Legal to have firearms in your house

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Originally Posted by Rodri

Yes but of that list, only guns are designed for the express purpose to kill. Handguns are designed to kill people. I think of it as ongoing Russian Roulette. I know it's an argument I can't win against Americans as no number of gun deaths or gun tragedies seems to have the slightest effect on the American psyche.

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That's pretty much how it is. America is a country that was founded by war. The wars against the Native Americans, the wars against Mexico, the wars against European countries, etc. etc. etc.

Nowadays, we've gotten so used to our constitutional right to bear arms that anyone who thinks otherwise is apparently "unconstitutional." It's not like it's a right conveyed to all citizens in the Constitution of the United States of America or anything!

Oh...wait...it is.

For me, it's because if someone has the intention to harm someone else, I don't see what significance the weapon of choice makes, unless it's something purposely malicious to make the target suffer.

Okay, perhaps a handgun is designed to kill someone, while a baseball bat, knife, golf club, axe, or crossbow could have alternative uses. However, when you're using any one of them for the sole purpose of hurting someone else, I really don't see why an alternative purpose (which is obviously not being used in this particular circumstance) makes hurting people with them more acceptable.

A lot of your "let's hope" scenarios aren't unique to guns. In fact, I think none of them are, except hurting yourself by accident while tending to your weapon of choice. Which would be due to lack of gun safety, in the provided example. But really, injury from such carelessness and disregard to safety can come from more than guns. Just in this case, you're being shot instead of say, electrocuted.

EDIT: Actually, I'd say none of them are unique to guns. Anyone careless enough to disregard gun safety has the potential to hurt themselves with probably any weapon short of a blunt object. And even that may be in question.

Guns don't kill people, bullets kill people. (Unless you use the gun as club and bash some one's skull in with it.)
I could train my dog/cat/squirrel to attack people.
It's not safe out there, everyone else is armed and dangerous, so tool up.
Did you know that water is poisonous if you drink too much of it?
Got any more fallacious arguments Allusair?

Like I said, there's no winning this argument so here's a random picture.

http://www.thebuzzmedia.com/wp-conte...o-fire-gun.jpg

Sorry, but I'm not really finding my argument any more fallacious than yours.

Not that I'm saying your feelings are wrong, mind you. Just different, due to a different atmosphere. Someone that hasn't been around guns will be wary of them, and understandably so. There's probably things in other countries that are perfectly acceptable there, which I'd personally find absolutely inane too. But for guns, I've been around them my whole life, and I and those around me have never had an accident with them. I only wish I could say the same about car accidents or the like.

It's all good.

http://student.ccbcmd.edu/cbc/images/cbc_childsold1.jpg

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/resourc...m119-24125.jpg

This graph is from the Home Office report of National Statistics for the UK.
The following is an excerpt from the report:

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Gun crime remains a relatively rare event. Firearms (including air weapons) were used in 0.3 per cent of all recorded crime: that is nearly one in every 300 crimes.

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And from a Department of Justice crime survey conducted here in the US for the same time period, I quote the following:

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*Offenders fired their weapon in 17% of all nonfatal handgun crimes
(or about 2% of all violent crimes). In 3% of all handgun crimes,
the victim was wounded. The offender shot at but missed the victim
in 14% of all handgun crimes. Victims did not report if offenders
had tried to hit the victim or missed intentionally.

Self-defense with firearms

*38% of the victims defending themselves with a firearm attacked
the offender, and the others threatened the offender with the
weapon.

*A fifth of the victims defending themselves with a firearm
suffered an injury, compared to almost half of those who defended
themselves with weapons other than a firearm or who had no weapon.

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Now, weapons are banned in the UK, but 0.3% of all violent crimes involve a firearm. Here in the US, where we allow and even encourage firearms, only 2% of all violent crimes involved a firearm. That's not a whole lot more.

What's more, the Home Office report doesn't record victim responses, but the FBI does offer that. And it shows us that victims of violent crimes that involve a firearm are less likely to be wounded or killed when they have a firearm to defend themselves with.

No worries FB.

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/200...sbillboard.jpg

(I wish I could get away with posting some of the gruesome images I have found but that would offend too many people.)

So Rodri, is looks like the base for your argument is to find the worst examples of gun abuse and portray that as the norm. Should I find images and statisics of people being killed by swords or battle-axes, two non-projectile items that have no other use than killing?

Guns aren't necessarily used for killing only people. You can lump them in the same catagory as bows and blowguns. They are all projectile weapons that can be used for both warefare and hunting. It's the small percentage of people that give guns their bad name, and then people feel the need to use them as an excuse for human failings.

The basis of my argument, which I have repeatedly stated cannot be won against the American psyche, is that having a gun in your home is more dangerous than not having a gun in your home. That is all.

The bill of rights says you are allowed to have guns. If you want guns you should have them. If you don't then you should not have them.

However, I feel you should have to go to a training class if you want to own a gun. This would help lower the amount of accidental injuries caused by people not knowing how to properly use a gun.