Did your views on guns change?

[MrsCatInTheHat]

A major theme in this book is gun control and the dangers posed by guns. I know the author cares about the issue of gun safety.

Did reading this book change your views on guns or views on gun control at all? Why or why not? If your views did change, in what ways did they change?

My views did not change. I'm a left-leaning gun owner, due to the inheritance of guns that are locked up with no ammunition. I'm fine with people owning them, but think that rigid background checks, training, and field testing should be required. Field testing every few years, to be sure that you can still shoot accurately. Mental health providers should be required to notify a national database when a client presents any inclination whatsoever to hurting someone else. Their gun permits should be revoked until the mental health provider no longer has ANY concerns.

[Azeline Arcenal]

My thoughts on gun control haven't really been changed. I think that we need to be careful about who is able to get guns, and have a more efficient way of doing background checks.This book explored a lot about the dangers of innovation without considering the consequences.

[Cloud Rainbow]

I agree with your response Mr. Scott. It's true that most inventor just invent without thinking of how much their invention can affect the society positively or negatively.

[Alice Heritage]

The attachment to the right to bear arms has always been an alien concept to me. While it was good to see some of the poetic justice in the book, my views on guns didn't change as a result of reading it.

[VictoriaMcMillen]

My views on gun control expanded, although my view of guns has not changed. I believe guns are for hunting more than anything. I have always believed that assault rifles should be left to the military, and the government should follow the Constitution of the United States. It seems whenever great tragedy strikes somewhere it is a bomb or an assault rifle that causes the mass loss of life. There are restrictions and monitoring on bomb-making ingredients, even on ingredients to make drugs, yet there are states that allow people to acquire these weapons with no paperwork hardly at all. I am even more concerned about the lack of education for many gun owners- if all it takes to get a gun is a ten-year-old's gun safety quiz. Gun laws need to be uniform and drafted with the citizen's ongoing input, education and safety requirements hopefully being key to the bill.

[Camille Turner]

My views were not changed in that I already agreed with the author about implementing safer gun laws and I am upset every day by the topic and the overreaction people have to the mere suggestion of gun control. However, my eyes were opened as to just how bad it is in terms of the tests people take to get gun permits, etc.

[dhomespot]

My views on guns have not changed (I still plan on getting one). I do think there are some mental conditions that should disqualify someone from having a gun. I look at a gun as I look at my sharp kitchen knives. They are tools that should be used with knowledge and caution. If you are using them with caution, skill, and common sense, then no one gets hurt. My husband was hit with a ricochet when a drunk man decided to start shooting at his son. So yes, I do believe there should be some gun control, but not so much that it makes it easier for criminals to get guns than law abiding citizens.

[Samy Lax]

Actually, no. My views on guns are still the same. If you are a gun owner, you need to have proper training to handle the weapon. Also, there should be strict background checks in place.

[atonykamau]

My views on guns is that they are dangerous and should be handled with care. My views on this has not changed

[Samisah]

i believe guns are a necessity, and i still hold that view. the world we live is full of crimes and violence, and despite all efforts by the governments,the trend is on the rise.

[jemgirl202]

I am really interested in this aspect of the book. It is on my to-read list. I am for more gun control or at least more gun safety laws. So I am interested in the authors perspective.

[Honeybeetle]

My views on gun control expanded, although my view of guns has not changed. I believe guns are for hunting more than anything. I have always believed that assault rifles should be left to the military, and the government should follow the Constitution of the United States. It seems whenever great tragedy strikes somewhere it is a bomb or an assault rifle that causes the mass loss of life. There are restrictions and monitoring on bomb-making ingredients, even on ingredients to make drugs, yet there are states that allow people to acquire these weapons with no paperwork hardly at all. I am even more concerned about the lack of education for many gun owners- if all it takes to get a gun is a ten-year-old's gun safety quiz. Gun laws need to be uniform and drafted with the citizen's ongoing input, education and safety requirements hopefully being key to the bill.

I agree. My views didn't really change because I was already in favor of tougher gun laws. I'm a gun owner myself, and it baffles me that buying my bolt-action rifle came with little more fuss than I go through when I want to buy decongestants at the pharmacy! I did go through a background check to get my FOID (no more in-depth than a new employer would run), but there was no mandatory training of any kind. Dad was a hunter and still enjoys target shooting, and he's the one who drilled us kids on keeping everything maintained and locked up to prevent accidents. We were taught to respect a gun the way rattlesnakes, heavy machinery, and poisons need respect. They aren't toys. My gun has never killed anything, but it has the potential to, which is why I keep it disassembled and locked up when it's not at the range.

Not everyone has an experienced person to guide them, and people end up walking out of the sporting goods store with a dangerous weapon they don't know how to properly handle. A coworker of mine lost his teenage step-son to an accident when he was at a friend's house. They thought a parent's handgun was empty, but there was still a round in the chamber. The adults were away and the gun wasn't properly locked up, nor had the parent double-checked to make sure it wasn't loaded. That family was sold on the idea of a gun as a security system, and it sat forgotten in a bedside table until some teenage horsing around became a tragedy that both families have to bear forever. Mass shootings are horrific, but the everyday gun deaths that don't make the national news are no less terrible.

So yes, while I'm not as viscerally spooked by guns as the author appears to be, I'm still for stricter regulation of firearms. They're simply too easy to get, and they're far more prolific than they need to be.

[holsam_87]

As with everyone else, my views on guns did not change. I also believe that getting a gun should not be as easy as it is in most places. To put it into perspective, it takes longer for a person to become a caregiver for the elderly or vulnerable adults than it does to get guns in most cases, which is ridiculous because a lot more harm can be done by someone with a gun than someone that isn't trained correctly. It should take much longer for getting a gun by not just background checks, but also mental health checks and have potential gun owners go through the necessary training of not only how to use their gun of choice there should also be classes on what to do in the event that a person must make the decision to shoot their gun.

I'm not saying that guns should be gotten rid of all together, just that things should be more regimented on who gets what type of gun. After all, I grew up in a household where my parents would go hunting during hunting season and they would lock up the guns when not in use. Plus there is the fact that my dad was a former officer, so I know the benefits of having the right tools to protect oneself. I just feel like a lot of people's arguments are centered around the idea that people need ways to fight back against the "bad guys" because they won't follow the rules.

[Tye 12]

I think that guns are landing in the wrong people hands .because the after market e so easy to get. .then it to the point where we as American do not pay snuff attention to the sign that given off by the mentally throw off people who want to just take life of the innocent. Its not the guns we have to pay attention to it's the people we liveing around and don't look at there movement's .be more aware of the thing around you !!!

[Kelaine]

Final Notice was an aptly timed read. With the increased media attention around guns in the US (I'm in Western Canada, apologies if I'm not reading the situation very accurately), particularly around access to guns, guns in schools and student safety, this book made me consider how close to the mark American society already is to being the social setting for Final Notice.

I've always been an advocate for increased regulations on gun control, even in Canada. This book strengthened my opinion. I don't think everyone should be able to own a gun, and I don't think anyone should be able to get one as easily as they can in the US.

Honestly, I read through this Forum expecting more debate about gun control. I don't understand the desire to carry a gun to the mall, and I don't feel comforted thinking that the stranger next to me in line for coffee might be carrying a gun, but I wanted to see if I could understand or at least accept those feelings from people that did have them. But most of the folks here seem to think more strict gun control is the way to go...

So I'm wondering: are the majority of Americans actually fairly split on their views of gun control?