Philosophical Vegan Forum

What is your opinion on Gun ownership? I personally believe you should only be allowed to have a gun if You are a trained professional or you are licensed and have had a background.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of loopholes in the U.S.A. that avoid background checks, like buying guns from gun shows; 'private sellers' don't need to get background checks on the purchaser in most states.

Closing those loopholes could do some good.

The constitution protects the right to bear arms, though, so any major changes in law would have to pass muster with the supreme court on that front.

I don't think civilians should be allowed to own guns. If you want to shoot at a range, you should be licensed, and use the guns made available at the range. I see no reason why the average person should own such weapons.

TheVeganAtheist wrote:I don't think civilians should be allowed to own guns. If you want to shoot at a range, you should be licensed, and use the guns made available at the range. I see no reason why the average person should own such weapons.

While I haven't heard a valid reason to own a gun in your own house yet (when I ask, people usually answer with 'if a criminal breaks in, I can shoot him', which is the most unlikely scenario and an irrational fear), there are many reports of people who prevent robbery in shops thanks to guns.
The problem with banning guns is that it'd swell the black market and you wouldn't be able to get rid of all the guns that are already owned in the country.

In Switzerland every male that was born there over the age of 18 has a gun and crime rate there is 0.5 to 100,000 people (less than one percent) while in America it's 5 to 100,000 people. In my opinion do whatever their doing, because their obviously doing it right.