Are You FOR or AGAINST Gun-Free Zones?

[Physics-Man]

For

Against

[Aerissa_Jade]

Having a on your honor gun free zone is stupid, My state has no gun free zones. Except court houses, but they can easily search anyone that enters with metal detectors and such.

Federal property has federal gun free zones, federal court houses and airports.

Same thing though, everyone gets scanned and/or searched.

Simply asking someone to not carry a gun into a gun free zone, with a potential criminal charge is pointless. It won't stop criminals, it won't even stop law abiders who aren't aware or paying attention to when a zone starts and stops.

It won't stop mass shooters who have already made the decision to die in most cases. They have nothing to lose.

I'm glad I can conceal or open carry anywhere I want in my state that isn't a court house or airport.

Private property owners can ask that you don't carry there, stores, churches, home owners, but if you refuse to comply the only thing they can get you with is trespassing.

That is assuming you refuse to comply and refuse to leave, if someone tells me I'm not allowed to carry, I take that as I'm not allowed to be there and I leave.

[David_Kek]

That meme is a little silly using the word gun control, since honor gun free zone hardly count as gun control, anymore than nicely asking people to not commit other crimes is hardly a form of control over that crime.

[spartan55]

@aerissa_jade
What state if you don't mind? I like their firearms laws.

[FlyingJ]

Brilliant meme!

[Quackthulu2]

Shooters love gun free zones. So much easier to murder a bunch of people if you know nobody is going to be shooting back.

[Pterodon]

Exactly

[VirginousBeta]

Government can be so stupid

[Quackthulu2]

@VirginousBeta Eh, it’s not really about governments. People are scared, and understandably so. Hell I went to the hospital the other day and where they used to check your temperature and make sure you had a mask on, now they have a security guard with a metal detector. It would be too expensive to put armed guards everywhere, and even if they did a security guard making less than $20 an hour wouldn’t put themselves at risk to protect a bunch of strangers.

[Agape93]

Definitely not, and I employ some. Our armed guards make $18 to $25 an hour, depending on qualifications and site. I know damn well they wouldn't.

[Quackthulu2]

@Agape93 See that’s not bad, when I was doing security I looked at armed possessions and never found anything paying that high. Either way, still not nearly enough to risk yourself over.

[dynamicyandere]

Gun-Free SCHOOL Zone?


I don’t think that’s going to deter school shooters because school shooters know very well that they’re breaking the law when they sneak a gun into a school and start killing innocent people.


Law-breakers will be law-breakers.


In my opinion, people who obey the law should have the means to protect themselves from those who break the law.


Unless law enforcement is so tight that law-breakers can’t harm those who obey the law, then those who obey the law should have a way of protecting themselves.


Otherwise, you’ll end up with unarmed law-followers facing armed law-breakers when the law-breakers don’t follow the law.


It’s one thing to have a rule and it’s another to enforce it.


It’s one thing to have a sign in a bar that says, “NO FIGHTING” and it’s another to also have a bouncer to escort rule-breakers outside of the establishment when rules are broken.


If you want a gun free zone, don’t just pay money for a sign. Pay money for actual security guards that do security checks and search for weapons.

[bolverk]

All 'Gun Free' zones do is create target rich environments for spree shooters. It has been 10 years since I was last in the US and 'Gun Free' zones were just coming into existence and had no legal enforcement so I still CCW carried in them as the RAND organisation could not find any evidence that 'Gun Free' zones have any effect deterring any of the school shooters.

Rand found that the presence or potential presence of armed civilians deters violence, gun-free zones could serve as more-attractive targets to violent criminals or mass shooters because perpetrators will be less likely to encounter armed resistance in these areas.

There is debate over the extent to which perpetrators target gun-free zones. One analysis of 133 mass shooting events between 2009 and 2016 found that 10 percent of incidents occurred in designated gun-free zones (Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund,).

However, another analysis focused on mass public shootings between 1998 and 2018 and reported that 97.8 percent of incidents took place in gun-free zones (Crime Prevention Research Center, 2018a).

[Anonymous]

One of my relatives was a gun shooting victim in a so called “gun free zone” this year. He is a gun owner himself but of course was a law abiding citizen and was unarmed and unable to defend himself from a deranged mass shooter who shot up a college campus.

To all you proponents of “gun control”. I have a revelation to share with you: gun owners hate unnecessary gun violence too. I know you want to believe otherwise but it’s true.

There is and never will be a simple solution to end all gun violence in the USA. Even if the federal government suddenly completely banned all guns in the entire country there is no way in hell you can take back over 300 million guns in our country. With the right motivation a mass shooter will either acquire guns illegally (do you think these people care about the obeying “the law” once they decide to go psycho) or use other violent methods to harm innocent people.

You need to find out 1) what’s driving these people psycho in the first place 2) take precautions to intercede with them before they do something heinous.

[David_Kek]

Are you aware the 2nd highest amount of guns per cap in the world behind the US is actually the Swiss, which is a country with some of the strictest gun control in the world and one of the lowest murder rates. Ask Swiss gun advocates and they will tell you that America is insane, not because of how many guns they have, but how they treat them as being a right. Gun control isn't synonymous with getting rid of guns, that's a red herring. When you live in a culture that treats lethal weapons' like toys you have a right to, then something is very seriously wrong.

[Opinion Owner]

@David_Kek I don’t want guns getting into the hands of dangerous criminals and/or psychos. I sure as hell don’t want guys like the POS who shot my cousin gaining access to firearms.

But asinine ideas like “gun free zones” have accomplished absolutely nothing other than disarming law abiding citizens.

Again this is coming from someone who recently had a direct relative who was critically wounded in a mass shooting in a so called “gun free zone”.

[David_Kek]

Right, but that's not gun control, and it's a red herring to claim it is. It's also false to claim federal gun control won't do anything, since there's no shortage of examples of other countries who've had a lot of firearms and it has worked.
The reason why it doesn't work in the states, other than people arguing over nonsense like the OP, is because it can't work on a state level. If you have an open border to somewhere you can buy a gun at your local supermarket, then there's no regulation in place that has any teeth. Gun control only works when the policy has teeth. In the US it doesn't have teeth, not because there's too many guns in circulation, but because legally it is treated as a right. While that is true, it can't be regulated to any meaningful degree.
I'm sorry about your cousin, but he died because he lived in a society that doesn't take lethal weapons seriously, deciding peoples right to firearms is more important than peoples right to life.

[Opinion Owner]

@David_Kek “ but he died because he lived in a society that doesn't take lethal weapons seriously”

He’s still alive but in critical condition. He was shot with a 9mm handgun not an AR-15. But your line about “society doesn’t take lethal weapons seriously”.

The shooter was raising hell in his own neighborhood including shooting his gun for target practice in his own back yard in a residential neighborhood. Police were called but they didn’t do anything. Why? He also legally purchased a gun but illegally didn’t register it.

However in less than 24 hours you got Gretchen Whitmer and Joe Biden screaming about gun control without knowing all the fucking details of what happened. Joe Biden was calling for gun control of AR-15s which the shooter didn’t even use.

That kind of asinine leftist reaction is what I can’t stand. They don’t want to put the mental effort to understanding the complexity of these incidents. They rather just scream “ban guns!” vs. getting into the details of what caused this shooting to begin with.

[David_Kek]

It's hardly a left-right issue. Again, it comes down to the 2nd amendment, and the fact is it's way too much of an unpopular stance for any politician to take, whether left or right. AR-15s are a convenient distraction, when the fact is handguns are more dangerous in society since you can't hide a rifle under your jacket.
Fact is public opinion in the US is people don't want their kids to get shot, yet they don't want to give up their rights either. Until Americans start looking at the stats worldwide and start changing their opinions on this subject to give up said right, more school and gang shooting will continue to happen.

[Screenwriter]

I'm a hunter and gun owner and consider myself a liberal person. I don't understand the gun-free zone thing either. Is it a reminder sign? As someone else said, unless there are metal detectors or searches before you go into a gun-free zone, this is about as strong a proscription as cell-phone free zones. Enforcing this is impossible.

In most of these mass shooting cases, the perpetrators were people who always had serious personal problems, but family and friends just ignored these problems and "hoped" everything would turn out OK. The 19 year old kindergarten shooter had had behavioral problems since he was in school, his grandmother reported. The recent school shooter had sexual identity problems and though his/her family KNEW she/he was unbalanced and had guns, and she/he should NOT have had them, they did, what?, NOTHING.

This is a giant problem about recognizing and helping people with mental and behavioral problems get to counselors and to take medication. Some likely need to be institutionalized to get forced help. However, there are few places to put people with these problems since the sweeping changes that happened in the Reagan era.

And people with these problems who have no criminal record can get guns legally. The person at the most recent shooting, whose family knew they had two guns, actually had 7! Yes, seven guns!

The Las Vegas shooter had dozens of guns collected over a long time and 1,000 rounds of ammunition, for the shooting, and also, no criminal record.

All of these people had family and friends who knew they were having emotional issues, but did nothing. This is a common denial of people who witness mental health problems with family members and choose to ignore them.

[UCrayCray]

Gun Free Zones are about as effective as a No Peeing Section in a swimming pool.

[DJB72]

I'm a trained marksman and firearms instructor. I'm also English, not American.

I learned gun control at school. I was 2nd best shot in my year and an instructor by 15.

We had a full armoury at school from.177 up to.303 and a 50 yard range. Anything further we did on the local Air Force range.

That said, only one industrialised nation still thinks it's necessary to carry a penis substitute. And if you think it's so the government "can't control you" then you need to learn how tanks work.

Guns have no place in a classroom. Our range at school was basically fortified and it needed two members of staff with keys to open it.

There need to be gun free zones

[whirled_up_girl]

Well I work at a hospital and I think it makes sense that guns aren't allowe, however, without metal detectors there is really no way to enforce it. That sign at the door that says "no firearms allowed in the buidling" does little to give me any comfort that no one is bringing in a fire arm. So if it's a gun free zone without a metal detector, it really only gives me a false sense of security.

[ObscuredBeyond]

Against. If a creeper wants to shoot kids because the state won't allow said creeper to abduct and castrate kids, then it's time the creeper found himself playing Far Cry in real life on the hardest possible setting!

And if the initial intruder survives the initial encounter and is apprehended by police, public execution by steamroller!

[LazerBean]

I don't really see why I would want to stay very long in a place where criminals know I can't very well protect myself.

[molonski2]

The entire country should be gun free , this utterly ludicrous idea that guns are somehow all " okey " and the massive power , political power within the NRA..

The whole thing is an utter joke , the right to bear arms and rise against the government - utter lunacy.

[Kaneki05]

Yeah it's called my whole country and people aren't shooting up places interesting. Wonder what would happen if England just started having Gun Zones? I think we both know what would happen. Yet Americans prefer that been their whole country makes 0 sense.

[coachTanthony]

Gun free zones never did make any sense. If a bad guy has a gun and no good guys have one because lets face it the bad guys ain't following the law anyway then everyone is in jeapordy.

[NamerOfStars]

If it's actually enforced, then sure. Otherwise, no- it's just going to make things worse.

[MementoMori777]

It's good cause I can understand some people want to be in the environment of a gun free zone but if you really think of it, a criminal won't follow that law so these are like terrorists playgrounds tbh

[dynamicyandere]

Exactly. If you have a sign in an airport that says no hijacking allowed, what are terrorists going to do? “Sorry boss, we can’t hijack the plane anymore. It’s against the rules.”

[MementoMori777]

Yea it's why I'm full on against the ban or strong restrictions on our firearms, because God forbid if shit hits the fan, what's my kitchen knife gonna do? Not to mention these people will aim specifically for these spots if they know there's a bunch of defenseless innocent civilians all together, all I know is that if I was a terrorist, gun free zones

[LiamJHayden]

Unless they fully search everyone who enters, isn't it really an "Easy Target Zone?"

[dynamicyandere]

Yeah, for a real gun-free zone to exist, that zone or area needs to be treated like an airport.

Airports are gun-free zones in the sense that you aren’t allowed to have guns on your person or in your carry-on.

Airports are gun-free with or without a sign, because they actively enforce it.

Otherwise, enforcement would be like:

“Are you carrying a weapon sir?”

“No sir.”

“Okay. Carry on.”

*brings gun onto plane*

It’s not about criminals knowing the rules. If a terrorist brings a gun into an airport, they are going to be caught and arrested, whether or not they know the rules.

[David_Kek]

I'm against the idea a gun is a right in the first place. That's why America is the school shooting capital of the world, because its constitution encourages its culture to treat legal weapons' like toys you have a right to. Imagine if RPGs were also a right, imagine how fun society would be with those flying about.

[KostasKouvalis]

I'm gonna say, against. I work for California State Parks and I think it's bullshit that we aren't allowed to conceal carry, because we get tweakers, and we've had people get murdered and have had tweakers get violent with our staff

[Agape93]

Like what @Quackthulu2 said. I actively ignore it and carry anyways. You're not putting my life at risk for your cowardly sensibilities.

[Pterodon]

Amen sister

[Anonymous]

Having a sign up that says “gun free zone” isn’t going to stop someone from doing what they want to do. Making certain drugs illegal hasn’t stopped people from using them. Neither had making it illegal to drink and drive.

[spartan55]

Oh, you mean those places that psycho mass shooters go because they will face no resistance? They're a fucking joke.

[Adaeva]

Instead, we should abolish the prisons and indoctrination centers referred to as public schools

[Adaeva]

In any event, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that police could not be held liable for failing to protect students in the 2018 shooting that claimed 17 lives at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

he U. S. Supreme Court has also ruled that police have no specific obligation to protect.

The police cost a lot of money and typically serve little useful purpose. If you see a police car behind you, when driving down the street or highway, does that make you feel safe or would you rather the police car not be there?

[WanderingLoveWizard]

"Uhoh! I better go somewhere else to kill a bunch of people. That sign says no guns. I have to respect the sign, I'm a rule follower!"

[Dargil]

Oppose them. Criminals do not honor gun-free zones? Gun free zones are to disarm the innocent so as to facilitate gun confiscation and regulation.

[KaiidiraX]

Somehow I don't think someone with plans to do something awful will honor this law.

[Amur8711]

It actually says come here, there will be no resistance.

[genericname85]

aren't schools already supposed to be gun free zones? how are there still school shootings all the time? i think it's stupid to try something you know won't work already.

[AaronKrieger]

Certain situations I'd consider being for it, but for the most part I am against it.

[TheSpaceGnome]

There is no such thing as a "gun free zone".

In places where guns are banned, the criminals still have guns.

[David4358]

might as well have a sign "we can't fight back so you will have 5-10 min of killing before the police show up" means the same thing

[FlyingJ]

When people say we should outlaw guns, I tell them we should start small and outlaw heroin and meth.

[worldscolide]

Considering all mass shootings have happened in gun free zones.. Against.

[MysticDevice]

Against. Criminals don't care what a sign says. They never have and they never will.

[Anonymous]

Not really sure how that helps to be honest. It's like saying "if we ONLY made it illegal to shoot people, no one would get shot!"

HEEEEEYYYYYYY! Wait a second. . . .!

[peedy]

You dont see mass shootings at a gun range do you, gun free zones are target because there is no threat to the shooter

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Against. Doesn't make sense. If someone is determined to shoot people then having a sign "No guns allowed" isn't going to stop them.

[Anonymous]

If one is planning to commit one crime, commuting anther crime is hardly a deterrent.

[AnusNdaPainus]

Criminals won’t care about it

So we need protection

[Amur8711]

I am completely against them. Why announce that there will be no one to resist you from commit a mass shooting here?

[Anonymous]

It's funny how the "greatest" country in the world has to debate whether we should have schools that are gun-free or not because of shootings. Back in the Old West, people with guns were everywhere, but that was part of because it was so dangerous to live there during that time period. And it didn't really prevent bad people from committing crimes because there was a lack of effective law enforcement and easy access to purchasing guns.

[Vegasrunner]

There are already gun free zones in America. It's illegal to carry a Firearm inside most private fitness centers, post office or other federal buildings

[grega239]

Yes. Criminals are well known for obeying the law

[Snakeyes7]

It's like telling a fly that it's not allowed on your food when you're at a picnic.

[noohair]

I create my own safe space, the firearm is part of that.

[exitseven]

As long as the bad guys are not packing I would be okay with it.

[VirginousBeta]

The only people who aren’t going to bring their guns in are law abiding people who could potentially thwart a criminal with a gun.

[Anonymous]

Some Americans don't care if kids are blowing each other's brains out. If they did, they would do something about it.

[Anonymous]

As if a gun-free zone is going to change someone’s mind who is already set in killing innocent people.

[Anonymous]

Gun Free Zones are sitting targets for mass shooters

[Anonymous]

The people who use guns for bad reasons don’t care what the rules are.

[GrantArmstrong]

That's my whole country, eh? Want to guess how many shootings we have?

[GrantArmstrong]

I should mention I'm talking about public places in towns and cities. We have shooting ranges and many places to hunt.

[Elliegirl]

Gun free zones make for easier targets.

[RavVid]

Seems a good idea if shooters are law abiding.

[Akam93]

Against not like the criminals obey it.

[KrakenAttackin]

All signs do is stop lawful and capable good guys.

[Pterodon]

Criminals carry in them all the time

[Kathie93]

Im for it. It’s too out of hand this

[Pterodon]

When have they worked?

[TallAnon]

For, now slowly start expanding the zones..

[NostalgiaSenpi]

Against.

[BigManSAB]

What do people need guns for?

[Anonymous]

Drug free zone. Never