Guns are machines designed to kill or at least incapacitate things. No matter how you slice it, it can not be denied that this is their function.
As such, I oppose them whole-heartedly.
Obviously, this alone will not convince most people to lay down their guns, as almost every society in the world is sending subtle messages that they shouldn't, and my idea is not a belief held by the majority of those in this country.
There are many other factors that can affect whether someone with less radical ideas than mine would or would not buy a gun, such as "defensive" capabilities. However, none of this would ever affect me.
I hope that the following does not offend anyone, but I wish to say something that might be misinterpreted easily, possibly to devastating effect. Let's say Jim owns a gun, but he doesn't intend to shoot anyone with it or use it for any malevolent purpose, and in fact he does not for all of his life. He keeps it locked safely away from his children, and usually has the safety on. In short, he is a responsible gun owner. Why, then, could Jim possibly want the gun? The only reasons that even seem to make sense on the surface are as self-defense, and for hunting. The second is a more complicated issue, so I'll get into that a little later. Hunting is, at
best, pointless in this day and age. The animals killed yield nothing, except some meat that could be had more easily if that person went down to the corner store (sans hunting gear) and bought beef, and bragging rights among hunting afficionados.
The issue of guns used as self-defense has always been controversial. Whether or not it is ethical is an issue which is already being debated well enough by the rest of you here, and I would add little to that discussion (unless someone were feebly trying to make a "definitive" majority rules decision). It will of course come as no surprise to you that I oppose guns as self-defense from other people with guns. This is because I don't applaud it as a truly good thing if you are able to kill someone before they try to kill you, despite any malicious intent on the behalf of the dead. Obviously some of you will disagree, and I'm not going to run some constant hippie self-loathing tree-hugging $#ite (sarcasm, of course
) by you to get you to change your mind; I will use my reasoning, and that alone.
However, it can not be said by any (I'm not accusing anyone of saying so) that it is a good thing that so many "law-abiding citizens" (it's a cliché now) in this society feel so afraid that they should have to buy a gun in defense. I will admit that the example Daggertooth gave of a jewelry store (right?) is one thing, but a society would have to be rather screwed up for someone living in a suburban neighborhood with green grass, yellow school buses and a low crime rate to realistically fear for the safety of his/her children daily, or enough to buy a gun.
I am not necessarily chiding gun owners; they are not sociopathic maniacs; and yet in my mind some of them don't quite have their priorities straight (note the use of the word "some").
As an aside, not really meant to further my point:
Daggertooth: Earlier you said that we can't expect police to stand on every street corner, signifying that you doubt (at least somewhat) the power of the cops; then you said that there were laws against guns getting in the wrong hands (or something like that), which would imply that you thought the law had power in those affairs. What
exactly is your personal stance on the police in terms of gun use?
