Would you carry a gun?

[TeePee]

With respect to the recent US Supreme Court ruling on the 2nd amendment:

We've debated gun control at length, and this is an easy question for most living in the UK, however, imagine that you lived in a country where guns were commonplace. Would you carry a gun, assuming you could do so legally? Why?

[aidanjt]

In a peaceful place with virtually no crime, no, it'd be a useless expense, a locked away, rifle maybe, for hunting or just getting some practice in on a range. In a dangerous area I would carry a concealed firearm.

[Lucio]

I can safely say I'd never want to carry a gun, heck if I'd had access to a gun the chances are I'd either be dead or up on a murder charge by now given the events of the last 18 months.


Even if I were perfectly stable, I still don't see a need to *carry* a weapon with me, because it's enough for people to know I *might* be armed in most circumstances and in the ones that it isn't, I wouldn't want to escalate to actually using the weapon. In the words of Sam Vimes "once you draw your sword, you're left with only a handful of choices and they're all the wrong ones"

[GoNz0]

i would, but only to hunt down Paul the psychic Octopus...

[danroyle]

if it was legal i'd keep one in my home to protect my Family but i wouldn't carry one i'd be too tempted to do some CHAV Culling they're worse than pidgeons down here.

[Salazaar]

Nope. I've been shooting with shotguns, pistols and rifles perfectly legally on both sides of the atlantic and I've seen nothing that would convince me it would be a good idea to carry one in public, even if I were legally entitled to.

Ask anyone who's serious about firearms what the first rule is and you'll get something along the lines of "if you aim your gun at it, be prepared to kill it", and I just don't see how that fits in with a 'civilised' society.

[Funkstar]

If the gun was primarily for 'protection' then no, I wouldn't have one.

If I liven in a country or state where hunting was common place then perhaps, even probably. I would really like to go shooting in this country as well, I keep meaning to speak to my uncle about that.

[kalniel]

With respect to the recent US Supreme Court ruling on the 2nd amendment:

We've debated gun control at length, and this is an easy question for most living in the UK, however, imagine that you lived in a country where guns were commonplace. Would you carry a gun, assuming you could do so legally? Why?

No, but I wouldn't tell anyone that I didn't - I think all of the 'benefits' of carrying a gun would already be served by just the possibility of me carrying one, while I would avoid many (but not all) of the 'negatives' by not actually carrying one.

[Salazaar]

No, but I wouldn't tell anyone that I didn't - I think all of the 'benefits' of carrying a gun would already be served by just the possibility of me carrying one, while I would avoid many (but not all) of the 'negatives' by not actually carrying one.

You mean getting shot at because people suspect you have a gun...? Escalation of conflict is IMHO pretty stupid, but even more so if you're only pretending!

[kalniel]

You mean getting shot at because people suspect you have a gun...? Escalation of conflict is IMHO pretty stupid, but even more so if you're only pretending!

I didn't say I'd pretend to have a gun. Take a country like the US - the default assumption is that there is a gun in the house. That threat might or might not be enough to put someone off burglary, but where it isn't enough, actually having a gun isn't going to make any positive difference.

You have to reset/flip expectations. Putting up a sign on your house in the US saying 'gun-free house' might be as foolhardy as pretending you do have a gun in the UK. But if you don't say anything then in the US the expectation is that you do have one, while in the UK the expectation is that you don't.

[Singh400]

Hell no. I couldn't take someones life.

[Salazaar]

But if the assumption is that if you have a gun, even if you don't, then anyone mugging/burgling or otherwise assaulting you (who have not been put off by that perception) is more likely to shoot first.

You used the US as an example but has the proliferation of small arms actually reduced burglaries or violent crimes over there?

[[GSV]Trig]

They probably wouldnt let me have a gun...

[kalniel]

But if the assumption is that if you have a gun, even if you don't, then anyone mugging/burgling or otherwise assaulting you (who have not been put off by that perception) is more likely to shoot first.

And in places where guns are commonplace someone is not going to spend the time to check that you're some screwball who doesn't carry a gun and that they should therefore treat you differently. No, if they were willing and anticipating shooting you with the assumption that you'll have a gun you can be sure they're just as willing to shoot you without a gun.

You used the US as an example but has the proliferation of small arms actually reduced burglaries or violent crimes over there?

You say proliferation as if it's something that's suddenly increased. AFAIK that's not the case - they've more or less always had guns, so it's impossible to say if there's a link. IMHO I suspect there is - guns definitely make things worse and I don't think it's something any civilised society should encourage, however that wasn't the question being asked by the OP. If you could wave a wand and turn the US into a country where guns were outlawed and it wasn't commonplace to carry one then my answer would be the same as for the UK. In the meantime I would make the choice not to personally carry one but not to broadcast that fact, then when it came to voting I'd make my opinion known that I'd prefer guns to be outlawed, without revealing my personal situation.

[Flibb]

In the UK, US, most of Europe not for self defense, firearms are generally heavy and pretty uncomfortable to carry. But there are places in the world where concealed carry is a good idea.

If they suddenly changed the UK laws to allow pistols as concealed carry, I wouldn’t want to. I have never been in the situation where I thought carrying a gun would have improved things. I am licensed to own firearms for hunting and target use. I would like to see more types of pistols allowed for target shooting.

[Salazaar]

I'm certainly not arguing for the possession of guns but arguing that you wouldn't own one on the grounds that since everyone else does, it would somehow make you safer seems counter intuitive to me.

Personally, if it got to that situation I'd seriously consider emigrating.