I'd rather die fighting tyranny than simply be led to a concentration camp. How do you fail to see the importance of an individual having the ability to resist those who would take everything from you?

Of course the tyrants are usually much better armed, they implement gun control and prohibition. Hitler's gun prohibition was quite effective and as a result the resistance was very poorly armed. They should never have allowed it to reach that point. Those who would take your power never have your best interests at heart.

Both of your examples of rebellion gone wrong involve sectarian religious terrorism, hardly applicable to modern day America. Look at how the British mistreated the Irish for centuries and just look at the religious divisions present there, of course the region is unstable. If you took away the IRAs crappy semi-automatic AR15's they'd simply use more nail bombs and home-made flame throwers anyway so again, gun prohibition is not the solution rendering the point moot.

Also, want to discredit any of my other points supporting gun ownership?

Better to be engaged as an active threat then to be rounded up and slaughtered. I don't really care about "losing" this argument because at the end of the day guns will still be available and the dangerous gun prohibition nut jobs will never be able to take my rights from me. If the American government were to take the steps necessary to disarm and abuse its people they would immediately be met with resistance. Americans would not wait until it is too late to mount an effective counter-offensive and that's all that matters.

Also, I can not wrap my head around the adoration of the Japanese nanny-state present here, some of you people need to travel more.

Some of your other points i'm willing to grant. Total prohibition is, unfortunately, unfeasible, similar to how drug prohibition is sadly unfeasible. But that does not mean we should concede to a culture of violence and paranoia. This isn't the 18th century anymore. Or the 19th, or the 20th, for that matter. The Berlin Wall fell without a shot being fired by either side.

And yes, i've been to Japan, and i quite enjoyed it there. While i harbor no illusions about Japanese culture, that there are some problems with the nanny state in general and theirs in particular (some of which are unique to Japan, like the very slow-moving, bureaucratic nature of their politics, and their backwards family-law vis-a-vis women), but it was a safe place with a vibrant (if stagnant) private sector.

Did criminals kill the school children, who exactly are "law abiding citizens", everyone is law abiding until you kill someone. What we called "normal" people are the ones armed to the teeth and killed everybody in the theater and booby trapped their apartment.

How many criminals do you run into everyday basis and has time to react with a gun you put away in your house while you are walking down 5th avenue getting gunned down? you point doesn't stand. Criminals will get guns rather you make it legal or illegal, if you make it illegal then it will be harder for them to get it.

And also regular civilians like you and I will have a harder time getting a gun if its ban, which is the purpose, prevent civilians from getting gun.

This is ridiculous argument to have in the beginning, the only ones in Austratlia that has regular access to guns are like the guy above me said, "farmers" use to defend their livestocks against other wild animals.,

Banning game will do good than harm for sure, just ban them already, everyday we hear ppl getting gun down, i think last week was AK 47 in Los Angeles....

I respect the gun, but I don't respect the gun lobby in this country which obviously doesn't. Nor their arguments that encourage the stripping of dignity and rights from others. It is purely childish behavior on the part of childish people. High powered rifles, extended clips, and over powered ammunition. Serve no life affirming function. You don't need these things to hunt game, defend your dwelling from any kind of reasonable attack, or allow you to protect your own person or property.

Protecting these things is about one thing and one thing only. Some people who want to live out some child like fantasy that they are Rambo, or that a mob of Zombies is somehow going to manifest some day. What is most damning is that they don't harbor a shred of concern about the fact that people with ill intent can obtain these very things to do an incredible amount of harm to their fellow citizens.

We might not be able to stop all gun violence, or stop criminals from getting guns, but we can do something real about the body count. We already acknowledge that tools of terror must be regulated. We don't let people buy up obscene amounts of fertilizer that they can then turn into bombs. We don't let people buy biological agents. That can be used in germ warfare, and we don't let people buy incredibly dangerous chemicals to prevent people from launching chemical attacks.

If we are willing to inconvenience farmers, scientists, and chemists for the common good. Then we shouldn't have a problem with inconveniencing the man child who doesn't even have a justification in the first place. These weapons don't have a purpose like making more food for people, or curing a dangerous disease, or even creating a new material or fuel. In the end all we are saying is you can jerk off just as well with a less powerful gun.

I really don't have a problem with the practical guns we have. I know hunters, and I am friends with hunters. Most of them eat what they kill, or donate it to good will to help feed others. I don't have a problem with people who have revolvers, because the local police force is too small to adequately protect them or their property. People have a right to self defense. I don't even have a problem with marksman who are enjoying a skill based hobby. The guns, ammunition, and magazines that are being discussed. Weren't made for these people. They are purely in the realm of murder and childish fantasies, and I think it has been made clear that we should probably grow up a little as a country.

You know what the real irony is about this thread. We should all understand that these fantasies can be lived out in a virtual reality we like to call games. You don't need the M16 to have the experience of fighting off a Zombie hoard, or to pretend that you are Rambo. We don't need the physical objects to express these feelings.

@ Mr Khan

I guess we'll just have to disagree. I strongly believe that we must remain ever vigilant to the very real dangers of corporatism and fascism that exist in modern day society. As I study history I see that nothing ever changes, at least not meaningfully. We still have masters who continually attempt to improve their slave farms and they rarely have any concern for those that live on said farms. I do not trust them and I do not encourage anybody to place any amount of blind faith in those who rule us.

As far as Japan goes, sure, it's a peaceful society at the moment. The thing is, human civilization is not static, it is dynamic. The economic collapse that Japan faces will be catastrophic and I shudder when I think about what will happen to them when the banks shut the pipeline of credit that props up their failing economy. Without the flow of credit Yugoslavia, a formerly peaceful and prosperous nation, disintegrated into a dreadful civil war. Japan has a far, far worse debt problem and it is painfully evident that they will never be able to correct this issue. If the banks decide to pull the rug out from under them what would happen? Imagine if they had to create a balanced budget by slashing healthcare and eliminating many social programs overnight. Just imagine if the cuts didn't stop there. Imagine if they were unable to acquire the capital needed to prevent shortages in raw materials or even food. People become awfully restless when they're starving and the Japanese are just as capable of violence as any other human being.

guns, bows, knives, are made for hunting aswell. should car be ban because of hit and runs. cars kill people to. lets get rid of hands to. strangle someone. spork someone, spoon someone, take a rock and kill someone. you ever heard of throwing knives, guardening tools, forks. 

they all kill. 

dito

Their video game discussion got violent? I haven't heard any details. What happened?

Care to provide real life evidence to support your points?

Law-abiding citizens without a history of violence that purchase their firearms legally are far less likely to commit a crime with the aforementioned firearm than you would believe. Again, the problem is not with gun ownership but those who would illegally obtain a firearm with the intent to commit crime.

Gun prohibition will not necessarily make it more difficult for criminals to access guns. Australia is a real world example that contradicts this concept. Additionally, America has far more guns with over two hundred million currently in circulation, care to explain how we are to eliminate all of them?

Simply put, you would eliminate far more gun violence if you simply addressed the underlying issues, namely gang participation. This would be far easier to achieve and would actually resolve not only the much gun violence, but also organized crime in general.