What type of person would scare you if he had a gun?

[kentuck]

Of course everyone here is a law-abiding citizen and a stable product of our community but is there a certain individual you would not like to see with a gun in your neighborhood?

What about the homeless guy pushing the shopping cart?

What about the loner that talks to himself a lot?

What about the drunk down the street that gets in loud arguments with his wife and can be heard for quite a ways?

What about the injured vet that just came back from Afghanistan and is highly medicated because of his injuries?

What about the defensive, paranoid friend from high school that always thought somebody was out to get him?

What about the neighbor that has been going to anger management classes?

And what about the person that has been seeing his psychiatrist because of deep depression?

There are millions of people in this country who should not be in possession of a handgun, and especially not an assault weapon.

What laws do we have on the books to prevent these folks from getting guns?

Should there be laws on the books?

[Blue4Texas]

1. My drunk sister

[broiles]

2. all of the above.

[regjoe]

3. To be quite honest

pot smokers are the worst gun owners.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. All except the homeless guy. If anybody 'needs' a gun for self-defense, it's probably him.

Yes, we should have laws on the books and, of course, the ATF and law enforcement should be able to enforce them.

[Enrique]

5. also, people with any one of those living in their home n/t

[cthulu2016]

6. Do you have any proposed language that would cover all those people?

I would oppose singling out most of those people, which is why you either ban guns or you don't.

There is no sieve to sift out the potential problems without discriminating against millions of non-problematic persons.


If we are going to disregard some rights either way, then cut to the chase and ban guns.

IMO.

[Denninmi]

9. Exactly.

No one group should be singled out for "special restrictions" -- that will do nothing to solve the problem -- because ANYONE can snap at any time, history or not of any of these issues. Human behavior is complex and unpredictable a lot of the time.

Also, these blanket statements of "keep guns out the hands of group X" fail to take into the account that people can and do change, for the better or worse. Any attempt at restriction should have stringent safeguards to ensure that once the factor which triggers the restriction is resolved, full rights should be restored.

[geckosfeet]

7. Relevant poll results from the weekend of 1/19-20

It seems people usually do not see firearms/guns unless they own them or go somewhere where they expect to see them. Maybe I am over interpreting the data but that is what is seems like to me.

How many guns have you seen in the last 48 hours?

[Denninmi]

8. It's a fair question.

Of course, I knew how this would be answered by the vast majority the moment I read it.

There are already laws to address this. They aren't being enforced properly. There CAN be a balance that doesn't trash people's civil rights. I know it's hard for most people to admit this on DU -- it's probably a lot more polarized than the general population.

[Recursion]

10. A handgun worries me a lot more than an assault weapon

A lot, lot more.

[katmondoo]

11. A whack female I know

who carries a concealed weapon. She once shot herself in the foot. Sitting next to her in a car with her weapon in her handbag is truly a scary moment. Was once a friend of my daughters, no longer.

[Speck Tater]

12. The guy who believes

that if some dangerous situation starts to develop all he has to do is shoot somebody and everything will alright again.

[upaloopa]

13. Are you wanting discrimination based on

who we are afraid of ?
There is no law that will make you safe from everyone but we can try to lesson the risk. That is what gun control tries to do. Lesson the risk not protect you from those you are afraid of.

[MineralMan]

14. I'm more worried about self-described 'patriot' teabaggers with guns than

any of the ones you list. Truly.

[NightWatcher]

15. I don't know what any of my neighbors are up to and we're ok

The angry drunk who tells at his wife will probably only affect the same wife, be it through domestic violence or verbal assault.

The newly returned soldier with depression would more than likely only hurt himself.

Worry about your own business and don't be scared of your neighbor. Get to know them....then when/if they do snap, they'll remember that you were nice to them.

[The Straight Story]

16. Police and govt folks as they tend to be allowed to shoot and start wars

I fear people in power more than the homeless and my fellow citizens.

But the government wants me to fear those people.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

17. Other: I'm not nosy and I don't care what my neighbors legally do with their free time. nt

[Brickbat]

18. None of the above.

[ManiacJoe]

19. Well, what about them?

If you think that banning them from owning guns is the right thing to do, what changes do you suggest that would help rule them as ineligible?

[no_hypocrisy]

20. Someone who is likely to use it.

Someone who prefers to threaten with the potential to actually harm another person because s/he can't use reason and/or can't stand the idea of "losing" (an argument, status, face in public, money, etc.)

[WinkyDink]

21. Yes.

[bunnies]

22. I dont want to see anyone with a gun in my neighborhood.

But thats just me.

[dallaslibguy1966104]

23. An ex-con with a history of violence

People with mental issues that own guns would also be scary.

[Denninmi]

24. Are you equating felons with people with a psychiatric diagnosis?

All people with with a mental illness, or just certain diagnoses? For example, would you be afraid of a young woman with anorexia, or someone being treated for social anxiety disorder?

How about me? I have bipolar II and PTSD. Given that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior, if I tell you my entire "rap sheet" consists of a traffic ticket in 1994 for going 32 in a 25 mph zone, would you consider me violent or dangerous?