Guns and Games

Guns are a way that people kill people.

In the end, they still add to the death toll. Right?

It's not used for defense often. They cause more trouble than they're often worth.

It's no way that I founders could anticipate this type of outcome.

That's over exaggerated. You could not easily kill someone with those object without so much of a fight. Worst case scenario you'll be the one killed.

But the weapons assist.

And how exactly do you know that?

Yeah. But per say, Grand Theft Auto. You can go around shooting and stealing all that you please. That invokes real actions.

How your raise doesn't necessarily have anything to do with it. I'm sure in some cases videogames are the cause and whether or not it gives them ideas. You don't truly know.

 

In the bible, some killings are justified.

Why? When generations of family in south Georgia hunt, fish, and shoot. Why should they be penalized for the actions of a few?

 

Which we already have restrictions on guns. If your exempting hunters, who else are you exempting? People in the witness protection program, how about shooting sports, maybe ROTC students? I could probably give you a legitimate exemption list that almost anyone can fall under.

More restrictions on guns are not going to make us better off.

There are restrictions in place. It's not 'willy nilly'. I can't go to any pawn shop and purchase a handgun legally. A shotgun. Yes. But hand gun. No.

Again. There are. The issue with guns is not a lawless domain where any 5 year old with a pocket full of cash and napsack full of rounds can buy a gun.

 

FALSE! Would you like to retract that statement.
FBI — Expanded Homicide Data Table 8

There are 17 amendments proving otherwise.

Columbine High. I don't think the videogame had remotely anything to do with that. The kid who killed his mother over Halo 3 would have been a better example.

 

I'm pretty sure that they raised him well enough. He parents forbade him from buying Halo because of its sexual contents or violence. And when he did, they confiscated it from him. That's good parenting if I do say so myself. But it doesn't matter.

The fact that gun rates are high should tell you something regardless.

That's just how we are and it's not completely out of character. 9/11 for example. Rarely anyone was in opposition to a more regulated security.

 

I agree with this. When other people try to put the blame on the weapon, or on violent video games, films, books, etc, I feel like they are just shifting the blame away from where it should be, and violent criminals use it as an excuse to not take responsibility for their actions. Whether the gun was easily obtained or not, whether the criminal did nothing but play Grand Theft Auto all day or not, barring a diagnosed mental illness which legitimately keeps him or her from understanding his or her actions, the criminal still made a choice to pick up and load that gun, point it at someone, and pull the trigger.

That being said, I don't think it would hurt to have stricter regulations for being able to obtain a gun, and on how you carry/store it. The second amendment was enacted in a time that was very different from the way things are today. And it's not like there haven't been poor choices made as to what to include as an amendment- for example, the 18th was a pretty terrible idea, I think most could agree. Yes, you can kill someone with a hairbrush, or probably anything, really, if you're creative enough, but guns are impersonal, and it's easier to do something you're not meaning to, especially if you're not properly trained.

This thread has a bit much going on, since gun rights could be its own thread and violence in video games another. I have to call bullshit on the idea that violence in media provokes average, mentally sound people to violence. Playing Grand Theft Auto doesn't give me an itch to go out and shoot a cop. And if the problem is that children who are too young to understand that it is a fantasy are getting ideas and doing violence when they get older, that's not the game's fault. Games have ratings for a reason, and if parents and guardians aren't paying attention to what their children are absorbing, and aren't explaining to them the difference between what's okay to do for pretend and what's legal to do for real, that's a failing of the parents, not the gaming industry.

 

Summoner, this is uncalled for. I don't care if you're staff or not, if you make any more attacks like this, you will be given an infraction. If you can't debate without getting upset and responding emotionally, step away from this thread.

I think that a problem isn't so much how easy it may be for the average person to legally buy a gun, but sloppy storage of guns by people who are legally allowed to own them. Because these kids who go out and shoot up their schools, they aren't going to sporting good stores or wherever they sell guns, filling out background information, etc. They're getting the keys (if it's even locked) to Dad's gun cabinet and taking their pick, or going over to the old man next door's house and sneaking the gun he keeps in his cookie jar. I'm not sure what exactly could be done about this, besides maybe a media campaign (that I'm sure has already been done at various points) about keeping your guns locked and up high and all that, and then charging people as accessories to the crimes that are commited with their weapons if it's discovered that they weren't properly looked after. But the people who legally buy guns aren't really the ones we should be worried about abusing them, I would think. So I'm unsure how much stricter regulations on the purchasing of guns would really cut back on violence, unless it was that no civilians are allowed to own guns, and even then, people who want them will still find a way to get them.

 

We're supposed to try and be respectful of other viewpoints. Your comment was not respectful, and whether or not you specifically typed a member's name, by essentially saying that anyone who doesn't agree with stricter gun regulations should "go to hell", it's not appropriate. Go ahead and keep arguing with me about it; see where that gets you.

You're the one saying we need such strict gun regulations. If more people are dying from guns that are improperly cared for and as such are being stolen by perpetrators of violent crimes, perhaps there do need to be repercussions. I'm not saying that the father of a teenager who took his rifle out of his gun cabinet and killed five of his classmates should spend the rest of his life in prison. But if some sort of punishment teaches people to not be so careless, maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing.

I disagree. You are clearly anti-gun and have a right to your opinion, but most people who own guns aren't using them in ways that are breaking the law. Hunting is something that's very big around where I live, and my dad was an avid hunter with his family growing up. I don't care about whether or not anyone thinks hunting is evil, oh those poor animals!, because that's not the point. And there are other reasons to keep a gun. Most people don't buy guns thinking "heh, now I can kill people!"

No, it's not just when there's a child in the home. Because anyone with guns can have their homes broken into and have their collections stolen, especially if they are proudly out in the open and their case isn't locked. Which was my point about needing awareness about this.

 

Summoner, I don't care if you agree with me about gun regulation or not. And I don't care if everyone else on this thread agreed with you, either. The fact is, comments like "Go to hell," in reference to the opposing belief, whether or not someone voiced it, do not belong in this debate forum. Period. Do not continue to bring this up in this thread.

The people who go through the appropriate measures and legally acquire guns, that are registered, and can be traced back to them, are not going to be buying them with the purpose in mind of killing someone, unless they are complete morons. The people who are in gangs, who are assassins (and how many people does that include, anyway?), etc, are most likely not obtaining their weapons legally, so stricter regulations for purchasing a gun will not stop them from getting their hands on one. Yes, some people can get in an argument with loved ones, go into a rage, pull out a gun, and shoot them, but they most likely bought the gun for other reasons (i.e. hunting or protection), not specifically to kill their annoying family members.

You were the one who made the comment that basically said everyone who owns a gun abuses it. Hunting is not an abuse, imo. And I don't know why you're harping about the fact that I briefly mentioned animals- the point was that since I brought hunting up, I didn't want someone whining that no, that is murder and a misuse of guns, blah blah, poor animals. Because whether or not you think that is not relevant to this debate.

Uh, that's what I'm saying. That there needs to be a way to make people more accountable for their weapons and their whereabouts. And if something like a criminal charge of negligence for the owner, after a crime is committed with a gun that was not properly looked after would help with that, maybe it's something to consider. I know that some laws are already in place, so that in some places someone can be charged if they, for instance, accidentally discharge their gun when cleaning it and hit someone, but I don't know if there's something in place for negligence in keeping a gun locked and unloaded, unless it's in a case of a child getting ahold of it and shooting themselves.

I'm not referring to someone who keeps their guns locked up in some heavy duty safe, and some asshole breaks in, busts it open, and steals the guns, then shoots up a bank. I'm talking more about my example of the old guy who keeps his gun in a cookie jar where anyone visiting could happen across it, or the dad who leaves his guns lying about where his troubled, homicidal teenager has easy access to them.