How did the Columbine Shooting affect gaming for you?

That's an argument. However if what people here are saying is true, that he was just a normal dude, that means he could have been affected by a stricter gun law. He might have been denied buying guns if there were more restrictions.

How about restricting types of guns? Like for example restrict rifles down to hunting rifles, or hand guns with high calibers or fast fire rates?

scipioafricanus can you give me 3 good arguments why a civilian should have access to machine guns?

Speaking for myself, I think there's a lot of work that can be done to improve gun law in America. Some states have laws which all but prevent law abiding citizens from registering guns legally, leading to massive black markets. Other states are arguably too lax in their restrictions and registration. There has to be a middle ground between the two.

The thing that most outside the U.S. just can't understand about this debate is how big of a part of American culture guns really are and how that relates to our love of individual freedom and our almost paranoid fear of oppressive governments. That's not something that's going to be changed, certainly not by a new law. I think most Americans are open to some reform, but the anti-gun city slickers are going to have to be ready to compromise with the pistol-packing cowboys, and vice versa. That's a tough sell.

That's a good question for the city of Chicago. That city has stricter gun laws than the majority of the United States, yet gun violence and death is insane.

Chicago had a complete gun ban for many years. Every gun was banned within city limits. Chicago has some very nice areas, but also some very poor, very violent areas that are all but run by gangs. Unfortunately, the drug dealers and gang members didn't obey the gun laws and the violent crime rate didn't go down. Banning things, it turns out, doesn't make them disappear. The ban was ruled unconstitutional a few years ago and lifted, but the crimes continue.

That's another thing about America that people outside don't understand: our constitution. Many European countries scrap their entire constitutions regularly. We don't. Despite being a relatively young country, America has the oldest constitution in the world. It's actually a beautifully written document that has been the inspiration for many (if not most) of the democracies to come after it. Considering that it was written in a time when most countries were ruled by, well, RULERS, a constitution which limits the power of government so decisively is nothing short of genius. So we're proud of it. And the second on our list of ten inalienable rights is the right to bear arms, or own guns. The constitution is very clear. Owning guns is our right.

Now, modern Americans are pretty reasonable. We have outlawed many types of guns that the Founding Fathers would never have been able to imagine. But when you're debating your rights, you have to be careful. Rights are a lot easier to give away than they are to get back.

I don't know if I'd say that, but I'd argue that it's not an issue for other countries like Switzerland, which also has a well armed population. What that means for America, I don't know. But I think if we want a real solution to this problem of mass shooters, we need to look not just at the guns, but beyond them, too. I'm thinking mental health.

Last month Chicago had 58 homicides and several hundred wounded (which would be the same tally as Vegas, in a day).  And you don't... hear... a... peep from Democrats, anti-gun people, "Black Lives Matter," etc. 

Chicago bans had all the gun control that most of the politicians want all over the country.  And it didn't solve anything.  It only made average citizens defenseless against criminals. 

Don't listen to me, try this article from the an former anti-gun woman who looked at the raw number data.  www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-used-to-think-gun-control-was-the-answer-my-research-told-me-otherwise/2017/10/03/d33edca6-a851-11e7-92d1-58c702d2d975_story.html?utm_term=.f1681eab814c