Right to bear arms?

[metroid composite]

Voted 4, as it's pretty much what Canada does and it works a-ok.  On the practical level of implementation starting from America's current state: do a multi-phase plan if you're worried about it.

Also generally agreeing with Elfboy: I don't really see why you need legal handguns.  Can't you defend yourself just fine with rifles if you want defence?  The only real advantage I can think of with handguns is that you can conceal them (and concealed weapons strike me as a purely offensive tactic, not defensive--i.e. undesirable).  Rifles are also harder for kids to shoot themselves with, harder to commit suicide with, and so on.

[Luther Lansfeld]

Well, say you lived in a really dangerous neighborhood and you were walking through said neighborhood alone. You can't carry a rifle with you because they are clunky as fuck.

[Grefter]

You would need a conceal and carry license to do that with a hand gun anyway.  There is a lot of reasons to own a handgun for self defence round the house more so than a rifle though just from a usage standpoint as well (Around the house is not exactly the optimal performance situation for a rifle just for a simple start).

[Luther Lansfeld]

I concur completely. My opposition is with making handguns illegal altogether.

[metroid composite]

You would need a conceal and carry license to do that with a hand gun anyway.  There is a lot of reasons to own a handgun for self defence round the house more so than a rifle though just from a usage standpoint as well (Around the house is not exactly the optimal performance situation for a rifle just for a simple start).

Mmm, yeah, okay, you have me convinced.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I believe in the right to bear arms, but you have crazy people like my mother (the one who doesn't even know how to FIRE a gun in the family) who are apparently in charge of the movement, and they believe that not allowing them to own full-auto assault rifles or support MGs is infringing on their rights. So I can't really back the pro-gun lobby, either. So I can't support 1 or 2 because it gives ammunition to the crazies. Balls. So I went with 3.

The thing is, there's no purpose to owning an assault rifle except to take on people who are equipped with tactical armor and other things you'd expect from a regular army unit.  You know what the best tool for home defense is? A pump-action shotgun, preferably with a short barrel. The sound of racking a 12-gauge and having the flashlight under the barrel turned on someone is the best tool you're gonna get. Plus, the fact that it fires in a cone makes it a guaranteed hit at close range, which is why they became popular with police in the first place, back in the old west.

That said, using a handgun for home defense is probably your second-best choice, since it's small enough that corners aren't much of a problem and would-be thieves take it more seriously as a threat, and in the case of small domiciles, it's more practical than a legal-length shotgun. I kept mine under my bed for the period of time after my car got broken in to in front of my old place. Kind of a sketchy part of town and the fact the apartment had a glass door in the back did not comfort me.

[NotMiki]

I strongly believe people should be able to own pistols in their home for self-defense, even though I don't and wouldn't, and even if statistics show those pistols may do more harm than good (I'm skeptical about this in any case).

I have no idea what to make of concealed weapons permits and people carrying guns in public in general.  It creeps me the hell out to think about people being allowed to carry, but y'know, crooks will regardless of the law, and self-defense is a legitimate reason to have a gun in my eyes.

As for the pro-gun lobby, the NRA...they're nuts.  They strongly believe that registration in general is a slippery slope to the end of the 2nd amendment, and they're against police being able to share data on gun crimes from one city to another as a result.  Yes, they're against sharing information on guns that have been USED IN CRIMES.  You could pick option #1 on this poll and still be very far from their brand of crazy.

[Tonfa]

Finland pretty much does 4. It is ideal, there are relatively very few shootings in the country and I certainly don't have to be paranoid about anyone pulling a gun on me, so yeah.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I have no idea what to make of concealed weapons permits and people carrying guns in public in general.  It creeps me the hell out to think about people being allowed to carry, but y'know, crooks will regardless of the law, and self-defense is a legitimate reason to have a gun in my eyes.

For the record, they're not exactly super-easy to get. Only person I know who has one is a friend of my aunt's who is a private detective.

[NotMiki]

As I recall, the NRA earlier this year tried to pass a bill that would force states to accept the validity of concealed weapons permits from other states.  This made states that have strict requirements for permits (for example: mandatory training, or not allowing felons to have them) not happy at all.  Fortunately, it didn't pass.

EDIT: A timely example on the unreasonableness of the NRA: international treaty to prevent gun smuggling from one country to another = they're coming for our guns!

Screw the NRA.