I am not opposed to firearms but i think that all guns should be off limits to young people under 21 (except those in the military) and be kept away from kids and people who have criminal records. Only civilized law-abiding people should be allowed to possess guns.

Read "CLASSOF1998" and "noah" posts. My exact feelings.

As stated by my pro-gun-control friends the logic behind a society filled with guns is flawed, but the gun-nuts still have the Second Ammendment. noah (that's his screen name) says that the second ammendment "guarantee's citizens the right to bear arms to ward off a tyrannical government." Now if this is true, then would it not also follow that citizens have the right to own assault weapons, grenades, tanks, atomic bombs, or anyhting else utilized in war? Now I hope some little alarm goes off somewhere in your mind; signaling that people walking around with atomic bombs does not contribute to a safe society and could not possibly be what the founders had in mind. Well, it isn't the second ammendment allows individual STATES to have armed militias. This clause was considered necessary to allay fears that a strong centralized government would take control of peoples lives. It in no way guarantees the right of an individual citizen to keep and carry arms; especially hand-guns. "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." I have absolutely no idea by what odd rationale one could arrive at the conclusion that this guarantees rights beyond a states rights to have a militia. Don't be fooled by "the people", that phrase was used in those times to refer to the government of a state governed by the people, not necessarily individuals. Having cleared that up I would like to clear something else up as well: in cases where a person owns a gun and is confronted by a suspected burglar it is 85% likely that if they are able to get their gun they are going to shoot an innocent person, most likely a family mmember, or that the gun will be used against them. Oh yeah, and of the countries that have outlawed guns the majority of their illegal guns come from the US. I know it seems like its too soon, but this country needs to start moving towards civilization.

Guns are used more often to prevent crimes than to commit crimes. 7000 times a day, 2.5m times a year, a gun is used to stop a crime- 98% the gun is never fired. If we truly want to have a militia system, as stated by the second amendment, every American is SUPPOSED to have a firearm. Recommended reading: "More guns, less crime" by john r. lott, jr

I've heard all the arguments for not controlling guns. I've heard about violating people's 2nd Amendment rights. You know what - I don't care about that. I'd like to have no guns anywhere in the populace. Then, I'd feel safer. I'm sorry to the sport shooters out there. Most of you are pretty safe about it. But, it's the raving idiots who don't use them for protection that ruin things. They use them to hold up banks and gas stations, do their little drive-bys, and generally infringe on all the rights (not just 2nd Amendment) of others. I've also heard the argument that gun control costs lives because if we control guns, only the bad guys get them. Give them to law enforcement and I'll take that chance. Tell me, how many gun murders are committed without guns? Stupid question? Obviously. But, the answer is that if you get guns off the streets, you get gun killings off the streets. Gun murders are not related to the quality of education in the public schools, they're not related to our devotion to God, and they're not related to family values. But, they are related to guns. Control guns and you'll have taken a big step toward controlling gun violence.

i am 14...they are VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY important! i came here b/c i saw a post where a guy/girl said it was stupid to have these laws...we NEED these laws! guns should be only sold to police, or whatever. NOT TO AVERAGE PEOPLE WHO HAVE 3 YOUNG CHILDREN IN THEIR HOME, NOT TO MENTION...THE GUN MAY(JUST MAY) SIT RIGHT IN THE KITCHEN CABINET). omg that makes ME sad!!

getting rid of handguns isn't gonna keep your child from falling off the roof or stabbing his playmate in the eye with a pencil while you're not at home. my best friend grew up with several large guns kept in the living-room closet. when we were like ten she showed me her dad's revolver in the back yard after school, but she lectured me hard about the all rules of handling it safely. education and responsibility is the key.

Oh, yes. We desperately need stricter gun control laws. The main tool used in school shootings, unlike some of you crazy anti-gun-control people seem to think, is not atheism, homosexuality, religion, television, music, or video games. The two main tools are the person and the gun. Handguns are the most commonly used murder weapons in the United states, according to "The Top Ten of Everything", and in these murders, the two main tools are the person and the gun. In every situation like this, it will always be the person and the gun. We must restrict the use of guns. It won't save as many lives as stem cell research, but it will come close. Take care.

The conservatives want the free flow of guns to everyone everywhere. It would reduce crime by a great margin if gun control was in effect. Once again, see Neil8's comments.

The thing about gun control is that the chances of destroying all the guns in this world is impossible. although if it does happen I would support it... I mean I can't think of too many reasons to have guns besides for hunting and police officers...but the reasons for us to not have guns seem to overule my thoughts of having them. You see, I reasd another comment and someone said that people kill people and that guns don't kill them...but they do...and guns always seem to be the #1 choice of a weopon to use...The thing is if you knew someone who was killed by a gun you would probally think differently...Ya see, someone who I have known almost my whole life was murdured a few nights ago...And the thing that is really aweful is that he was only a teenager... It seems Every1 today is being murdured by guns...A friend of mine had a friend who was murdured by a gun, and even my uncle was killed by a gun...Just think you are a young parent who hads hidden a gun in his/her room for protection of their child and that vchild finds the gun and well that child dies by a gun....It is so aweful to think about this happening, but it does because of guns...Som places on this earth have people where guns are the only answer to a problem...I guess the people hwho think this is a bad idea have no idea of real life...For the people who think my comment isnt helpful or whatever should really thnk abot what happens in our world every day...maybe their thoughts on this matter will change...Guns will never dissapear, they will always be here...There are so many things I want to express but I won't because right now words for this matter are just gone...Im glad that everyone has their own opinion of this and suppoert it but I just have to say.. " Innocent people die every day by guns and people really need to think about this subject..I know I have..."

This is a hard subject to talk about, you have the people that are fit to own guns, and then you have people that are not fit to own a gun. so how do you tell the difference? I mean Im all for the right to be able to own a gun but you have to be careful about who gets to own a gun.The reason to have a gun in the home is to protect yourself in case of danger, and maybe sporting porposes. People with children also need to be very careful when owning a gun, they need to make sure there children never find out where they hide there gun! There are to many school shootings and the children all say the same thing that "it was there parents gun" But on the other side the saying "guns don't kill people, people kill people" is totally true! you can never say it was an accident because you have to be in your right mind to pull the trigger, I mean have you honestly ever seen a gun walk to someone and say im going to kill you a pull its own trigger? no! so I say people should be able to own guns...but also be very very careful!

I belive gun control can be made a bit stricter. I think anyone with a criminal record of any kind should not be aloud to purchase a gun. Those of us who obey the laws of this country have a right to arm ourselves in defense. I am sure that criminals hunt out those they know or assume do not have handguns. It is our right as an American citizen and I believe it should stay that way. I think it could be made strcter and still be in the public's and the law abiding citizens best interests.

Gun Control is a bad idea. Even if it's possible to destroy all the guns in the world, murders would still take place. It's not the guns that kill people it's the people that kill people. I have been around guns all my life and my parents did not have to lock them up. If parents teach their kids right from wrong maybe we wouldn't have some of the problems that we have in this country today. I was in 4-H shooting sports for 8 years and learned many important things. I have hunted for many years and support the NRA. Education is the key.

Gun control is certainly one of the most divisive issues on the table of American politics today. On the left side, folks say gun control reduces crime rates. On the right side, moralists claim that other variables, excluding the free flow of guns, are to blame for soaring crime rates. So let us determine from the facts which side's assertions are more accurate. The conservatives often rail at gun control by claiming that if we take guns away, only the outlaws will have them. They often parrot the sound-byte "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." Their first assertion is thus--our lives will be in mortal danger if we control or limit the flow of guns into society. Yes, most of the readers will see the obvious problem with this statement (more guns in the hands of everyone and anyone means less crime?), yet we'll explore this further nonetheless. First, the many nations (Britain, Germany, Japan, etc.) which have placed tighter controls on gun sales have seen a DRAMATIC drop in gun homicide rates per 100,000 people. Some conservatives may think that these nations exact more austere penalties upon their criminals, thus compensating for the deterrent lost in the absence of guns. Yet the facts sing a different song--these nations employ methods of punishment that are far more lenient than ours. Many have completely banned the death penalty, especially in cases involving minors. Indeed, a solid positive correlation exists between high crime rates and violent punishment. From there, the conservatives might think that the people of these nations must be more moral than we in the US. Yet by the far right's standards, this, too, isn't true. Many of these nations are more inclusive of gays, they promote sex education (and believe it or not, their rates of premarital sex are lower than those here in the US), and they view drug addiction as an illness rather than an evil or criminal condition. Thus, their lack of religious right morality coupled with adherence to tighter gun control laws decimates the conservative's contentions. (Anecdotally, my uncle, a traveling evangelist, once brought to the States a few of his friends from Britain. On one of their outings, one of his friends spotted a police officer carrying a gun, and she immediately burst into tears, terrified at such a sight! Perhaps non-gun cultures spawn a different order of humans?) Next, we come to that hackneyed sound-byte, the "Guns don't kill people" bit. Again, the readers probably will beat me to the punch line--guns do kill people. They are VERY effective in killing people. If they didn't, they would never have been so popular. This favorite catch phrase more or less evades the real issue while hindering a more thorough examination of the facts. Yes, indeed, deep despair, rage, and bitterness often lead folks to kill others (as with the Columbine and other school attacks), yet I submit that not ONE of those killing sprees would have been a tenth as successful at ending folks lives if guns had not been so accessible to the perpetrators. The statistics are out there--attempted suicides and homicides by non-gun methods are much, MUCH LESS successful in terminating one's life than when firearms are involved. Yes, the far right Christians declare that moral, strong, Biblically-based guidelines are necessary to prevent such atrocities. Yet this very group openly advocates gay-bashing--the very torment that pushes some kids to kill. What's worse, these particular Christians base their authority upon an ancient text that actually advocates slavery! In reality, morality (or a lack thereof) is not to blame so much as income inequality. Income inequality, the quintessential devil in our society and world, is linked to health problems of every kind, higher rates of crime, and shorter life spans. Sometimes crime is the only thing to which poor folks can turn to survive. But as long as we willfully abandon the welfare state, we must cut the flow of guns into society. (And these more liberal, socialistic democracies of Europe have much lower income inequality than the US--and, they have lower crime rates, they live longer, and they are generally healthier.) In my rebuttal to the conservative assertions, I have demonstrated the validity of the liberal perspective--gun control prevents a good deal of gun homicides. Yes, many believe that those gun homicides are justifiable homicides, often the result of a person protecting his/her family. (This notion was understood to be true in the conservative household in which I was raised.) Yet here's the kicker--for every 100 gun homicides that occur in this country, only 1 (!) at the VERY MOST is a justifiable homicide. Couched in scientific terms, if gun ownership were an experiment, it would prove to be less than 1% efficient! Conservatives often hope to trash government programs that are FAR MORE successful than that, yet they want to keep the flow of guns steady into the hands of everyone and anyone. Remember that fact--for every 100 folks killed with a gun, 99 fell to needless murders, suicides, or accidental shootings. And of course, almost ALL homicides transpire between people who know one another. Often when a domestic dispute spirals out of control, someone winds up dead. Additionally, an independent study conducted by Dr. Arthur Kellerman revealed that gun ownership actually increases one's chances of being killed by a gun. There is no protective benefit. But when the NRA discovered the study's findings, it sent its army of lobbyists to Congress, and the study was shut down. Instead of the NRA considering the validity of the study, or realizing the desperate need for further research, it flexed its monetary muscle and, with the support of its allies in Congress, ended the project. And you know why? While conservatives defend the right to bear arms, the NRA gets richer and richer. My friends, we must cast aside the popular in favor of research and sound science--gun control works. Yes, a knife can kill... A car can kill... A box fan can kill... But the gun was manufactured for the sole reason that it DOES kill. Thanks for reading, and God bless. :-)

For those who want to use other countries as example of how gun control also controls or influences crime rate, you cannot look at the gun control laws alone. You must look at their total judicial system. There is a much higher judicial price held and paid in many of these countries than in the U.S. That creates as much if not more of a crime deterrent than anything else. There is never only one solution or one denominator to an equation of this size. There are also examples here in the U.S. were laws were passed that allowed even greater liberties to people who own guns that have also reduced crime. This is the problem I have with “liberal” Americans they only use the answer that fits their argument and ignore the data that still applies. There should probably be another political party added to the list call it “Complainingism”. This would be the party set aside for those bent on blaming systems, programs, and inanimate objects for all of the worlds problems instead of holding actual people accountable for their actions. With our liberal justice system, it doesn’t matter what you do with gun control because most will never truly pay for their crime. I have several friends that are police officers, they have all told me they would just soon see a criminal get away than have to pull the trigger on their gun. Why you ask? Because they know the judicial system will ultimately punish them for their actions more than the criminal. Not to mention all of the law suites brought against the police department and individual officers. Nowhere else but America folks. Our justice system is in fact a deterrent to its own support. We used to be known as the “Land of the free and home of brave”. Now we are just the “Land of the do as you please and home of the law suite”. We are no longer free; we are enslaved by our own inability to govern a nation. In fact who cares if there are gun control laws, the government has proven they can’t keep the laws they have so what difference does it make. Since the gun control laws we have now aren’t managed properly, which ones do you want added to the list so they can be ignored too?

I'm glad to see that not all English-speakers do agree that gun controle is wrong. Unfortunately they're only British, Canadians, New Zealanders, Australians or Irish. Why can't American themselves discover the truth about this issue: How much frighten it creates & how extremely much crime it creates (why do you Americans think is the reason why the crime rate in the States is sky-high above other Western countries??). There are many reasons why people are more violent today than some decades ago. One main reason is the "liberal" (for me they are not liberal because they are violating other people's rights, maybe 'libertarian'?) people in Hollywood making the one action movie more blood-dropping than the other. The example of terror is the Hannibal movie. It was just disgusting & I think the makers of it should really be ashamed of their work! :-(

I don’t like guns, I don’t own one and I have no future plans to buy one. I do know this though - people have owned them in the US for many, many years and until about the last 10 years or so children were not taking them to school to blow their teachers and other children away. This says one thing to me – there are much deeper issues going on in the American home, which are way more complicated than the mere ownership of a firearm. Every time I hear of one of these increasingly common shooting tragedies, questions spring to mind like - why are these weapons accessible to the child in the first place? (Whose watching the baby?); why is the child so angry that he or she feels compelled to kill everyone in their world? (Are they missing something like say, a parent who has time to pay attention to and take the time to discipline them?); what gave them the idea that this is the correct or only action to take? It would seem that the use of the guns themselves is more of a symptom of a much deeper problem - not the actual problem itself. As I stated above, gun ownership is a right I personally choose not to exercise (yes, it is a privilege in a sense, but it is also a right in our country) and I would especially not have a gun in the house with a child living there. But I still wonder - will simply removing guns really solve the obvious psychological, social and spiritual problems that are screaming to be noticed? On the other hand, if citizens no longer show they are capable of enough personal responsibility as gun owners to keep them out of their own children’s hands, can you really blame society for wanting to put more rigid controls on who actually deserves the right to own them?

I AM TOTALLY AGAINST GUN CONTROL. MY FATHER TAUGHT ME HOW TO PROPERLY HANDLE AND CARE FOR FIREARMS WHEN I WAS 7. HEY HERE'S AN IDEA WHY DON'T WE PUNISH THE PEOPLE WHO BREAK THE LAW INSTEAD OF PUNISHING THE INNOCENT PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY. PROUD TO OWN GUNS. PROUD TO HUNT. PROUD TO BE A WOMAN. PROUD TO BE A REPUBLICAN.

Being Canadian, my views on gun control are perhaps different from you Americans. However, all this hubbub about people having the "right" to own a gun irks me. Owning a gun is NOT a right, it is a privilege. When your so-called "rights" infringe or threaten the safety of others (whether perceived or real), the proper mechanisms must be in place to control them. It is for the best of society as a whole to ensure stability. That's where gun control comes in. Sure, those intent on murder will most likely not be deterred by laws on gun control. However, you cannot expect the government to stand by idly and twiddle it's thumbs. Something has to be done. Citizens should feel it their obligation and duty to co-operate with the lawmakers who have their interests in mind. I am absolutely flabbergasted at the hostility towards the government and lawmakers in general evident in others' comments. All this nonsense about individual rights is quite sadly pathetic. Yes, people have rights but there are LIMITS. Anyhow, judging by others comments I guess it's about protecting individual rights at all costs no matter what those costs might be. It sounds like the beggining of a society edging towards the brink of collapse to me.

There is nothing I can say on this issue that noah hasn't stated perfectly, but to anyone who sees all this violence in the news concerning school shootings and drive-bys and believes that guns are the biggest part of the problem, remember to ask questions and to search for the truth. Our governments know that it is so much easier to have citizens relinquish their rights voluntarily, rather than out and out take them away and run the risk of an uprising! It is better to be the cunning wolf with claws and teeth than it is to be the naive sheep heading for the slaughter!

We have all the gun control laws we need. We just need to enforce what we have. Every one has heard the statement “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. Simple, overstated but true. I don’t know a single person who has had a gun walk up or drive by and threaten them with bodily harm or death. Lets look at the current case where the 14 year old boy Nathaniel Brazill is on trial for murdering his teacher. Now the defense has tried to prove that he never intended to kill his teacher and that the gun went off by accident. I’m sorry, I must be missing something here, what was he doing with a gun in school to begin with. Was it show and tell day? Or maybe the gun placed him under a hypnotic trance and forced him against his will to commit the crime of carrying a deadly weapon on to school property. This is not an example of needing better gun control laws, this is an example of needing better parental control of guns and enforcing our current laws. It is also an example of needing better parental control. Now if Nathaniel Brazill understood that he would face the full extent of the law including the death penalty would he have thought twice about taking the gun to school? Maybe, maybe not, but we will never know because now he has the protection of our legal system and psycho babbling lawyers who will try to convince the world that he was depressed or racially discriminated against, or some other excuse for him to carry a gun to school point it at a teacher and take another’s life. Making it harder or even banning law abiding citizens from acquiring guns only leaves citizens as prey for the criminal. You are never going to stop the criminals from acquiring their tools. Nor will it stop people from killing each other. Timothy McVeigh owned a gun but did not use it to carry out his crime. My point, people who desire to commit a crime, who desire to kill will use whatever means available to them to carry out their task. The issues or faults with gun control are in our judicial system. There is no deterrent for breaking laws currently on the books. There is no deterrent for murder. We don’t make people pay for their crimes, we pay them to commit them and offer them the reward of free room and board. At times I believe those in the Government and media lobbying for more stringent gun control are not concerned about the crime rate; they fear the gun owning public will someday understand all of their true motives and rise up against Government oppression the way our founding fathers intended for the security of the Second Amendment to provide.

People have made comments that gun control is stupid and that those countries who have strick gun control have soaring crime rates. Rubbish. Here in New Zealand we have very strict gun laws and the crime rate has dropped by an average of 6% for the past three years. In America where guns are readilly accessible to almost everyone, there is a gun related homicide every 18 minutes (I won't even go into the number of High School shootings and massacres there have been there in the past few years). Get rid of gun control and the whole world goes straight to hell!

Gun control, plain and simple, doesn't protect your family, doesn't prevent crime, doesn't keep guns out of the hands of criminals, doesn't prevent accidental shootings, doesn't do anything except deny people their constitutional rights and force them to live in a more dangerous world. Enforcing current gun laws won't work either as it has been pointed out time and time again that the courts don't understand the laws and neither do the police. Guns are the scapegoat for a society that wants to put a band aide on the issue of crime. Remember real gun control is being able to hit your target.

Gun Control is wrong! If cops can bear arms so can everyday civilians!!! Cops are civilians too! Not all cops are good cops and can abuse their gun rights. Everyone has the right to protect themselves, especillay in their own home!!!

I currently do not own a gun, but by God I still want to have a right to if I decide to go buy one!

"The great purpose is that every man be armed" - Patrick Henry. The sole purpose of the Second Amendment is to guarantee the right of the American people to defend themselves, if necessary, from a tyrannical federal government. Those aren't my words. Thomas Jefferson penned them. The right to keep and bear arms has absolutely nothing to do with hunters' rights, or with gun collecting, or "plinking". It has everything to do with fighting government oppression, and preventing a tyrannical government from enforcing unjust laws on the populace. The Second Amendment is the one right that guarantees those other rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights. If we allow ourselves to be disarmed, we will be at the mercy of our federal government. After watching the holocaust at Waco, and the shameful kidnapping of Elian Gonzalez, at the hands of federal agents I will never give up my firearms. I don't trust the motives, or the "tender mercies" of the federal government. As an American, it is my responsibility to see that this never happens. As a Christian, it is my duty to provide for and to protect my family. I will not allow "my" government to legislate away my right to protect myself and my family from harm. Nor will I let myself become a slave to the federal government. Liberals are not interested in fighting crime, they are interested in disarming you, and implementing their personal vision of a socialist paradise. Don't be fooled - the real agenda is to disarm the American people. If we let them do it, we will quickly lose all our consitutionally "guaranteed" rights. Our individual rights will be discarded in favor of the collective well-being. Read your Bible, read the Constitution, and know how to use your guns. You may have to some day.

"Controlling" handguns is a red herring in today's political equation, distracting us from addressing the real problems behind crime. Does anyone really think tougher gun control legislation would have stopped the lawless psychopaths of Columbine? The problems are cultural, and if anything, gun control measures enable criminals to be more brutal. John Lott of University of Chicago published a wonderful book called "More Guns, Less Crime" last year that shows through painstaking statistical research that -- the higher the percentage of gun ownership, the less violent crime exists. After all, criminals make calculations too, and seek out victims who won't be able to shoot back. I shudder at the damage Rosie O'Donnell and her ilk cause by their emotional campaigns that don't pause to look at actual statistics and facts.

This is an EXTREMELY important issues. We should start enforcing the laws on the books, and get the criminals off the streets. Many know that I am a staunch supporter of the individual right to bear arms; however, we have laws in place wisely restricting ownership and possession by the "criminally intent"...SO WHY DON'T WE PROSECUTE THEM? How come, of the THOUSANDS of people denied firearms purchases under the Brady Law, only 10 have EVER BEEN INDICTED?