Should civilians carry hand guns?

Jagermann

You are right! Civilians should be allowed to carry handguns. Not only is it their constitutional right to keep and bear arms, but it also reduces crime and prevents homicides.

The 31 states that allow registered citizens to lawfully carry concealed weapons have, on average, a 24 percent lower violent crime rate, a 19 percent lower murder rate and a 39 percent lower robbery rate than states that outlaw concealed weapons.

Most recent estimates find that Americans use guns defensively about 2-2.5 million times a year.

Criminologist Gary Kleck notes that a violent criminal is twice as likely to face a defensive gun use as to face arrest. Also, on one survey of prisoners, 43% said that at some point they had decided not to commit a particular crime because they feared facing armed resistance

In 1982, a survey of imprisoned criminals found that 34% of them had been scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim.

Cg T

I absolutely agree with you. Criminals and people with evil ideas are always able to obtain weapons if they want to do harm. Regardless if its legal or not. Everyone should be allowed to protect themselves and their families.

98% Pure Chimp

Yes, I agree. People should have the unrestricted right to carry hand guns if they feel like it.

Crime would plummet.

tacos

they should. and they should be trained in their use as well.

rdnktrble

I SOOO AGREE WITH EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID! The world is a scary place especially with all the shootings recently & we should all have the right to be able to defend ourselves & our families (all meaning all who can pass the mental elvaluations & training mentioned above!!). I think alot of the evil in this world would cease to exsist if we would go back to the way it was in the old "wild west" days!!

jonas

yeah with the crime rate increasing yeah i have an ar15 in my house for protection places aint as safe and there is always a crazy *** fool or some maniac out there so yeah i agree they should. but it would depend.

no2censors

i agree fully but take exception to the no criminal background stipulation. depends on the crime. as a truck driver i drove on average well over 100 times what the average person does. only stands to reason that there is 100 times the likely hood i got caught for a driving offense. some laws are just plain stupid ie. smoking in public. i was nailed for smoking in the laundry room of my apt. block. there was an ashtray and no sign saying i couldnt, so how does being a smoker who lit up in the wrong place make me unfit to carry a gun? yes, here it goes on your record, but marijuana possession under 1 ounce don't go figure?

DASHLOC4ever

Yes

Crime plummets when shall issue concealed carry becomes law. The predictions of wild west style shoot outs have not come to fruition, instead crime drops.

Read More Guns Less Crime by John Lott for the full story. The best part of the book is when his opponents try to discredit him

waidonchasaisew

if they have permits nad are not on probation or have a history if mental illness or anything, then yeah. its part of our civil rights. the right to possess a firearm.

Specialist Done Wrong

Yes, in many places in the US the laws aren't as strengent ans those that you are suggesting. I disagree with the mental evaluation though, because 3 out of 5 people have mental disorders, but are not considered mentally ill. Currently convicts are not allowed to carry handguns. I really believe that business owners and workers should be allowed to be armed with the proper training, at any age while at that particular job. I feel this way because of teenagers and young underpaid overworked gas station attendants, and food service workers at all hours of the day being at risk and sometimes completely alone without much chance of help.
IF they're allowed to carry, they should have training, not evaluations.

Situations that I feel could have been different are some that follow:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-homicide_21_both_feb21,1,6963185.story

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-homicide_21_both_feb21,1,6963185.story

http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/07/071128.arrest.shtml

It finally happened!

As my main man Shaft would say: "You're damn right..." civilians SHOULD carry guns. That's right, I said the G word, "guns". Most of us would remain rather social, as we are now, about our fine armaments. Just imagine sitting in a coffee shop... talking about all of the days events and happenings, business, politics, love, and laughter, all the while our custom-pistols are strapped to our side, like the boys from Law and Order. We would even have conversations about our custom-pistols - and the store clerks could join in as well. My... with so many guns already waving, I doubt any joker's going to walk up in there demanding cash when he knows he'll be popped in the ash.

Superior Intelligence

hey, good point. pretty much EVERYONE in texas carries guns around, and the crime rate is extremely low there.

The real criminals are gonna get their hands on weapons either way, but in texas, you aren't gonna steal grandma's purse b/c she'll put a cap in your ***!

no ar

Yes, this society is designed to control, power, lies.

we should fight back

duckinhimer

i don't think any one would get a perfect score on a mental test and if we had to take a year long course no one would bother. i've got a license to conceal a handgun. one day course

W W D

And who would score the mental evaluation? No, thanks. That sounds a lot like the literacy tests that excluded minorities from voting in the Old South.
There are always going to be people with guns who shouldn't have them, and there's no way to avoid it. But the basic premise of an armed citizenry looking to its own safety seems born out by the fact that each time a state has lifted or liberalized restrictions on carrying firearms, violent crime has decreased. I'd argue that the sensible law would be simply to allow everybody who isn't adjudged incompetent to carry firearms either openly or concealed, and to do so without licensure or restriction.

sminthian1980

I think it'd be ok if they actually enforced the gun laws, which they don't. I like the Tombstone way of doing it. You can own a gun, you just can't bring it into a city.

zubairwaqas

Yes! the criminal will think twice, and come more prepared.
Guns! would not stop people from entering a house or rob someone, just because they have a gun, they will take the risk of killing you a the first site.
there will be more bloodshed, because both the good and bad guys will try to take the first shot.

Doug P

NO! that would cause WAY more problems than good things.

Shannon A

Then what's to stop those carrying guns to become very angry and cught up in the momment and shoot someone?
We would basically be placing the law in everyone else's hands and honestly that's why we have the police.

A dear friend of mine was shot point blank by her brother. He owned a hand gun. He went home, back to his apartment one day and saw her talking to his fiance. He was very abusive towards her, and he didn't want his sister helping her to get away. He became angry, pulled his gun and shot his sister.

I would never want to own a gun, as too many accidents happen with them. They are a permanant solution to often times a one time problem.

Plus if you figure how much stress students go through these days, with grades and what not, what's going to stop them from shooting instructors who give them bad grades?

I would rather people take self defence courses where the learn control and self discipline. I took Kung-Fu for 8.5yrs. I've luckily never had to use it up to this point, but at least I learned to look before I make a crucial judgement.

To me, the idea of giving everyone guns is just like placing a bandaid over a large gash. It only slightly covers the problem, but eventually it will fail.

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