Come on punk.....make my blog.
My response to "Guns are for Destroying Things". .Link
By banning guns, you fail to reduce violence. Violence is ingrained in man. All you achieve instead, is to reduce the technology base of law abiders one step below criminals.
Forget the semantics about guns in particular. We're really arguing over whether it is right to be able to own a weapon, any weapon, something which is intended to harm another being.
Anything. Anything, can be used as a weapon. Making some weapons more difficult to get, might, (and I only concede the idea as a generality for argument's sake), reduce some of the increased level of accidental, or willfully caused damage caused by more advanced weaponry. This does have some credence in cases where it can be done effectively, such as with nuclear weapons. (although that one's starting to slip as more and more nations obtain it.)
However, this has never been proven to be the case with guns. Where they are banned, regardless of penalty, criminals still own, and use guns. I believe that people have a right to own weapons, as well as the responsibility to use (or preferably not use) them wisely.
Weapons are multi-purpose tools as well. Yes it is used to destroy things. So is a saw, or a fire. They can do nothing but destroy. As in using a saw to cut a plank, or burning wood to heat a home, it is the results of that destruction, and your intent that are important.
Our violence is ingrained as humans, and as a society. It is both genetic and cultural. Also as a culture, we are overly fond of simplistic solutions such as (and it would be an interesting comparison for argument,) the Temperance policies of the Great Depression, that rarely pan out. A weapons ban is a simplistic answer that will not solve the basic issue of violence, and take away our citizens ability to defend themselves from criminals, as civilians, and their last resort against an abusive government. (not advocating violence against the gov. mind you, but how long would the tyrannies of cold-war russia have lasted if every citizen had owned a gun?)
Sorry this got so long. Delete it if you like, or not, and I'll repost it on my own blog as an article.
Peace through superior firepower,
nbs.
P.S. 85..........