Should there be a universal background check for all gun sales?

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Should there be a universal background check for all gun sales?

Discussion (8)

rovr322Voice #4Oct 10, 5:15 PM

I’ve never met a gun owner who had a problem with a background check…..the problems arise from these “checks” taking days or weeks and the information kept as a form of registry and not destroyed. Comparing US “gun violence” to a country like the UK, where guns are not a ready means to commit violence, is not a valid evaluation of violence in America. How do we fare against the UK in knife, axe, wooden bat violence? Implying the UK is safer because they don’t have guns is like saying Florida lakes are safer than African lakes because Florida doesn’t have hippos, while forgetting about the gators

JE_ThomasVoice #8Oct 13, 10:49 PM

Homicide rate in the US varies between 5.0 and 6.3 per 100,000 people. In the UK is is almost 5 times lower - 1.2 per 100,000.

rovr322Voice #4Oct 14, 2:40 AM↩ replying to JE_Thomas

Hi JE_T, thanks for replying. I looked at 2024 statistics and got 1.0 for UK and 5.1 for US so we’re in agreement. But I ask you, if guns are the problem why are there any homicides at all in the UK? Seems to me it’s people that are the problem…..and we’re a more violent society. If you look a little deeper homicides rates are fairly uniform throughout the UK….from 0.7 in Portsmith to a max of 1.8 in Leeds among the places I looked at. Not so the US….NY 4.4, Seattle 7.8, Chicago 21.3, Detroit 31.6, St Louis ~48, Boise 1.3, Sun Valley 0.0. Big, liberal, anti 2A, gun-free zone cities drive the high US homicide rate. And while handguns are the weapon of choice in most US homicides, about half of the guns used are illegal (I actually think it’s more than this but no time to dig deeper this evening). So going after the 2A is definitely not the solution, going after the mindset of far too many people in specific areas of the country is.

JE_ThomasVoice #8Oct 14, 3:13 AM↩ replying to rovr322

I think the problem with guns is that it's too easy. Pull, point, squeeze. You don't even have to be all that close. And of course I don't know but I suspect for many the regret comes as quickly as the action.

rovr322Voice #4Oct 14, 1:41 PM↩ replying to JE_Thomas

I think you’re absolutely right. I have family members that worked in law enforcement & probation, can’t tell you how many times they talk of the nicest guys they encounter in prison that lost it for just that one moment that can never be undone…..cause for all of us to be introspective

JE_ThomasVoice #8Oct 10, 2:21 PM

I would go farther, but universal background checks at a minimum. Unfortunately, we won't get a handle on the gun problem without a Constitutional Amendment. gun violence in America is on par with such great nations as Eritrea and Iraq. Seriously. Ours is nearly 10 times higher than, say, the UK. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/gun-violence-by-country

ScaramoucheVoice #9Oct 13, 10:43 PM

The UK has fewer gun-crimes, but violent crimes with OTHER lethal weapons (e.g. knives, bludgeons, and acid) have gone up to compensate; it seems Heston's NRA had a point. What we're really seeing is competing, zero-sum bids for control; any time a new restriction is established, restriction-advocates don't stay satisfied for long, they want to tighten the screws still harder (e.g. now the British are talking about banning knives).

JE_ThomasVoice #8Oct 13, 10:52 PM↩ replying to Scaramouche

See my response to rovr322 above. The figures don't hold. Murders, violent crime, total crime, even stabbings, the UK does much better than the US.

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