Obama Gets Gun-Shy

The right to keep are bear arms is not limited to only people that can afford expensive guns.

If handguns are not needed for personal protection, how come police carry them, why not just rifles and shotguns?

I would like to see your stats on who you think gets killed more often by guns in the home, I bet you will be surprised by the answer if you actually took the time to research it from a legitimate source.

So your saying that because the criminal is more likely to get to you first, that you don't need a gun... That???s the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I would rather have a small chance, than NO chance.

The Supreme Court as well as many others have ruled time and time again that police have no duty to protect an individual from harm. Who's duty is it then??? I would say that it is your own duty, and the best tool is a firearm, because even the weakest victim can fend off the biggest attacker with the pull of a trigger.

The real problem here is not guns, but cheap guns which have no purpose other than killing people. Nobody other than a gang member needs a $50 Lorcin 9mm for instance. It is one example in a long list of junk guns sold in the U.S.

Most people would not say that rifles or shotguns should be banned. I would include well crafted, genuine sportsmans or collectors handguns as well. Frankly, I trust that even the NRA zealots who yell the loudest rarley use their guns irresponsibly and are probably the least likely to have a gun stolen from them. It is cheap guns that "disappear" into the public and fall into the hands of gangs and punks that are the problem.

I do agree with those who say a gun in the house is a bad idea for most people. Unless you are extremely practiced and have the gun in your lap an intruder will be one you before you can use it. You hear a noise. What do you do, go for the gun? No, you go see what made the noise. It's already too late.

If every gun used in a crime is traced back to the 'licensed' dealer who bought it from the manufacturer I would be willing to bet that a significant percentage comes from just a few dealers. These dealers seem to have a lot of guns "stolen" or "lost in transit". They are criminals and they should be put out of business.

The incident in Pittsburgh is tragic to be sure but it doesn't seem to make sense to pass legislation that would restrict the rights of many, many law abiding citizens to own semi-automatice rifles and other firearms. This would be akin to passing legislation that requires people to own cars that could only do 55 MPH for a top speed because a very few speed and cause highway fatalities. Banning alcohol because of drunk drivers also comes to mind. A large portion of decent people cannot be penalized due to the criminal actions of the few. The NRA and Brady organization aside, cool heads need to prevail here.

The posts here both in favor and against gun control are so full of misinformation it is disgusting. Instead of watching 60 minuets for your (biased) view of how things work, maybe you should read the laws behind the National Firearms Act as see what it actually says, and possibly go to a gun show or at least shoot a gun and learn how they work before passing opinion. As far as a gun show loop hole, this is what it is... At a gun show you can sell anyone a UNREGULATED firearm such as a shot gun or hunting rifle, without a background check, IF you have no reason to believe they are not allowed to own a firearm. You CANNOT sell regulated weapons such as Semi or Full Auto AK47s and AR15s or any handguns, without a Background check (yes background check are done on the spot, and then you still need to fulfill the waiting period), additionally FULL AUTO weapons require additional checks, special fees registration, and local law enforcement approval before you can buy them, and even after that the weapons are so rare that they cost thousands of dollars. Lastly the Semi Auto variants of "Assault Rifles" are no more and possibly less deadly than any shot gun or hunting rifle that people can buy without a background check, people are afraid of them because the see Full Auto ones on TV and think they all must be that bad. They aren't, and full auto rarely gets used for crimes in real life...

Gun control does work. It worked in Nazi Germany. It worked in a lot of other places where the government wanted to exterminate the populations.

Even the tilted "statistics" used by the gun control crowd can't hide the fact that the murder rate has gone down since the ban was not renewed. Banning weapons based on cosmetic features is dumb. And, when will the Oakland PD make public the source of Mixon's weapons?

People here seem to have no understanding of firearms. Ak-47 is a catch-all term for many rifles produced in different countrys and configurations. Full-auto AKs ARE strictly regulated and damn expensive, Semi-auto AKs are the ones that these articles are talking about. I have rarely seen a full-auto for sale anywhere, and these weapons had to be imported or manufactured before 1984.

I think the administration is becoming aware of the strong gun sales going on in this country. It has to be sending a message. It???s not just happening in rural areas. It???s happening all over. The people, committing murders with guns, do not represent the vast majority of gun owners. The violence in Mexico is a drug problem, not a gun problem and not our problem. Other statistics show the influx of weapons coming from South America where there are many gun manufacturers.

I have personally seen men and women of all ages and races buying guns. Gun usage and safety classes are at full capacity. This clearly points out that people are being responsible about gun ownership and taking it seriously.

Demand has outpaced supply for most weapons. If you want an ARmalite style rifle, you???ll have to get in line and wait for about six months. (To law abiding gun owners, the AR rifles are highly regarded for target shooting and hunting. Many competitions are based around these rifles.) A good pistol is hard to find and expensive as well.

The bottom line still remains simple, though. We, as a species, have a strong instinct to defend ourselves. It???s not something another person can give or take away.

Regretfully, we are also a violent species. Most of us keep it under control. Some do not. The majority wants to defend itself from the minority. It???s not a right. It???s a basic instinct. There is always a way to kill. Maybe in a million years we???ll evolve out of it.

I think the administration is becoming aware of the strong gun sales going on in this country. It has to be sending a message. It???s not just happening in rural areas. It???s happening all over. The people, committing murders with guns, do not represent the vast majority of gun owners. The violence in Mexico is a drug problem, not a gun problem and not our problem. Other statistics show the influx of weapons coming from South America where there are many gun manufacturers.

I have personally seen men and women of all ages and races buying guns. Gun usage and safety classes are at full capacity. This clearly points out that people are being responsible about gun ownership and taking it seriously.

Demand has outpaced supply for most weapons. If you want an ARmalite style rifle, you???ll have to get in line and wait for about six months. (To law abiding gun owners, the AR rifles are highly regarded for target shooting and hunting. Many competitions are based around these rifles.) A good pistol is hard to find and expensive as well.

The bottom line still remains simple, though. We, as a species, have a strong instinct to defend ourselves. It???s not something another person can give or take away.

Regretfully, we are also a violent species. Most of us keep it under control. Some do not. The majority wants to be able to defend itself from the minority. There is always a way to kill. Maybe in a million years we???ll evolve out of it.

Last time I looked AK-47's were illegal to buy in the US, this article is a joke like the Democrats who control the government and are spending decades worth of Debt in 100 days. Same old Democrat playbook spend, spend, spend and you sheep thought CHANGE was coming, LOL

Calling for gun control because an unstable person did something unstable is not a solution, it will just create a new set of problems. A person intent on harming another is going to use what is at hand it doesn't matter if you ban all weapons; the crooks don't care they will find a weapon or make one, just look at prison, knives made from toothbrushes, etc. An armed robbery took place in my city lately, but the crooks didn't use guns it was swords. Yes this is a state with concealed carry laws, but no one pulled out a gun and shot the robbers. Responsible firearm owners and carriers know that we are not Police Officers, the only reason we carry is to protect ourselves and our families from severe bodily harm that can cause death. We are not allowed to just shoot someone for breaking the law.
So you see responsible firearm owners are not an issue, neither are firearms themselves. It is the people who do these atocities that are the issue, so by your way of thinking maybe we should just kill all the insane people and forget about fixing the real problem.

Newsweek why don't you tell the truth? The assault weapons ban isn't about assault weapons! A true "assault weapon is selective fire (read: FULLY AUTOMATIC). What the anti-American gun grabbers are trying to do is ban semi automatic rifles that have the same appearance as a military "assault weapon". This is just a step to completely ban guns one class of firearms at a time! Next it will be sniper rifles (scoped hunting rifles). If only the police and the military have guns wouldn't we live in a police state? It kinda defeats the idea of freedom and liberty, don't you think? We need crime control not gun control!

Would the authors care to comment on HR 45? http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.00045: