a knife. Duh! WS
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Warren BuffetCar	17 Apr '07  10:35 : 0 recs I think its pretty clear that there is a problem in the USA that can only be remedied by a ban. I know this will upset many people, who talk about constitutional rights, and necessity. But we have to accept that in this modern society it is something we can do without, and people have to accept some restrictions on their liberty in order to ensure the safety of all. Some will consider this a knee jerk reaction, but its a view I and many have held for a long time. But we have to accept that there is a serious problem, and a relative simple solution that we all know in our hearts will work by eliminating the root cause of the problem. Its time to ban heavy metal records. WBC
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Red Hot Pawn	17 Apr '07  10:17 : 0 recs On April 16th 2007, a gunman went on a rampage at Virginia Tech university in the United States before killing himself, bringing the death toll to 33. Do American gun laws effectively and materially reduce violent crime? What further regulations are needed? Does the American Constitution permit federal, state, or local regulation of individual firearms ownership?
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