Quote:JagNGeorgia, that may be part of the problem, but it is not the whole problem.  

 

I won't pretend to know the answer.  Problem is we have a hard enough time discussing it.  To busy arguing why one side is right and the other isn't.  I think both sides make good points.  

 

I think there should be, at the very least, a US required gun course you have to take along with testing before owning a gun (other than say shot guns).  I don't think as a whole we respect guns enough.  Would this not be a start?

 

Do you not recognize other countries are doing a better job?  It is a complicated issue and there is no one fix all solution.  We can however look to other countries who are doing a better job.  I think that is a reasonable approach.

 

I like the idea that people should be fully trained and well-versed on using their gun and self-defense laws. The problem, however, is that it will undoubtedly stop someone from getting a gun where that person would have otherwise been able to defend his or herself. You don't have to be a crack-shot if you're a female getting raped and the attacker is physically touching you. You also don't need to know State law for that to be an obvious self-defense situation.

 

Again, I like the idea if we take it at face-value. The problem arises when someone is put in charge of determining how "qualified" someone should become. 

 

I think people absolutely respect guns. I find that people who don't quite understand the power / consequences of carrying a gun is often from people that adamantly oppose it. While I agree that it isn't where it should be, I don't agree that people "as a whole" don't respect them. I think, maybe, you're underestimating the overwhelming number of people who lawfully carry and never so much as use their gun.

 

I definitely see that other countries do better with gun-related crimes. I wish we were that successful. I've never seen a correlation with gun control and gun violence. I believe that those countries don't have the mental illness and education problems that we do. They routinely better educate their children and address mental illness far better than we do. Let's face it, you have to be a bit crazy to kill someone outside of self-defense. Those people are crazy before and after they kill someone. We never address these people, and I think that's where the problem should be resolved. 

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