Questions tagged [guns]
Questions related to politics and policy on firearms
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Has right-wing politics on guns made it more or less impossible to reliably protect public figures? [closed]
Both assassination attempts on Trump used long-range weapons.
Right-wing politicians and the Supreme Court have legalized gun enhancements like bump stocks that allow a semi-automatic rifle with a ...
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Term for gun control advocate who respects the second amendment [closed]
What would be the term for someone who is not particularly libertarian with respect to gun ownership but still respects the Second Amendment’s existence?
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What do those who think GK-like estimates of DGUs are an overestimate think is going on in GK-like studies? Telescoping? Mistaking dreams for reality?
The study that started the modern academic discussion about gun control is the famous 1995 Garry Kleck study. It was a telephone survey that interviewed 5'000 arbitrarily chosen people and estimated ...
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What do people mean by saying that safe storage laws are unconstitutional?
Safe storage laws are laws that require guns to be stored in safes which cannot be opened immediately. They are there to supposedly reduce suicide and to reduce the chances of your own gun being used ...
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Why are pro/anti-gun parties in the US espousing the reverse position when it comes to weapons for Ukraine? [closed]
Per title. It seems that traditionally, Republicans (support gun ownership in the US) for reasons such as "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun", and they in ...
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Could Chinese people being armed have prevented the Great Chinese Famine? [closed]
Pro-gun people sometimes claim that more Chinese people being armed could have prevented the Great Chinese Famine. Can somebody explain to me how they think that?
I fail to see how that could be the ...
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Can someone be an armed guard in Gaza without being Hamas?
CNN:
The IDF last week also released photos and video showing young men holding guns in the air – militants handing in weapons after their surrender from Kamal Adwan hospital, it alleged. But the ...
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Do 'ordinary' Gazans have firearms (much)?
In Afghanistan, it was a bit of problem when raiding homes etc., because many Afghans had firearms, so just finding a hidden AK-47 in someone's home wasn't a clear indicator if he was Taliban or not. (...
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Do people who have survived a mass shooting tend to be pro-gun or anti-gun? Are there any surveys about that?
I would be interested in what people who have first-hand experience in mass shootings think about the idea that a good guy with a gun can usually stop a bad guy with a gun. Are there any surveys about ...
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What is the argument for preventing tyranny that avoids gun violence?
I'm aware of the examples and debates of whether this works practically, but the theory as I understand it for the second amendment as a last defense against tyranny works as follows.
Elect leaders ...
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Are there any Gary-Kleck-like studies on defensive gun uses for countries other than the USA? Specifically, I am interested in Croatia
Is anybody here aware of some Gary-Kleck-like studies on defensive gun uses in Croatia? How often do guns save lives here in Croatia? If I get stuck in a debate about gun control, I guess that ...
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What do gun control advocates mean when they say "Owning a gun makes you more likely to be a victim of a violent crime."?
Gun control advocates often say that owning a gun makes you significantly more likely to become a victim of a violent crime.
How can that possibly be the case?
I can see how owning a gun can be ...
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Are there any studies, apart from the famous Gary Kleck's study, which try to estimate the number of lives saved by guns each year?
The famous Gary Kleck's study estimated that there are around 400'000 cases of defensive gun uses per year in the US for which people believe they would have died if they hadn't owned a gun.
Gun ...
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Are "pro-gun" states lax about enforcing "felon in possession" laws?
Gun control is a hotly debated topic in US politics. Both the federal government and every state makes it a felony for a convicted felon (even if non-violent) to possess firearms. For 47 states it is ...
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Political origin/etymology of the political term "constitutional carry" - by extension can we have "constitutional marijuana"? (rhetorical)
How did I get to this question? Reading Politico's May 19, 2023 DeSantis’ weakness as Trump slayer has GOP rivals smelling blood I saw the quote:
And that might not be the end of it. New Hampshire ...
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Have the political community recognized the social issues behind mass shootings? [closed]
Mass shooting incidents are very commonplace in the USA.
Whenever any shooting occurs, the same debate about "gun control" comes again and again.
However, shooting incidents are a byproduct ...
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Why is it easy to bring a gun into a school, but not onto an airplane? [closed]
There are occurrences of school shootings in the USA, with people getting very upset about every such incident. But it's very easy to bring a gun into a school: no metal detectors, no guards, no ...
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Does the Democratic Party officially support repealing the Second Amendment?
Does the Democratic Party officially want to repeal the Second Amendment, or do they believe their gun control goals can be achieved within its proper interpretation?
Please do not post your opinion ...
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Why are open carry laws opposite of what would be expected in Oregon and Florida?
Oregon allows open carry of firearms without a permit; Florida does not allow it, and does not issue permits for it. Both states require permits for concealed carry, with similar requirements.
Why is ...
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How many mass shootings does Japan have per year?
A recent Washington Post article (July 8, 2022) on the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe says
Last year, eight of the 10 shootings in Japan were related to the yakuza, according to ...
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Why do pro gun and anti abortion (and vice versa) views go together in the USA?
So this is looking in on America and maybe this isn't the way it really is but it seems like the two big cultural fault lines they have are guns and abortion. And it appears that people are either ...
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Can US President reclassify firearms by executive order?
I had recently read a opinion piece wherein the author was suggesting that certain firearms could be reclassified to Class 3 Firearms and that doing so was not violating the Constitution, but would ...
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Why can't President Biden sign an executive order on the gun laws he wants congress to pass?
U.S President Biden has been in the news, such as this article in Forth Worth Star-Telegram, appealing for tougher gun laws. The article says that
He repeated calls to restore a ban on the sale of ...
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Why can Canada’s parliament vote (on gun laws), but even when a single party controls both the U.S. House and Senate a change is all but impossible?
An article today discusses the difference between the U.S. and Canadian political systems and claims to answer a simple question, but the main issue remains unanswered.
Why can Canada’s parliament ...
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Can the US government outlaw the buying, selling and manufacture of arms?
I know the US Constitution covers the right to bear arms, but can the government theoretically ban the buying, selling and manufacture of arms?
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Why is Taiwan adverse to the idea of using gun ownership as a deterrent to Chinese invasion? [closed]
Taiwan has been scared of a possible Chinese invasion for around 70 years now and the likelihood of this happening only increases every year due to growing Chinese influence. However unlike ...
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Is increasing punishments for gun smuggling effective at curbing gun violence?
One common argument often made by pro-firearm activists as a counter to blanket gun-control measures is that in order to curb gun violence, the solution is to have increased punishments on the process ...
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Do gun permits that can be used as voter ID all have a photo?
Some types of identification have photographs (e.g. driver's licenses), whereas others do not (e.g. Social Security cards). This answer has a nice graph that shows that over recent years, not only ...
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Studies on the application of "Red Flag Laws" in the US
I'm looking for objective studies describing how red flag gun laws involving Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) are being used in those U.S. states that have implemented them. I'd like to see ...
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How can gun violence be prevented through policy or action without infringing on the 2nd Amendment? [closed]
The definition of "infringing on the 2nd Amendment" is highly subjective and a heavy source of debate, so for the scope of this question, let's assume that this means the government cannot ...
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What percentage of mass shootings in the USA are actually stopped by ordinary gun-bearing Americans?
It has been hypothesized that the harms of mass shootings in the US could be mitigated or prevented by encouraging gun ownership and reducing legal obstacles to gun carrying.
With approximately 400,...
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Can members of congress carry weapons into the chamber?
Congresswoman Boebert has stated that she will bring a loaded glock into the DC. The article here says that weapons can be carried around the streets of Washington D.C but a permit is required. ...
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What are the political implications of buying a russian airgun as a european citizen? [closed]
I'm considering buying a russian-made airgun, the Baikal mp 61.
I'm a European citizen and usually I try to support companies in Europe.
In this case, I don't find any other western designs that ...
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Did California in 1967 prohibit open carry to discriminate against blacks, unlike Michigan that still allows it in 2020? [closed]
I'm British, and was befuddled to see this picture on r/oddlyterrifying of lockdown protestors carrying guns right up to the Michigan's Governor office door. I then found this combined picture on r/...
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Why was there such a significant increase in firearms background checks in March 2020?
According to statistics published by the FBI, March 2020 saw the highest ever number of NICS firearms background checks performed, at 3,740,688, an increase of 33% from February. The FBI itself notes ...
CDJB♦
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If "more guns less crime", how do gun advocates explain that the EU has less crime than the US?
As a naive European, I thought that the self-defense argument for guns in the US was mostly based on the high number of guns already in the country. In other words, I thought that the argument takes ...
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How are "Red Flag Laws" not a violation of Due Process protection?
Red Flag laws, aka Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) are state laws that provide for a process of confiscating firearms that are accessible to persons, who by judicial order, are found to be ...
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How often do private-owned guns protect US-Americans [closed]
As far as I understand, the main argument for US-Americans having guns is to protect themselves.
I am wondering if there are statistics which show
How often a civilian US-American person saved his ...
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Why are machine guns not subject to Second Amendment protections? [duplicate]
There is an argument that any control of weapons in private hands is forbidden by the Second Amendment. However there are several gun control laws that are seemingly unchallenged.
Getting a tank with ...
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What part of the Firearm Owners' Protection Act prohibits a ballistics database?
An audit by the ATF in 2005 in regard to NIBIN (National Integrated Ballistic Information Network) states:
Finally, we found that the ATF had established minimal controls to ensure that ballistic ...
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What reasoning is being used to differentiate firearms in the Jan 2019 proposed law?
The Jan 9, 2019 proposed law (https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/a/4/a46156b5-9337-4193-95db-d381bc3c6fe3/E12DA96F0D3C33D8F714C5E186B1CD38.awb.pdf) is signed by many Democratic ...
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Why do proponents of guns oppose gun competency tests?
Many people on the right who are in favor of the right to own guns do so based on reasons such as safety. For example, in the wake of pretty much any mass shooting, you will have people come out and ...
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How easy is it to get a gun illegally in the United States?
One argument against gun control is:
Gun control only hurts law-abiding citizens. A person intent on doing harm will simply just acquire it illegally.
And so my question is, how good is this ...
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Is there any regulation meant to limit coverage of mass shootings? Are any politicians pushing for such ideas?
The recent mass shootings in the United States were widely covered by the media. It isn't a new observation that the extensive coverage of such events aid in the popularization of the killer and also ...
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Do any 2020 Democratic presidential candidates support banning semi-automatic weapons?
In the aftermath of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida last year, there were a lot of calls on the left to ban all semi-automatic weapons. This post is an example of that.
My question is, have ...
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What was the Manchin-Toomey Amendment amending?
Wikipedia says this about the Manchin-Toomey Amendment:
The Manchin-Toomey Amendment was a bi-partisan piece of legislation that would require background checks on most private party firearm sales, ...
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Why is gun control associated with the socially liberal Democratic party?
In America, during the past few years (when I started to actually follow politics), gun control has been something that Republican politicians are almost all very strongly against, while it is ...
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What arguments do proponents of the second amendment use to conclude that gun ownership helps protect the people against the government?
It is said the reason for the second amendment to the US constitution is protection from an oppressive government.
Should push come to shove, although hugely outnumbered in personnel numbers, the US ...
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Could the police be sued for failing to protect citizens in countries where gun ownership is severely restricted?
The US Supreme Court ruled in Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales and DeShaney v. Winnebago County that the police could not be sued for failing to protect citizens, as no such constitutional obligation ...
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How much of an influence did Port Arthur have on New Zealand?
New Zealand has announced it will change its gun laws in the wake of the massacre against attendees of two mosques.
As an Australian, I’m surprised that New Zealand didn’t change its laws after the ...
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