Reply #62: The price of freedom, etc.

[gorfle]

For one thing, I don't believe my bipolar daughter, who tried once to kill herself and once tried to kill her sister, should have a gun at her disposable. Do you think SHE has a right to a gun? Or do you think her sister should have a gun too, so she could fire BACK at her?

My Dad was an alcholic who tried to choke my Mom to death when I was 10. Should he have been able to purchase a gun? Maybe my Mom should have had a gun too, that way they could just shoot each other, or me in the crossfire.

It is not just about "protecting yourself against criminals". Domestic violence is far more prevelant than being mugged, robbed, etc., etc.

You cannot simply allow just ANYBODY to own a gun, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. If that tramples YOUR freedom, sorry, too bad. I probably wouldn't be typing this today if my Dad had had a gun in that house 50 years ago.

Firstly, in this country anyone who buys a firearm through a dealer must pass a NICS background check. This means generally that if you have a mental condition or a criminal background you will be unable to purchase a firearm. Most pro-firearm-rights people are all for this. Most firearm folks would prefer that criminals or mentally ill people not be allowed to own firearms.

Your daughter, who sounds mentally ill, should not, in my opinion, be allowed to own a firearm. Since she has attempted murder, I am presuming she is a convicted felon, along with possibly having been adjudicated mentally ill. If either case is true, then by law she is already prohibited from possessing a firearm.

If I had to choose between having one, mentally ill daughter killing the other, or having the other armed and able to shoot back in self-defense, I'd choose the latter.

The same situation applies to your father.

Freedom isn't really free. You have to pay the price for it. In this case it is with restrictions.

You are correct that freedom is not free, and there are prices we pay for it. The price, however, is not restrictions. The price we pay is firearm violence. That is the price for the freedom we enjoy in relatively unrestricted civilian firearm ownership.