Heaven Sutton died Wednesday after being struck in the back by a stray bullet as she reportedly raced for cover from a stand where she was selling candy in front of her Chicago home.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...xzz1zJnYfE v8

Do you think this situation could've been prevented through any type of government action?

The root cause of all problems involving violence can be remedied best by improving the socioeconomic situation of the people involved; better access to (and better quality) schooling, and reducing health cost as a burden for families are just two of such things that can be done.


derpaderp?

if you think banning guns will get you anywhere, just read the 2nd amendment and how people react when they think that right is threatened

it boils down to this

if guns become illegal, what does that do to the person who didn't get them through legal avenues to begin with? is this person going to stop and go, shiiiiiiieet i shouldn't get a gun now that its illegal

you need to prevent people discharging fireams instead of banning it. people who dont have jobs, are poorly educated, and various other socio-economic factors are much more likely to go out and commit crimes with weapons, regardless of the legality of weapons

btw i really want to get like a mosin nagant and shot some trees or cans

I live in India. Guns are illegal here and there is literally no gun crime. Just some food for thought.

^i should stop believing in bollywood films then

i live in scarborough, so i'm kinda used to it...

Originally Posted by Alexmahone

I live in India. Guns are illegal here and there is literally no gun crime. Just some food for thought.

Yeah, but there's rampant poverty and masses of slums -- Americans may shoot each other a lot, but Indians seem to do away with their fellow countrymen by apathy and inequality.. in general, not having access to firearms just shifts people towards committing crime by another method. A quick stats search shows india's prisoner per capita is about the same... 1/10th the overall crime though.

Just some famine for thought..

Originally Posted by RyanC

Yeah, but there's rampant poverty and masses of slums -- Americans may shoot each other a lot, but Indians seem to do away with their fellow countrymen by apathy and inequality.. in general, not having access to firearms just shifts people towards committing crime by another method. A quick stats search shows india's prisoner per capita is about the same... 1/10th the overall crime though.

Just some famine for thought..

I agree that if guns were banned in the US, people would kill each other by other means. But since the easiest way to kill someone is with a gun, there would be far less casualties.

As for poverty in India, I'm well aware of it, and it has nothing to do with the lack of guns.

Originally Posted by RyanC

Yeah, but there's rampant poverty and masses of slums -- Americans may shoot each other a lot, but Indians seem to do away with their fellow countrymen by apathy and inequality.. in general, not having access to firearms just shifts people towards committing crime by another method. A quick stats search shows india's prisoner per capita is about the same... 1/10th the overall crime though.

Just some famine for thought..

Here is a list of countries by incarceration rate:

Prison Population Rates per 100,000 of the national population

USA is at the top of the list, while India is almost at the bottom!

Originally Posted by Eternal Fire

Here is a list of countries by incarceration rate:

Prison Population Rates per 100,000 of the national population

USA is at the top of the list, while India is almost at the bottom!

The much lower incarceration rate in India (compared to the US) is probably due to 2 factors: lower crime rate and less effective policing.

Originally Posted by Alexmahone

The much lower incarceration rate in India (compared to the US) is probably due to 2 factors: lower crime rate and less effective policing.

I think a less effective justice system is a bigger cause than a legitimately lower crime rate.
Also, this veers off from gun violence. People are incarcerated for many things other than gun violence, and there are likely crimes in the US that will result in jail there but not in India and vice versa.
I'm not convinced incarceration rate has any correlation to actual gun violence.

(I know the incarceration rate was given to point out an error in another post, and this is kind of directed at both posters).

Also, someone mentioned that if people didn't have guns they'd kill themselves in other ways so there wouldn't necessarily be less crime. Sure, but if you have a stabbing versus a killing, a stabbing is a lot less likely to accidentally kill random bystanders. The amount of crime might remain the same, but the impact on society will be less.

Originally Posted by Eternal Fire

Here is a list of countries by incarceration rate:

Prison Population Rates per 100,000 of the national population

USA is at the top of the list, while India is almost at the bottom!

Sorry, I looked at India's rate when I was looking up Americas, thought they were the same Misread it

"The United States has the highest rate of gun related injuries (not deaths per capita) among developed countries, though they also have the highest rate of gun ownership and highest rate of officers." For every 100,000 people in the USA, 2.97 are murdered with a firearm. For comparison, for every 100,000 in India, 0.93 are murdered with a firearm.
[Wikipedia]

Anyways, aside from the USA/India debate, I'd like to say a little about legality. With reference to the drug industry, I totally support marijuana legalization because 1) it's not harmful, and 2) keeping it illegal does more harm than good. However, I don't support that every drug should be made legal.

There's this sudden influx of opinions stating that all drugs should be legal, since it only harms the person who does it, it's their choice to make, and that it allows for greater control. I think people are taking this "freedom" bandwagon way too far. Crack kills. Bath salts mess you the **** up. Cigarettes not only ****s up your lungs, but since it's legal, it ****s up non-smoker's lungs even more. I really do think cigarettes should be made illegal. Of course people will be able to get it from black-market sources, but at least it wouldn't be available in stores, it would be a ton more expensive, and a huge percentage of the population would be forced to stop smoking. I don't think it's a matter of choice or freedom. The good far outweighs the losses.

Anyways, I got way off topic. 'Bout guns. I don't think criminalization solves anything, just as I don't think legalization solves anything. People will still find a way to kill. However, making guns illegal would take the guns out of the hands of a huge portion of people. Of couse some would still find a way to get them, but many wouldn't. But I think criminalization really depends on the country. For example, the level of respect is so high and crime rate so low in most Scandinavian countries, that there is no need for things such as guns to be made illegal. It would do more harm than good; if anything, it would cause a loss of trust in the government, and trust is something that really holds these countries together. However, in a country like USA, where trust doesn't really go much further than your front door, and it seems like the senate is doing everything it can to screw over the citizens more, making guns illegal would probably do more good for the time being. At least until the country can get its shit in order, and things settle down.

Originally Posted by Alexmahone

The much lower incarceration rate in India (compared to the US) is probably due to 2 factors: lower crime rate and less effective policing.

Think its quite obvious to say that if there is less crime, there is a lower incarceration rate...
Anyways there is no way to eliminate weapons, this all started back at the beginning of man when one guy threw a rock at another guy or jabbed him with a stick. From that moment on, man has always wanted to one up the other guys, leading to the desire to further weapons technology which leads to the development of guns among other things. Cant stop it, its sadly a part of human nature.

Theres not much that can be done. Look at weed, for example. Sure, it might be unnecessarily illegal. The government attempted to completely dissipate its presence in society but thats only made quality questionable. People will still do the things they want, regardless of government intervention.