An honest theoretical question regarding guns - Would you press the button?

No, I wouldn't press the button. This magic button would have to eliminate all chemically propelled projectiles.

If you eliminate all chemically propelled projectiles then there would be no space program, no sattelites, no GPS, no fireworks displays, etc.

reply to post by KyoZero


I have not read the whole thread yet beyond the OP.
With that said, no I would not because if someone was intent on killing me I would rather go by gunshot then be hacked to death.
Seeing vidoes where people get their heads chopped off vs. dying by gunshot....seems a quicker death by gunshot.

reply to post by KyoZero


Consider it pressed.
/No Question

reply to post by KyoZero

Interesting theory.
What difference would it really make if I chose one or the other??
People will kill people with someone else. Prisons all over this country (world), know this all to well......

I would never seek to decide on behalf of the world, any particular thing, let alone the sort of power of choice that you are talking about. No one has that right. All I can do, is decide for myself that although I support the right to bear arms, which is enjoyed by persons from the USA, I would rather carry a bladed weapon, simply because it suits my sensibilities better, and has a lower collateral damage probability than a projectile weapon.

I can also decide for myself, that I am angry that it is illegal for me to carry a sword on my back in my own homeland. But again, I cannot decide for an entire nation, let alone a planet, that everyone ought to carry one.

I would probably have to call someone, and ask them to put it to a twitter vote... well, maybe not twitter. The first four letters in its name are pretty descriptive of the user base hehe!

reply to post by 3shadesofblack


how about the crusades? how many people died in that? all they had were swords, axes, and arrows.....or how about, well, ANY military campaign of the roman empire?

seriously man, no guns wouldn't change anything in terms of warfare, other than the tools used to engage in it...

that said, no, i'd not push the button...for the same reasons other people stated ...not my place, makes easier targets of people, it wouldn't put an end to violence, etc....

reply to post by palmalBlue2


I dunno getting your head chopped off is a sweet way to go. Quick, painless, and about 15 seconds of consciousness after the head leaves the body.

No I would not press the button because it would not change a thing.

I also find it kind of surprising that some peoples response was yes, no questions asked. Really?

Question everything.

reply to post by Daedalus


Oh there was plenty of violence before guns, no argument there.

I guess it is a matter of commitment to the cause. I have more respect for those folks that are willing to go into a hand to hand battle. Like someone said earlier, when 2 people are in a knife fight, both of them are in a lot more danger! Nobody escapes without injury, so it takes more courage, more sacrifice, and hopefully that means less people will choose to turn to that level of violence.

It definitely would not solve all the worlds issues. There were issues before guns. And there is a clear downside for those folks that cannot physically protect themselves without a force equalizer.

I am thinking back to Feudal times. A trained Knight with a horse, sword, and armor was basically a superhero against a bunch of malnourished farmers. Without the gun, that mismatch could occur again. Maybe I should change my answer. There is no good answer to violence I suppose.

3shadesofblack
reply to post by Daedalus

 

Oh there was plenty of violence before guns, no argument there.

I guess it is a matter of commitment to the cause. I have more respect for those folks that are willing to go into a hand to hand battle. Like someone said earlier, when 2 people are in a knife fight, both of them are in a lot more danger! Nobody escapes without injury, so it takes more courage, more sacrifice, and hopefully that means less people will choose to turn to that level of violence.

It definitely would not solve all the worlds issues. There were issues before guns. And there is a clear downside for those folks that cannot physically protect themselves without a force equalizer.

I am thinking back to Feudal times. A trained Knight with a horse, sword, and armor was basically a superhero against a bunch of malnourished farmers. Without the gun, that mismatch could occur again. Maybe I should change my answer. There is no good answer to violence I suppose.

quite...

and let me say, i appreciate your wisdom, and capacity to recognize error....most people would just be belligerent, and insist that they're right, and i'm an idiot...

respect.

reply to post by KyoZero


I'd have to say no, Op. I would not push that magic button. Unless it changed the human nature behind predatory use of weapons, then it just removes the option to equalize the situation.

My wife is like millions of others. She has been around guns her whole life. She's attractive, intelligent and just reaching middle age.

She is also physically incapable of defending herself from a strong child due to a degenerative nerve condition. A gun gives her some means of defense and outcome outside the "tender mercies" of a predatory criminal. Without it? She can beg, plead and hope for good nature.....and we know how that often ends.

Yeah, I'd press it.

Then I'd sit back and wait for humans to invent them again. And then wait for other humans to invent even bigger and better ones again. And so it goes and goes and goes.

One thing I would like to propose is this:

Open a thread to only discuss the pros-and-cons of the 2nd Amendment and gun ownership. All arguments allowed, but none can be repeated.

Then, when a situation like the Ft. Hood shooting comes up, we insert the 2nd Amendment Thread at the beginning of it. Then we agree that all pro/con debate BS is done, and we can discuss the situation at hand without getting sidetracked by Gun ownership crap.

It has been beaten to death and there is no end to it, so let's presume all the same crap has already been discussed and we can get on with talking about the issue at hand.

Dream a dream.

reply to post by KyoZero


I would not, for a couple of reasons:

1) Bad people would still exist and have access to other weapons such as knives, swords, slingshots, bow and arrows and hand grenades. Having a firearm and the training to use it allows me to better protect myself and my family.
2) I enjoy shooting sports.
3) I like to hunt efficiently and humanely. Having to club animals to death is not humane.

I would prefer a button that made everyone responsible,thoughtful and intelligent.

reply to post by KyoZero

No...I'm too old to fight...If someone comes after me with a knife or a club, a gun would be my only reasonable defense...

reply to post by KyoZero

Absolutely not. Mainly because you stated this is a "hypothetical, non-realistic question".

Therefore, it requires a "hypothetical non-realistic answer". So, its pointless (if not hypothetical and unrealistic...which youve said it is). So...no.

It would be silly...and wouldnt work...hypothetically speaking.

*registered gun owner and legal carrier 24/7 365

Absolutely! I have guns because others with them are dangerous and I have skills to use them that could be necessary. I would MORE THAN happy to see them all gone.But I would rather we all just know each other and get rid of them because we no longer need them.

blupblup

buster2010

People that like to hunt? Why not make all knifes disappear many people have been killed with them over the years. Besides guns don't do the killing people do.

Crossbow, Spear... how about making the hunt fair again?
Guns do kill people, People kill people too.... guns and people together?? that's a bad mix.

I'm sure you or someone else will find me all the Chinese knife attack stories, and I don't care.
If guns disappeared the world would be a much better place and nothing you say will change my opinion.

Oh yeah it will be a better place tell that to the nations that have taken away the peoples right to own guns and then their violent crime rates go through the roof. Also if you think that just because a hunter has a gun then the hunt is easy then you know nothing about hunting.

KyoZero
So I have been absent some time and I know the issue of gun control is massive. So I am proposing a thread to discuss a completey hypothetical, non-realistic question

I want to repeat this once more because I just know someone is going to bust in here saying "this could never happen!"

The following proposal is 100% and completely HYPOTHETICAL and non-realistic.

I am VERY AWARE that this could never happen...let's hope this cuts down on the BS

Now to the question

Suppose for a moment you had in your possession a button. If you were to press this button, EVERY single firearm in the world would dissapear. Meaning cops wouldn't have them, civilians wouldn't have them and criminals wouldn't have them. Furthermore, pressing this button would disallow the ability to EVER create firearms again.

So in short, this button, if pressed, would eliminate every single firearm in existence and would eliminate the ability to ever make a firearm again

Do you press it?

Why or why not?

whats the point? we'd just use crossbows bow an arrow, spears, catapults,

its not like this world didnt have tons of ways to kill each other before guns

if anything guns just allow the common inexperienced man a method of that same defense, where as everything else takes a bit of skill