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-   -   Should Felons be allowed to own guns? (https://www.musicbanter.com/current-events-philosophy-religion/94821-should-felons-allowed-own-guns.html)

jwb 08-23-2020 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic (Post 2132463)
I didn't say that at all. I believe in the possibility of rehabilitation, all I'm suggesting is that balancing out the overall safety of society, against the loss of gun rights for felons, I think it's worth doing. With many safety measures imposed by society, some freedoms are lost and innocent people are inconvenienced. In principal I subscribe to the notion that someone who has paid his debt to society is an innocent person; all that happens is that he carries around one extra inconvenience. Just like me he can't drink and drive or ride a motorbike without a helmet, it's just that when I go into the gun shop, he has to wait in the car.

You didn't say it explicitly, but it was implicit in your logic.

They demonstrated themselves to be felons and thus incapable of ever fully retaining their rights and thus they are beyond rehabilitation in a certain regard. Correct me where I'm wrong.

A lot of the rest of what you said relies on the assumption that they pose a unique security risk if allowed to own weapons. I've already stated my case against this and am eagerly awaiting a rebuttal

Quote:

Was the Bill of Rights carved in stone and handed down by God? If the times, the technology and the society of the US have changed in the last 200 years, perhaps a footnote could be added to the Bill of Rights too.
that's an argument against the 2nd amendment which I agree with. But as long as the right exists it should be granted as widely as possible, and the fact that because it exists this is a country stock full of guns and armed criminals is all the more reason that denying a felon access to guns is an injustice that possibly prevents them from defending themselves.

jwb 08-23-2020 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elphenor (Post 2132469)
I imagine if you have a violent offense involving a gun

this will make you more likely to kill a home invader? Or more likely to senselessly use your legal and traceable gun in a random killing? Or what?

jwb 08-23-2020 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elphenor (Post 2132471)
I think the issue is thinking any regulations on guns = 2nd amendment violated

no

Preventing someone from owning guns because they have a felony = 2nd amendment violated. Unless you can provide a coherent argument why they should be denied that right.

jwb 08-23-2020 07:16 PM

More likely to go commit a gun crime with the legally purchased gun that can be traced back to them if it is used in a serious crime? You sure about that?

jwb 08-23-2020 07:21 PM

There's such a thing as ballistic forensics. Cops can trace a bullet to a given gun based on the imprint it leaves. That's why the vast majority of random murders are carried out with illegal weapons with a scratched off serial number that has been scrubbed for prints and thrown in the river.

jwb 08-23-2020 07:28 PM

That typically happens with domestic it personal shootings, and those offenders have a low enough recitivism rate that the claim they are more likely to shoot someone else is pretty dubious. Is your only reasoning basically once a murderer always a murderer?

OccultHawk 08-23-2020 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elphenor (Post 2132469)
I imagine if you have a violent offense involving a gun

Christ you’re suburban sometimes

jwb 08-23-2020 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk (Post 2132468)
I mean maybe maybe not. Having a special set of laws that inhibit your rights is pretty damn second classy but if you also had millions of dollars that would be enough to buy your way out of it.

Still it’s a part of a bigger issue. A person is out. Let them get on with their ****ing life. It shouldn’t be a question on job applications or rental terms and all that. You could accuse me of using the slippery slope fallacy but shrug i think it applies.

I’ll give an anecdotal one. I worked with a really nice guy who had served his time for murder. He grew up in Miami. Was forced into a gang. A series of events that were all very unfortunate befell on him. He killed someone but he still had a heart of gold.

I’m not really making my case here. I think I already did that. It’s just that this country is so unjust, right from birth, I don’t think having a record has much at all to do with your true disposition.

just saw this. I agree.

I grew up in ****ty neighborhoods and know people that were in the same place as me in life at 20 who won't get out for another 10 years. The program I am in takes in/helps people either on parole/probation or with pending court cases. I know someone right now who is looking at 2 years cause he's a felon and got in a fight with his brother.

Lisnaholic 08-23-2020 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwb (Post 2132470)
You didn't say it explicitly, but it was implicit in your logic.

They demonstrated themselves to be felons and thus incapable of ever fully retaining their rights and thus they are beyond rehabilitation in a certain regard. Correct me where I'm wrong.

A lot of the rest of what you said relies on the assumption that they pose a unique security risk if allowed to own weapons. I've already stated my case against this and am eagerly awaiting a rebuttal

Perhaps this doesn't rise to an actual rebuttal, jwb, so much as an alternative way of looking at the issue. Without any stats to back myself up, yes, I am assuming that a convicted felon is more likely to use a gun to commit a crime than someone without a felony conviction. Perhaps I should've researched that, but if it's true, then my argument is just a simple application of statistical probabilities:-
Motor cyclists statistically run a heightened risk of brain injury, therefore all of them wear helmets. It's not really saying to each individual cyclist, "I don't think you're capable of riding safely." In a similar way, I'm guessing that felons fall into a group that are statistically more likely to be involved in violent crime, so denying them access to guns should statistically lessen that risk to society.

And yes, there are cases of people who have been falsely convicted, and the people like the guy OH mentions who grew up in very tough circumstances. Those cases clearly support your position. Also, (again with no research) there are prob cases of felons who leave jail and subsequently shoot some innocent victim. Those victims would support my case by asking, " Why didn't the authorities do more to protect me if they knew the guy had a record of violent crime?"

Underlying my argument is also the assumption that you can lead a full and active life without owning a gun, that the lack of one doesn't make you a second-class citizen.

Frownland 08-23-2020 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic (Post 2132489)
Motor cyclists statistically run a heightened risk of brain injury, therefore all of them wear helmets. It's not really saying to each individual cyclist, "I don't think you're capable of riding safely." In a similar way, I'm guessing that felons fall into a group that are statistically more likely to be involved in violent crime, so denying them access to guns should statistically lessen that risk to society.

Helmet and traffic rules are applied universally, as opposed to rules applied exclusively to felons. If our laws were consistent with the idea that felony=violence, I'd be on board but that's not the case. I think it's more realistic to address gun laws and culture than to legislate restrictions against a specific class of citizens. The restrictive nature of the law and the social norms that it influences against ex convicts plays a big role in making them desperate enough to commit crimes again. It's a self fulfilling prophecy, especially if you're told that you can't be trusted to not be violent. When you're told that often enough, it makes violence seem like your true nature.

Quote:

Underlying my argument is also the assumption that you can lead a full and active life without owning a gun, that the lack of one doesn't make you a second-class citizen.
You can absolutely live a full life without owning a gun, but if you have a separate set of rights from the rest of the populace that inherently makes you an unequal citizen (aka a second class citizen). That applies to gun rights, however dysfunctional American gun culture is.


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