"There's this theory that if there were an infinite number of monkeys pecking away at typewriters, they would eventually write the great works of Shakespeare, but thanks to the internet we now know that's not true." -Adam Savage
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NOTE: This is my new primary account. My old account was AgentCOPP1, and I changed it because it was linked to a gamertag that I no longer use.
Posted by: Xplode441
Posted by: AgentCOP1
Well that's where you and I both agree. I agree that things like gun shows where people can buy guns without a background check should be illegal. But banning guns is simply not the solution. Just look at what banning drugs does. Drugs are still everywhere, but people get them illegally. The same thing would happen with guns. Criminals would just use the black market (just like drugs) to obtain their guns. Law-abiding citizens wouldn't want to break the law in order to get a gun. Therefore, and I know this argument has been used so many times before, only the criminals would have guns. It's really not that hard to see. If I want to get some drugs right now, I can literally go down to my neighbor's house and ask him to call his dealer. I could have the drugs within a few minutes. It's very easy, but the difference is that I'm doing it illegally. Banning guns would be the same thing. California, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Oregon, New York, Illinois and Colorado require background checks at gun shows.
Let's see how that fares for them:
California Murders: 1,790 Firearms: 1,220
Rhode Island Murders: 14 Firearms: 5
Connecticut Murders: 128 Firearms: 94
Oregon Murders: 77 Firearms: 40
New York Murders: 774 Firearms: 445
Illinois Murders: 452 Firearms: 377
Colorado Murders: 147 Firearms:73
Now let's check a smaller size state, a medium sized state and a large sized state that don't require background checks at gun shows:
Virginia Murders: 303 Firearms: 208
North Dakota Murders: 12 Firearms: 6
Arizona Murders: 339 Firearms: 222
Texas Murders: 1,089 Firearms: 699
Based on 2011 statistics reported by the FBI.
Woah, it's almost like the difference is negligible.
We need to focus on the mental health of the people, check more for that and not for parking tickets. That's something that's overlooked in these homicide cases, the mental health of the person and the fact that they didn't get proper treatment.
You and I are on the same side, but I'm not as strong on my opinion about the background checks. It just makes sense to me because why would you be legally selling a gun to a known criminal? That makes no sense. Don't sell them a gun. That way, they can go buy an illegal gun (or steal one) and then if/when they do something illegal, that's just one more thing that can get them behind bars for a longer period of time.