I know this can be quite a polarizing topic but I wanted to see how everyone felt about the subject. I'm a responsible gun owner but I also advocate for sensible gun control laws. How many kids and adults have to die before we can finally make a change in this country when it comes to firearms?

I'm a strong proponent of closing the gun show loophole,background checks for all gun purchases,and I think we really on the whole just close the sale of automatic weapons as you can't hunt with them so what is the point of having them in the first place? The only other reason to have automatic weapons is to hurt,maim,or kill other human beings. I would just grandfather in anyone who currently owns one but completely stop any sales of AR15's in the future. Anyone who suggests putting guns in school teachers desks have to have a screw loose. The best way to protect kids in schools is to employ more police officers in schools and be always prepped for any incidents involving gunmen. It's sad that we have to do that nowadays but this is the world we live in now ever since the NRA has done their best and paid senators such much money to continue to push back against anyone who suggests sensible gun laws in order to keep lining the pockets of firearm manufacturers.

Something needs to be done and it needs to be done now. Were the generation that finally needs to take a stand against this insanity.

What do you guys think?

Personally I'm against guns as a whole but that's mostly because over here we don't really have them anyways so its moreso like for me personally I'm used to there not being any around and theres much less fun violence over here than in most other places with guns.

I'm against violence, and I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I fully believe in the right to arm yourself. We live in times where our social liberties, workers rights and privacy are being ripped away from us at alarming rates. Not to protect yourself from criminals or to use for intimidation, but there may come a day where there's an apocalyptic event, violent revolt, or governmental crackdown/martial law, you're going to want a way of self defense, and since they're all going to have weapons whether or not they're legal for civilian purchase, we may as well too.

The thing about Gun Control is that they want to try and prohibit the purchase of a firearm, but by my personal opinion, I am against Gun Control, and I will explain why.

If you think about it, not everyone is going to follow the law, and if you repeal the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution and ban weapons, that doesn't mean that all guns are all gone. Basically in terms, if you issue Gun Control, you're basically making matters even worse, because you have no way to even defend yourself, plus also, sure, calling 911 (or whatever emergency number your country uses) might be the safe bet, but you need to realize, that might take a few minutes which could be critical because you could be screwed. Not saying that it's wise to use a gun to shoot the criminal, but 9 times out of 10, if the criminal sees that you are armed, that's less likely that he'll/she'll do any kind of criminal activities.

Personally, to my opinion, I think that everyone has at least a right to own a weapon, mostly for home security or hunting livestock, but other than that, then a weapon shouldn't be used at all.

alexanyways : True, they can be something on where we do need weapons as a last resort to defend ourselves in those types of events you mentioned, because stuff like that can happen without warning, and if you're not prepared, then you're screwed.

I find myself torn on this question the older I get.

On the one hand, we do need stricter regulation of guns, because factually, it is too easy for most criminals to get a gun legally. While many prominent shooters of the past few years have acquired guns illegally, there are more than a handful that could have been prevented with tighter regulations.

On the other hand, the answer is not to outlaw guns. That's a 2nd amendment right. The ability to defend your home is crucial, since as stated, criminals don't play by the rules.

I think Gun Control in general needs to be tighter, but that both sides of the argument ignore something crucial.

It's hard to say at this point I believe. I've definitely been torn over it for a while as well.

At first, I was totally for it. Why do people need to own guns, period? But the more you think about it, the more you realize just how deep America is into "gun culture" that it's practically impossible to ever go back to a clean slate - even ignoring the 2nd Amendment. I find the "defend yourself against the government" excuse to be pathetic because the government will absolutely demolish any uprising at this point, but I do think people should be allowed self-defense, especially in a society where guns are just so dominant now. Hence, I think my current standpoint is that control needs to be tighter, and high-caliber weapons (or really any that aren't for the purpose of self-defense) should be fully banned, while there should be stricter processes in obtaining self-defense guns.

It has taken years for me to really form an opinion on this topic. Guns shouldn't get into the wrong hands, but you can't tell who would abuse their gun privileges. I think gun control laws should be tighter (and any unnecessary guns should be banned), but people should still be able to own them. I think the fact that someone owns a gun isn't what makes them choose to be violent; it's everything else going on around them.

To break this cycle of gun violence, I believe it starts with how well families are raising children. If children are treated well and learn well about how to treat others, they hopefully wouldn't want to commit acts of violence. Also, gun violence can happen as an act of retaliation, which might not happen as much if the people around them treat them better.

I understand that some gun violence could be because of mental health issues, but some mental health issues are preventable. This is definitely oversimplifying it, but everyone needs to treat each other with love and kindness, and want the best for each other. And we need to live for a greater purpose in our actions so we're less likely to hurt others and make them think that their only solution to their hurt/anger/etc is violence.

i'm against gun control because if they fall in the wrong hands someone could get killed.

I don't really feel like the government should take everyone's guns away or anything but like I'm honestly terrified of guns or seeing them I just see them and think of how quickly someone's life could be taken away and it makes me stress and want to get as far away as possible because I don't like or trust people.

From a standpoint of the U.S.

For most firearms I can see both sides of the argument. Some argue that banning guns means criminals will be the only ones with guns but that argument fails the address the fact that banning guns at very least cuts deeply into the supply criminals have.

If guns are banned, manufactures are shut down. A huge chunk of guns come from stolen or "lost" shipments, or legal guns that have been modified to be untraceable and resold. If guns are banned, the only supply of illegal weapons will be from other countries and shipments will be harder to get into the country, and much more expensive when once here because of cost of smuggling. Meaning...your average street criminal can't just buy a snub nosed .38 for $25 (not a random price I pulled out of nowhere, a person living next door to me once tried to sell me that exact gun for that price lol). Now the prices are significantly higher. And they're more dangerous to have as the charge will likely go up. By taking it out of the hands of the average street criminal, you greatly cut down on gun violence but it's usually the average criminals that are dumb enough to use the things in the first place in most situations. The higher end criminals generally understand it's better to keep their illegal firearms for emergencies only. Not to mention they'll need to be illegally purchasing all their ammo as you can no longer just go get that. This means banning guns would have an impact on gun violence.

That said, I also understand the desire to not see the amendments being modified and concern for precedence that could set. And while I don't have a firearm myself (I find the Warhammer next to my door and battle-axe and spear in my room provide me with enough feelings of comfort in my home) I can also understand the angel of home defense for some. Now I don't get the concept of using them to overthrow the government because...having a gun when protesting against the government is just gonna get you justifiably shot.

Now, the reason I said "most firearms". Automatics need to go for civilian use. Full automatic fire is inaccurate and even in the military burst is more the default. Full automatic is generally used for suppress fire and firing upon a large group of close people. Neither of which a civilian should ever be doing. There's no reason a civilian needs a fully automatic rifle unless they plan to stage a coup or murder a bunch of people. For most that insist on having them it's an ego thing, and I do not support continuing to make weapons for civilian use that risk many lives for some people ego

I am all about the 2nd. Amendment. Whenever a horrible mass shooting happens, Politicians love to over react and try to pass laws rather quickly, without looking at the entirety of the situation. People love using the words Assault Rifle, but they couldn't give you the definition. Now I understand that the Founding Fathers couldn't have had the imagination to envision Full Auto, 3 round bursts or Magazines, they only had Ball and Cap rifles (2-3 shots a minute) and single action pistols. But if you do a little research, you'll find that Handguns are the preferred weapon of criminals, and are almost exclusively used in the commission of a crime. The only problem I have when this subject gets brought up is, that all the ideas that are proposed, would hurt law abiding citizens and not prevent a single mass shooting.