Likewise, furthermore I currently live in Texas. I think the perception of gun freedom in the US is a little warped in other countries. There really aren't that many people carrying firearms on them at any given moment. A lot more people own weapons, but they're often never used beyond recreational (hunting, target shooting) purposes.

Although, as Janszoon said it definitely depends on the area. But in the age of instantly accessible worldwide media, the confusion probably comes from reports coming out of high crime areas like parts of Detroit, where violence is rampant. These are but small areas of a very large country, where on average gun violence isn't as frequent as perceived.

i think the best solution for these kinds of issues is to enforce a sort of orientation or recreation training or something like that to all police officers. i mean, we know their training involves violence and all but they should have training on caring and nurturing and providing a loving atmosphere in every community.

a police serves to protect the citizens but with their mentality that everyone is an enemy, they can never protect nobody with that. everything should start in the attitude. if they have a loving and fun attitude towards other people, ain't that be nice?

They do go through training for everything you can think of. Take a look at this.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...swYCzA&cad=rja

Police have one of the hardest jobs in the world. Damned if you do damned if you do. I'm a fan of law enforcement and respect them greatly for what they do.

Same and I usually don't have any issues especially when I tell them that I was in the military or I flash my military ID.

My opinion of personal firearms has nothing to do with the Second Amendment. It has everything to do with my basic human right to protect myself and my family. As long I have the option to use a gun to achieve this and have the option to do so in a way that is proportional to the threat, I'm going to take it. As for this point in time, it doesn't make any sense not to give myself a fighting chance...

Posts like this make me question my stance. Guns are the only issue I seem to be changing my mind on every few months. Guess it depends on your living situation. I've never felt in danger of someone robbing my house, I've never been scared of a felon because that's not the culture I have lived in. Good point though, felons ARE always going to find a way to get guns on the black market so I don't think gun laws are really preventing most crime - the criminals will have guns anyways

There are a lot of good reasons why guns should be outlawed. But there is one better reason why they shouldn't... and that's the fact that even if there is a remote possibility that one psycho can get his hands on a gun (or shit, any weapon) and bust into a house and slay an entire family, human being's lives and the ability to protect them shouldn't be marginalized in the face of some "greater statistic" that reports less deaths where guns are illegal. This is a question of individual basic human rights, not a numbers game motivated by sacrificing those rights to something that will never, ever be guaranteed to keep you safe.
I'm not saying guns are a right. I'm saying the ability to protect yourself and your family by any means necessary, in proportion to the threat, is a right. It isn't given by a government. Nor should it be taken by one.

If there were no such things as guns, and all we used were Samurai swords, then this post would be about Samurai swords.


Anyway,
I don't live in a crime-ridden area or anything, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be prepared. As long as I'm a responsible, trained gun owner and not a criminal or a jackass, I see absolutely no reason why I shouldn't have a gun. Even if it ends up just collecting dust in a drawer. (which mine doesn't, as I take it to the range to shoot it because it's freaking fun!)

Gun Control

^ Amazing info.

In my opinion it's better to make guns illegal because if you have a criminal, they might go buy a gun on the black market, but if you have a civilian and you let them have a gun, you might be creating a criminal/accident/misjudgment.

And I think a lot of the issue comes from indoctrination in the first place. As a Canadian I really have no problem with the fact that I'm not allowed to have a gun. I don't feel like my rights are being violated I just feel like it's a law that makes sense (like you aren't allowed to have fireworks without a permit, you can't start a fire in your backyard when the houses are really close together, you can't cary around a machete).

Best to let the stats above do the talking though.

EDITED.

I will never let stats dictate my ability to survive a shooting.
Go somewhere else with that shit.

I don't think criminals can buy guns though