Should Guns be Made Illegal?

I was looking around xanga today, and I came across the question of the day: "Should guns be made illegal? Why or why not?"

Hmm... let's ponder this question for a minute... better yet, let's start by rephrasing it: "Should your constitutional rights be stripped away from you in the name of supposed public safety?" Now we can properly answer it - NO.

People argue that guns cause more problems than they end.

"School shootings occur because people have access to guns." Common recent examples of this claim include the VT shootings and the NIU Valentine's Day Shootings.  If you stop and think about it... if students on both campuses had been legally armed, the tragedies would likely have been stopped sooner.  Considering the size of the classroom involved in the NIU shooting, at least 10 students would have a gun in that room.  Now let's run thru the shooting - crazy gunman walks in with a visible intent to shoot.  If one of those 10 or more students pulled out their gun, it is likely that NIU would not have had as many casualties as it did. Same with VT.  If students in the classrooms had been armed, they could have stopped the shooter.

"Kids accidentally kill themselves while playing with their parents guns."  Here's a thought - lock your gun up.  Keep out of reach of children isn't just a suggestion for perscription drugs and household cleaners.  If you're worried your children will get curious about the gun, do what my grandpa did - take the kid out and let them shoot the gun in a controlled situation in which they cannot hurt anyone so they won't get struck by curiosity later and go play with guns when you aren't home.

"Shooting sprees happen because crazy people get guns. By not allowing anyone to have a gun, this prevents them from falling into the wrong hands." They have forms that people must fill out in order to get a gun. They have to pass certain tests. They have to wait a certain number of days before they are actually able to get the gun. Limitations are already placed on our Second Amendment rights... you cannot take away the right completely.

Here's something people don't always consider - if America were to make guns completely illegal, there would be an uprising of organized crime. The rusult would be similar to what happened during prohibition - mob bosses and others becoming organized with a sole goal - to make liquor (only in this case guns) available to those who wanted it and were willing to play with it.  By making guns illegal, people similar to those in the days of Prohibition will rise up and create an even more dangerous society. Consider this - guns are illegal, that means police cannot have guns. If the police cannot have guns, and criminals get ahold of guns via the black market, the criminals are unstoppable. Pepper spray is not going to beat a gun. That's like putting up scissors and trying to convince everyone that they can defeat rock.

Taking away the constitutional rights of Americans gives the government even more power - something that is dangerous in and of itself. But taking away the constitutional right of the American people to bear arms... that is even more dangerous.

Time For A Little Economics Lesson, People.

As I was reading this post on Female Impersonators, I felt the need to express my feelings on this general issue.


Businesses exist for a single purpose above all others-- to create profit. How do you create profit? Selling a good or service that people want. If no market exists for a product, anyone producing said product has 3 choices. 1. Keep producing said product and take a loss. This may work if your product is seasonal, or experiencing a temporary decline. 2. Shut down your business, either temporarily or permanently. a temporary production stoppage is an excellent way of ridding yourself of surplus supply. 3. Produce a product that people will buy.

Take the gender-specific Easter egg example. Plastic easter eggs are all about the same, so in order for a company to try and make the most profit, they need to make their eggs stand out to potential customers. This particular company printed purses and lipstick on their eggs in order to attempt to reach a specific consumer. That consumer has a choice as to which product they buy. If they like the print on the egg, the company gets a sale. If they do not, the company has less profit.

Obviously, there is a market for these eggs. The company is not indoctrinating society, society is mandating the market for the product.

This printing is necessary for the profit margin. America is built on capitalism.

Also, despite the fact that the minority may be growing, the people who do not fit traditional gender norms are such a small minority that there is no real profit to be made by targeting them with products.

A commenter on Amelia's post named Micheal made an excellent point, "It's substantially more cost-effective to market to two groups-- Masculine and Feminine-- than it would be to market to the whole spectrum of sexual orientations and identities. I personally hypothesize that, even if we did have a society that fully recognized and supported the whole spectrum of gender and sexual identities, people would feel marginalized, simply because it's simpler and more cost-effective to quantify gender and sex."

From an economic point of view, the gender-oriented products make perfect sense, profit is not made by catering to every small minority, but to the largest possible market.

Let Them Do Their Jobs

A couple more great stories on FOXNEWS. I'm sure we will see another round of calls for more of these ill-conceived non-chase laws.

Jeep Jumper

Washington Chase

As a society we have a choice- Laws or Anarchy. Obviously laws are the correct choice. The police are the enforcers of the law. Either we let them do their jobs, or the laws are pointless and anarchy reigns anyway. By saying "if you drive medium fast and obey the flashing light, and get a ticket" or drive really fast and not get chased" what kind of options are we offering? These laws have never made sense to me. People sometimes need authority. The police need to be allowed to do their job in the best way they can. Teachers need to be able to control their classrooms without fear of lawsuits. Obviously I am not advocating corporal punishment or police brutality, but in our law-suit happy society things have gotten ridiculous. Teachers should not be sued for waking students. People need to quit claiming injury over ever little thing in society.... The world is tough, get used to it. Darwinists,you should know this. Instead it seems the same people who want less lawsuits are the same conservatives that typically support the teaching of either additionally or solely creationism. Wouldn't the people who believe that only the best/brightest should pass on their genes use that same logic on humans?

The Double Standard of Abortion vs. Murder

Somebody explain to me, how are all of these men (examples... Case 1; Case 2; Case 3; Case 4; Case 5) being prosecuted for the murders of these unborn babies, but under Roe vs. Wade and ensuing laws "In 2005 (the most recent year for which there is reliable data), approximately 1.21 million abortions took place in the U.S."(according to abort73.com) Obviously this is a double standard. I think that all murders should be treated as such, How about you?

I'm Sick of Politics and Pop Culture

Am I the only one? Every time I turn the news on, It seems like some new popstar has endorsed a candidate or something. If you are so ill-informed as to seriously vote for a person because some actor or musician told you to, do me a favor and don't vote. Why are people so obsessed with this stuff? Hillary or Barack or McCain are 6th cousins to some celebrity who I don't care about? Find some news that is relevant to report, please! Along with that, these celebrities are among the worst America-haters. They should go live somewhere else and then come back and tell us how bad the country is. I agree, not everything this nation does is good, or right, but I also think that this is the greatest country on earth to live in. There are so many rights and freedoms that we still have. I can think for myself, I do not need pop culture to do it for me.