Guns

Nothing like jumping in with both feet, but here I am again, a disgruntled American running off at the mouth. In light of the recent tragedy in Colorado, I think perhaps our nation has hit the tipping point on the issue of gun control. I hope so.

All I can do is offer my personal opinion...if it's small enough to conceal, it shouldn't be legal for civilians. I live in a state where they just recently made the right to carry concealed weapons legal. This scares me. I grew up in a home where there were guns. Mainly shotguns and rifles for deer, game birds and small game hunting. There were a few smaller arms as well. (I never felt good about the smaller weapons.)

Anyway, we have these things in our constitution called AMENDMENTS, and by their very name, it implies that they can be changed. I think it's time to look this over and change a few things. We Americans have a bad reputation for being gun crazy wild people and perhaps, to a certain extent we are. We want our rights after all! Maybe it's time to stop and think about our responsibilities as well.

I don't think people need guns these days. In the UK, its illegel to carry a gun or a knife

If people need a gun, I think they should take a psychology test yearly to be sure they are mental fit to handle a gun.

Karl,

The psychological test is a great idea. All they do here, to my knowledge, is when you purchase a gun, they give you a form that asks if you've ever had a mental illness. Really? Like someone is going to answer, "sure,and I'm a serial killer".

Interesting that knives are illegal in the UK. Here it's pretty common to carry a pocket knife. I used to carry a Swiss Army knife in my purse because it had all kinds of tools in it. But they stopped allowing kids to carry them in school, so as an example to my kids, I put mine away. With the fibromyalgia in my hands I probably couldn't get the darn blade open anyway!

Why are you afraid of concealed weapons? Being allowed to carry a firearm doesn't change whether or not a criminal has one. Criminals do not follow gun laws. The majority of them do not have legal guns to begin with. That's the threat. The average response time of law enforcement is far longer than what it takes to rape, murder, and shoot someone. What if all guns were banned? THan anyone who had one would have a huge position of power which I think could corrupt law enforcement as well and give criminals the green light to do a lot more crimes than they already do.It would also fuel the illegal gun trade. Sweden is an interesting country when it comes to gun laws. They are required to possess a gun and their crime rate is much lower. I would be terrified to live in a country where I couldn't protect myself or my family.

Josie,

Actually I think the US constitution has a provision in it for the citizen militia, which back in the day was any free male over the age of 16, that states that he must have a firearm and a supply of ammunition. There are some that take that literally today.

I really didn't know that about Sweden. Interesting.

It's getting really bad here with young men carrying knives and stabbing each other, mostly seems to be about gang warfare. I don't like to know that my eldest grandsons are walking the streets late at night. Also, a lot of shootings, but not where we live. I don't know what the answer is, but pray for all young people, it isn't easy for them out there. x