Asking my american f-listers to answer some questions

[wataya]

I'm doing a little opinion survey for my own information, I'm not trying to create a debate or anything. I just want to have the opinion of the lambda american citizen.

_ I want to know what is your opinion about firearms law in the US. For, against, indifferent ? Why ?

_ In which opinion where you raised in ?

_ Are you democrat or republican ? (to see how --and if -- it match political opinions.)

_ Have you change your mind about it? Why and when ?



IF ONE OF THE QUESTION IS AN ISSUE TO YOU (like, your political allegiance is none of my business) JUST DON'T ANSWER, AND TELL ME YOU DON'T WANT TO ANSWER.

I'm only trying to have a better understanding of the subject, because it is something really alien to the majority of europeans.

THANKS !

Comments

[flummoxicated.livejournal.com]

I don't understand why anyone outside the armed forces needs a machine gun. I would like to see some reforms, like a tightening up on background checks and waiting periods, and possibly removing the higher powered weapons from circulation. There have been a lot of shootings at universities and schools lately and I find that very disturbing. However I don't know if the sort of person who decides to shoot up a bunch of people can be stopped.

I was raised in suburbia and no-one in my family hunts. I don't think we ever felt that our safety was in danger, though when my mom lived alone after I went to college she did learn how to shoot with her father's gun. I think that she kept the bullets separate from the fun though so in an emergency I don't know if that gun would have helped.

I identify myself as an independent, but I usually vote democrat.

Since we had another university shooting this week, and since I'm working to be a professor, I admit that I have thought about some sort of weapons training for myself. As Americans we are surrounded by movies where the good guy saves everyone thanks to his guns. The rational part of me realizes that teachers carrying concealed weapons likely won't make everyone safer; but when I think of how helpless people are when they are just sitting there in a classroom and some nut case attacks, it makes me want to do something. I wouldn't say I've changed my mind but I have considered what can be done.

I hope this helps. There are a lot of people here who hunt and so they want to be able to continue hunting, they feel threatened by gun control laws. Hunting isn't very popular so they feel picked on to begin with. The right to bear arms is referenced in our Constitution, it's the Second Amendment, so it gets people feeling like gun ownership is patriotic. Yet the way the amendment is worded seems ambiguous - "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." and it gets interpreted in different ways. This site (http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/beararms.htm) has some information on the issue.

[sarahbellem.livejournal.com]

- I don't own a gun, I don't see a need to own one. I think i sway more toward "Personal choice" as far as the 2nd Amendment goes, but I definitely believe that guns are far too easy to get a hold of and fall more regularly into the hands of people who should not have them than they do for people who tend to be big Second Amendment supporters (hunters, mostly).

- I was raised in an affluent part of the city, by liberal parents, so I'd say that the second amendment was not something we considered a serious threat to our rights as citizens, either by people using guns or people who wanted more regulations.

- Liberal Democrat. What ever that means anymore.

- I haven't changed my mind; I still think guns are unnecessary for the average citizen to have. I know of people who have huge gun collections, but none of them are close personal friends, and none of them ever use them for anything. They just seem to collect them like bottle caps, or postage stamps. I don't get it.

[quincy134.livejournal.com]

1) I think we need much tougher gun control laws. I live in an urban area, which, although reasonably rich, does have a lot of crime. People get mugged a lot, and are sometimes held up at gunpoint. I don't think that having the right to carry a gun protects us from these people, and I do think that it makes it easier for these criminals to get a gun in the first place.

2) I was raised in an area where there are a lot of hunters and fishermen, and a lot of these people are passionate about their right to have guns. But my family never hunted.

3) I'm a democrat.

4) I've pretty much always thought this way. I had a teacher in grade school who was a hunter, and I remember being turned off by the idea that he had a lot of guns.

[sarahnucci.livejournal.com]

1 - I own a gun - it's a reproduction 1860's Richmond Carbine that requires percussion caps to fire. I grew up shooting bb guns in the back yard with my dad and skirmishing (Look up N-SSA online for more info about this) - only recently have I got involved in re-enacting for the simple reason that I was raised with the idea that you NEVER point a gun at anyone even if you think it's unloaded. That being said, I believe in gun control. I think waiting periods and restrictions are okay. No one needs a machine gun (and yes, while my husband is in the militar he doesn't own a gun). I am okay with current restrictions as long as they are applied. Now keep in mind, there isnt' any control over knives or throwing tomahawks (both of which we have). You may not like them, but shooting is a sport and if you plan on eating meat don't get upset that I have killed my own and understand the source of the product.

My parents are democrats - both of them - and while my mom wasn't really raised around guns, my dad was. I was the girl that out-shot the boys at 6th grade camp.

I am a democrat. You can have a gun, but you need to be safe and responsible about it - so locked cabinets, bullets locked in a seperate area, and education your children about them as soon as you can - so teach them how to do it safely. Hunters Safety courses are usually offered as young as 13.

Nope, this has been my mindset since I was a child.

[maidm.livejournal.com]

I'm not American, but I thought I'd through in a Canadian perspective as I think the whole topic is really interesting.

In Canada the only way to possess I firearm is to be the police or military, or to own a hunting license. I think this is the best way to be. Just looking at the number of gun-related deaths per year in the US, Canada, and Europe, it's easy to see that more people having guns just means more people dying from them. In the UK police don't even carry guns and their gun-related deaths are incredibly low.

This doesn't mean that gun-violence doesn't happen in Canada, just look at the Montreal Polytechnique shooting, but it certainly is lower.

I'm not very political, but when generally I support the Liberals.

I come from a mixed-background when it comes to support of guns. My Dad wants to own a gun and my Mum absolutely refuses it. Generally I'm on her side and always have.

[justawench.livejournal.com]

more people having guns just means more people dying from them

I'm not saying you're necessarily wrong, but you may be confusing correlation with causation here. The best way to compare would be homocides per capita. Maybe Europe has more stabbing deaths than the US. Criminals are just going to use whatever they have at hand.

[cigarettes214.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty anti-guns. I think that there is no reason for you to have firearms stronger than a pistol or rifle unless you are in the military or police force. And, even then, we've had some local police recently who are too quick to use their guns. I've grown up in a rural area, and I'd say 75% of the population has at least one gun. Most are for hunting, ect, but we have a pretty serious drug problem here, and guns just seem to aid the problem.

I was raised anti-gun. My dad grew up out in the woods and his family always had a rifle, but it was understood that it was just for protection purposes. You know, if a mountain lion broke into the house. ;)

I'm a Democrat.

I haven't ever been pro-gun and I dont' think I will. It always amazes me how many people locally have firearms and it's quite unsettling. We just had a drive by shooting outside my house a few weeks ago! Scary, for such a rural, 'nice' area!

Hope that was helpful

[koshka-the-cat.livejournal.com]

I think our gun laws are pathetic. And I think it's sad that when spinach started making people sick (a few years ago there was an e-coli scare), it was instantly taken off the market, but guns are allowed to anyone who can show up at a gun show. No background checks there, like they always work anyway.

It's how I was raised. Although, I do have a friend who lives in rural North Carolina and her family hunts. She sees the point of hunting guns, but not automatic weapons. Me, I'm totally grossed out by hunting, but I just wanted to offer her side!

Democrat. Although I'd be a socialist if that were a viable option here :)

[justawench.livejournal.com]

I want to know what is your opinion about firearms law in the US. For, against, indifferent ? Why ?

I think the right to bear arms is important. I think it was included in the Constitution as a guarantee that the government in the future would not be able to enslave the populace and that revolution would always be an option.

_ In which opinion where you raised in ?

It wasn't something we discussed, but my father always had guns. He never really did anything with them as he isn't a hunter.

_ Are you democrat or republican ? (to see how --and if -- it match political opinions.)

I call myself Democrat, but I'm pretty disgusted with both the major polical parties. They're just two sides of the same lobby-money-receiving and cronyism coin.

_ Have you change your mind about it? Why and when ?

I haven't changed my mind about it. My husband has two shotguns, three rifles (one percussion, one antique, one modern) and three pistols (one being a flintlock). He turkey hunts sometimes and other guns he just collects.


RE: university shootings - the ability for citizens to have concealed carry permits doesn't help in these cases as guns are banned from campuses. Therefore, the law-abiding people wouldn't have their gun at hand to take down the non-law-abiding murderer.

There will always be a black market for weapons. Criminals will always be able to acquire guns if they have the cash to pay for them. I believe London has pretty strict gun laws, and yet there were three shootings while we were visiting there.

Oppinion Survey

[aleeta.livejournal.com]

_ I want to know what is your opinion about firearms law in the US. For, against, indifferent ? Why ?

I believe that the Second Amendment is about exactly what the Founding Fathers wrote that it was about in both the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers: Government Insurance. They were very much aware that an unarmed populace had a tendency to become an enslaved populace. I believe that the right to keep and bear arms is and should remain an individual right.

"Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security." - Benjamin Franklin

_ In which opinion where you raised in ?

I was raised in a house with guns, I was educated about gun safety from the time I was old enough to understand how dangerous they were, and learned how to shoot safely when I was 6.

I have hunted, done competition target shooting, and have more recently begun Cowboy Action Shooting

_ Are you democrat or republican ? (to see how --and if -- it match political opinions.)

I most closely match Libertarian values, but seeing as how we seem to be very much a 2 party system, I am registered Republican. I generally don't like the Democrat stance on Gun Control or Taxes, but I also don't like the Republican stance on Abortion, Gays or Civil Liberties.

_ Have you change your mind about it? Why and when ?

Nope, I still believe that we are seeing the most violence where criminals KNOW there are the most people who are guaranteed to be unarmed. Some of the most recent ones have been unstable, and most who are successful aren't stupid, and it takes a stupid person to choose a location where they think they might get killed before they accomplish their goal, as opposed to someplace where they know they won't.

In the case of the V.Tech shooting, there were several law abiding citizens IN the building where the shooting occurred who had permits to carry concealed, but who were unable to do so because they were not allowed to carry on campus. Considering the fact that Cho stopped to re-load at least once, he could have been stopped much sooner.

If anything, all of this had prompted my views to become stronger.

[tracy6167.livejournal.com]

I've thought about this quite a bit over the last few years, what with all the escalating violence here in the US.

I don't have a problem with guns. I live in an urban area (Boston), but grew up in a village in the country. Everyone has a gun there. Everyone hunts or uses the gun to keep predators out of the animal pens. They're necessary for that sort of area.

In my opinion, it's not the guns that are the problem. It's the legal system here in the US that is at fault. So many people getting away with breaking the law. I honestly believe that if our legal system didn't allow so many people to "get away with" their crimes, more criminals would be put away. And if the sentencing were stricter, and by that I mean that the punishment should fit the crime. You kill someone... well, you get my point.

I also believe that it's our lazy attitude towards our kids that contributes to the delinquency, and the problems we see with "gangsters". That kids at the age of 10 are roaming the streets at midnight is just ridiculous. It's obvious their parents couldn't care less about them-and that lack at home is what gets them involved with gangs, and from there, guns.

I've been listed as an independent voter, and have almost always voted democrat until recently. I find that I'm getting more cynical and less tolerant of "soft" politics as I get older.

Of course, I'm cynical enough that I don't actually believe that it matters who is in office, that these politicians are only out for themselves, regardless of party affiliation.

*rant over*