The Student Room Group

US gun law

So lots of the students from the Florida school where there was the awful shooting are marching on Washington to demand for change to us gun law. I think this is great news but what about you? What do you think should happen with US gun law and why, and what do you think will happen ultimately?

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Original post by BDE
So lots of the students from the Florida school where there was the awful shooting are marching on Washington to demand for change to us gun law. I think this is great news but what about you? What do you think should happen with US gun law and why, and what do you think will happen ultimately?


Unless it speeds up to say one a fortnight, then nothing will happen. ins are too deeply embedded in culture. they are as numerous as mobile phones. It requires a societal change and maybe one party to have fun control as part of its political mandate. that would most likely be the democrats.

At the moment it is not significant enough.
The US gun laws are a mess. If you were the age of 18 and wanted to buy a beer you would have to wait until you were 21 but if you wanted to shoot 17 people in cold blood you could buy a gun from the local gun store and start shooting.
Reply 3
Original post by The PoliticalGuy
The US gun laws are a mess. If you were the age of 18 and wanted to buy a beer you would have to wait until you were 21 but if you wanted to shoot 17 people in cold blood you could buy a gun from the local gun store and start shooting.


agreed
Reply 4
Original post by 999tigger
Unless it speeds up to say one a fortnight, then nothing will happen. ins are too deeply embedded in culture. they are as numerous as mobile phones. It requires a societal change and maybe one party to have fun control as part of its political mandate. that would most likely be the democrats.

At the moment it is not significant enough.


it's awful that that's the situation America is in. I can't even begin to imagine trump lifting a finger over it
Anybody know of any good articles that explain both sides of the debate with some context?
As much as I'd love to see a total ban on gun sales (with the obvious exceptions of necessary ownership for particular jobs), that's never going to happen. Ever. However I think pressure is going to increase on the government to implement legislation to bring in far more restrictive legislation, by which I mean legislation that any other country on the planet would consider an acceptable minimum: increase minimum age to purchase and own to 21, mandate background checks and a waiting period for all sales, ban sales to the mentally ill, and eliminate all loopholes for gun shows and buying across state lines. Accompany that with far reaching illegal gun amnesty and government buy-back programs to start chipping away at the tens of millions of firearms already in circulation. With any luck legislation along those lines would go some way to reducing the number of unnecessary massacres.

Original post by 999tigger
Unless it speeds up to say one a fortnight, then nothing will happen.


When defining a "school shooting" as an unprovoked attack on school property against students or staff, the US is already on five for the year. Even once a fortnight isn't enough to rouse them into action.
Reply 7
Original post by The PoliticalGuy
The US gun laws are a mess. If you were the age of 18 and wanted to buy a beer you would have to wait until you were 21 but if you wanted to shoot 17 people in cold blood you could buy a gun from the local gun store and start shooting.


that's actually a dumb anaolgy as buying a gun is not meant for this purpose
Reply 8
Original post by So-Sarah
that's actually a dumb anaolgy as buying a gun is not meant for this purpose


not really - it's a purpose it can very easily be used for without any limitation once you own the item. even if it's not the vendors intention you could still use the weapon for I'll purpose. Hence the way things currently stand in the is is that you could indeed "shoot 17 people in cold blood" with relative ease (relative compared to pretty much all of the rest of the world).
Reply 9
the same way that you could drive a van into people, yet they are not banned
try again please
Original post by So-Sarah
the same way that you could drive a van into people, yet they are not banned
try again please


And yet, to drive a van you have to apply for a learner's permit, prove you know the theory in a government-mandated test, prove your fitness in a government-mandated test and then prove your proficiency in a government-mandated test.

You then get a licence, but are also required to get insurance.


To get a gun you need to do none of those things.


Your attempt to dismiss the argument is laughable, naive, and far too simplistic.


Try harder.
Reply 11
Original post by Drewski
And yet, to drive a van you have to apply for a learner's permit, prove you know the theory in a government-mandated test, prove your fitness in a government-mandated test and then prove your proficiency in a government-mandated test.

You then get a licence, but are also required to get insurance.


To get a gun you need to do none of those things.


Your attempt to dismiss the argument is laughable, naive, and far too simplistic.


Try harder.


THIS ^^^
big deal - anyone can just drive a van into people regardless of whether they have a licence or not, yet you're not calling for vans to be banned
Reply 13
Original post by So-Sarah
big deal - anyone can just drive a van into people regardless of whether they have a licence or not, yet you're not calling for vans to be banned


they were talking about ownership. in order to have access to a van so that you may run people other you must have passed your test, have a license etc. You do not in order to own a gun in the US.

Try harder.
(edited 6 years ago)
No one needs a licence to drive into people, you just need a set of keys - and that's not hard to obtain
Original post by EconWarrior
Anybody know of any good articles that explain both sides of the debate with some context?


Have a little watch of this

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09m6dq6

It isn't about gun law, but it is about Trump and features a very open and honest Miriam Margolese listening very carefully to the views of people she disagrees with in an attempt to try and understand why people in the Mid West voted for Trump. I think it also gives you a great incite into why America can never give up the gun.

The American dream, the idea that if you work hard, you will be rewarded is part of the DNA of the US and with it certain freedoms including the right to bear arms.
Arms are most certainly useful if someone breaks into your house or threatens/attacks you in street
I don't think it matters what we think. This is an issue for Americans to debate and find a solution for.
Reply 18
Original post by So-Sarah
No one needs a licence to drive into people, you just need a set of keys - and that's not hard to obtain


Original post by So-Sarah
the same way that you could drive a van into people, yet they are not banned
try again please


Are you honestly trying to compare a van - a mainstay of the economy and work force and most assuredly not simply a tool of death to a firearm, which is only a tool of death?
Original post by So-Sarah
Arms are most certainly useful if someone breaks into your house or threatens/attacks you in street


If, and only if, you've been trained in how to use them.

And even then, not very.



The NYPD, a force put under incredible pressure due to massive focus in the 90s and 00s, made the shooting accuracy of its members public.

It's 18%.

And these are people who are trained to fire well under extreme pressure and use tactics.

The average member of public? You've got no hope. You're far more of a liability. All you'll do is get yourself killed in the process - and most likely another innocent person too.

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