Portal:Cheat Sheet

Intro

Your strong rebuttals are right here. You may also click any statement to get the Deep-Dive.

Retorts

• A good guy with a gun will stop a bad guy with a gun.
  • Who decides who's a "good guy"? What if a bad guy believes he's a good guy?
  • Vigilantism results in mayhem, in which the most aggressive people dominate.
• Courts ruled the National Firearms Act "unconstitutional".
  • Absolutely false. The exact opposite is the truth. The Supreme Court ruled that the National Firearms Act taxation on sawed-off shotguns was NOT unconstitutional, and NOT a violation of the 2nd Amendment, because that type of weapon had no function in a well-regulated militia.
• Draft:ANGER.
  • You sound very angry.
  • Perpetrators of gun violence tend to be very angry.
  • Angry people should not have access to dangerous weapons.
  • Do you have a gun?
• Draft:ANY new gun legislation will ultimately lead to the confiscation of ALL guns from ALL citizens.
  • Control-advocates who want to win allies, and make progress, must make a clear stand against the confiscation of ALL guns from ALL citizens, in public statements, and in proposed legislation.
• Draft:All governments are tyrannical by nature.
• Draft:All people have a natural right to self-defense.
  • Then defend yourself with what nature gave you: your fists. Guns don't grow on trees.
• Draft:Almost all states require training to get a concealed-carry permit.
• Draft:America has a tradition of gun-ownership among law-abiding citizens.
  • True. In some places, gun ownership is part of a rural or agricultural history, where it's normal for law-abiding families have a gun. Hunters and farmers are not the primary source of gun violence.
  • We can't apply the same logic to regions which do not have such a tradition.
• Draft:America has more school shootings because black people.
  • Most school shootings are committed by white males.
• Draft:Assault weapons shouldn't be banned because all long guns are equally dangerous.
  • Most mass shootings involve the AR-15.
  • Gabby Giffords survived because the shooter had to reload.
• Draft:Bernie Sanders supports 2nd Amendment Rights.
• Draft:Criminals who have guns now will never give up their guns willingly. Only when they're arrested.
  • But we can stop the flow of guns into the wrong hands.
• Draft:Democrats want to take away our guns
• Draft:Depriving someone who hasn't committed a crime of their right to bear arms, on the basis of past behavior, is a violation of the right to due process.
  • Banning someone with a violent or criminal history from buying a gun is no different than banning someone with a bad driving record from obtaining a driving license. It's not criminal, it's civil, and therefor "due process" does not apply. It's about public safety.
• Draft:Diabetes kills more people than guns.
  • Person with diabetes to person who's child was just shot in a classroom: "How dare you complain? I have diabetes."
  • Heart-disease kills more people than diabetes. Should diabetes research therefor be shut down?
  • It's not just about the casualty numbers-- school shootings are psychological devastating for kids and communities.
• Draft:Don't ask me to back up my claims-- do your own research.
  • No, if you make a claim, the burden of proof is on you to back up your claim.
• Draft:Don't blame guns for inner-city violence.
• Draft:Don't penalize legal gun owners, because killers don't get their guns legally.
  • BUT those illegal guns start life as legal guns. If we stop the production of consumer firearms, then that will stop the black market for guns.
  • The inconvenience of registering your weapons periodically is not a "penalty". It will help prevent restricted individuals from obtaining guns illegally.
• Draft:Driving is a Privilege; bearing arms is a Right.
• Draft:Drunk-driving laws do nothing
• Draft:Gun control is racist
• Draft:Gun violence does not exist. There is only violence.
  • False. When you ask a doctor what your illness is, he doesn't say "You're just sick. It doesn't matter what you're sick with. It doesn't matter what caused it. Sick is sick." Different diseases require different cures. Different kinds of violence require different fixes.
  • True. We must examine ourselves and our violent culture. But in the meantime, let's keep guns away from dangerous people.
• Draft:Gun-control advocates are all Liberals
• Draft:Guns Would Have Saved the Jews from the Nazis
  • Hitler did not take the guns. Jewish communist did.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEl1dFJ--wY&t=32s (must verify contents of video)

• Draft:Guns don't kill people, people do.
  • I agree. And dangerous people are MORE dangerous when they have powerful weapons.
• Draft:If we disarm citizens, then we should disarm the police and government too.
  • I completely agree.
• Draft:If you ban guns, bad guys will manufacture their own weapons.
  • Making poison from chewing tobacco is not as easy, fast, or convenient as a gun.
  • If their only option is to manufacture a weapon, that's going to put a damper on many a crime of passion.
• Draft:If you ban guns, people will just want guns more.
• Draft:If you ban guns, people will manufacture guns at home.
  • SOME. Far fewer. The goal is reduction-- no one is claiming complete eliminate of the problem.
  • Criminals prefer guns because they are easy to obtain. Far easier than manufacturing one.
• Draft:If you keep guns away from dangerous people, then they will use trucks/knives/bombs/etc.
  • Then you can defend yourself with trucks/knives/bombs/etc.
  • Countries with strong gun regulation don't have excess school bombings.
  • There's no such thing as a "mass knifing".
• Draft:If you make guns harder to obtain, criminals will use other weapons.
  • True. Some criminals. Your position is that a partial fix is invalid if it's not a total fix.
• Draft:Insult, abuse, ridicule.
  • When you resort to abuse, you're admitting that your position can't be supported by evidence or logic.
• Draft:It is a civil right to keep, bear, and sell arms, and a violation of my civil rights to require a government-issued license to do any of these things.
• Draft:It's hypocritical for pro-gun-control politicians to have armed security guards.
  • No, it's congruent with the position that guns are for those who are trained, regulated, and background checked. Not every nut off the street.
• Draft:It’s a felony to sell a new gun without a background check.
  • More than one legal way to get around that:
    • The law doesn't apply to unlicensed sales, which are legal, and which do not require a background check.
    • If the FBI fails to complete background checks before a three-day deadline, people are automatically cleared to purchase a gun (the "Charleston loophole") http://time.com/5170667/the-gun-loophole-congress-isnt-talking-about-put-4170-guns-in-wrong-hands-in-2016/
    • Only licensed dealers are required to do background checks. Unlicensed sales are allowed, and they do not require background checks (the "gunshow-loophole"). http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/jan/07/politifact-sheet-3-things-know-about-gun-show-loop/
  • What about used guns?
• Draft:Keeping guns away from murderers won't help, because if murderers can't get a gun, they will find other means to do harm.
  • Then you can find other means to defend yourself.
  • Those other weapons will not be as lethal, as dangerous, as easy to use to cause harm, as a gun. Therefor, reducing criminals' access to guns will reduce the harm that happens in society.
• Draft:Laws won't work, because criminals don't obey laws.
  • But law-abiding people obey laws. If law-abiding people obey the following laws, that can reduce the number of guns falling into the hands of criminals, kids, and risky people:
    • Ban selling guns at gun-shows with no background checks.
    • Ban unlicensed gun sales.
    • Ban the manufacture of automatic weapons.
    • Require gun owners to register their weapon, store it safely, and get safety training.
    • Raise the minimum age for buying guns.
    • Require waiting periods.
• Draft:Let's arm teachers.
• Draft:Mandatory training discriminates against poor people
• Draft:Many things can kill you.
  • Your position is that life sucks, so we might as well all kill each other. We don't accept your hateful, destructive view of life.
  • You're correct there are many ways to die. Right now, we're talking about guns.
• Draft:Maryland's Strict Gun-Laws Didn't Prevent a Mass Shooting
• Draft:Most "mass" shootings are gang related. Most of the rest are DV. Nearly ALL shootings are done with a handgun.
• Draft:People in other countries envy Americans because guns.
  • You mean people from low-crime countries are envious of our violence? I doubt it.
• Draft:Politician: "The inner city needs guns to protect themselves"
• Draft:Requiring me to register my weapon yearly is an infringement of my Second Amendment rights.
  • The Constitution does not say anything about never having to wait in a line once in a while.
  • While you're standing in line at the registry, you have your weapon on your person. Your right has not been infringed.
  • Are you saying you're unwilling to be a little inconvenienced once in a while, in order to help save lives?
• Draft:Requiring me to store my weapon safely is an illegal search.
  • Providing proof of storage, in the form of, say, a receipt and signed confirmation, is not "Allowing an officer to search your home ".
• Draft:Safety precautions eliminate the wisdom of natural selection. People won't think for themselves-- they will think everything without a warning label is safe.
  • Should parents inform their kids "don't touch a hot stove, and don't run into traffic"? Or should parents just allow "natural selection" to take it's course?
  • If fools believe everything without a warning label is safe, they will suffer the consequences of their stupidity. Your "natural selection" is intact, with or without warning labels.
  • I agree, to an extent. Americans are removed from the killing or growing of their own food, war is a TV show, corporate advertisers ridicule self-sufficiency, and promote buying stuff over DIY hand-crafting. Traditional gun culture is rooted in a more hands-on, DIY culture, which we've lost. Americans have become consumer bots. This is related to our wastefulness-- we're out of touch with our impact on the planet. We want our Starbucks coffee, and don't think about how all that plastic is ruining the oceans.
• Draft:Self-Defense is a God-Given Right
• Draft:So, I can buy a gun-safe, show the receipt, and then return the safe to the store.
  • Yes, you could return the safe, in violation of federal law. It's not a perfect solution. There's no "silver bullet". This will HELP reduce accidents.
  • Many, probably most gun-owners, would not return the gun-safe.
  • You're correct that an honor system depends on honesty. Are you saying most gun owners are liars?
• Draft:Student anti-gun protests are "state-sponsored", because students are directed to protest by their schools, and schools represent the State.
  • You're contradicting yourself, if you say youth anti-gun activists are "State-sponsored", while also saying teachers should be armed. If you consider schools "the State", then arming teachers is arming the State-- the very thing you're against.
• Draft:Talking about gun laws after a shooting is insensitive to gun violence victims.
  • That's like saying: "Cancer researchers are insensitive to cancer victims, when they talk about finding a cure for cancer."
• Draft:The 2nd Amendment needs to be enforced, not repealed.
  • I completely agree. America needs to enforce it's original intention: military service.
• Draft:The 2nd Amendment protects all citizens right to possess unlimited arms of any type.
• Draft:The 2nd Amendment was intended for personal self-defense.
• Draft:The Constitution guarantees citizens' right to defend ourselves with guns against a tyrannical government.
  • You cannot claim the 2nd Amendment protects you against the government, while also claiming the US Gov't is "illegal". That's a contradiction-- the The Constitution IS "government".
  • The Founders considered States Rights, and regulated State Militias the cure for an overbearing Federal government-- not a general armed populace.
  • Violent uprisings don't work.
  • In America, we're supposed to have a government of, by, and for the people. If we don't, let's fix it. Not shoot it.
• Draft:The Founders intended gun rights for civilian-led police.
• Draft:The Militia clause of the Second Amendment is unenforceable.
• Draft:The Second Amendment was intended to enable citizens to protect themselves from the government through armed uprising.
  • No,the Second Amendment imposes on citizens the duty to protect the government from armed citizen uprisings. The Second Amendment is intended to enable citizens to protect the government, not attack it.
• Draft:The solution is to throw criminals in jail.
  • America already has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. If prison worked, we'd have the lowest rate of gun violence in the world. Instead, we have the highest rate of gun violence in the world, among high-income countries.
  • Imprisoning someone will not prevent a murder that already happened.
• Draft:There's no silver bullet to eliminate gun violence.
  • True. It will take a collection of fixes, working from various angles.
• Draft:Unsupported claim, statistic with no proof, no source.
  • Please provide the source for your statistics.
• Draft:Victims of gun-violence are crisis actors
• Draft:Waiting periods have proven worthless.
  • Share your source for this claim.
  • According to this comparison of states with and without waiting periods, we'd save almost 1,000 people per year if all states had waiting periods of just a few days. http://www.pnas.org/content/114/46/12162.full
• Draft:We can't ban AR-15, because next you'll take away all our guns.
  • Nobody said that. We're just talking about AR-15's, not ALL guns.
  • If we commit to protect your right to bear arms, will you commit to getting dangerous weapons off the street and out of the hands of high-risk people?
• Draft:We just need to arm teachers.
• Draft:We should educate people about gun safety, not ban guns.Teach people to properly handle guns, and to respect them.
  • I agree. As is required by law in countries that have way less gun violence than America.
  • So then you agree: Formal safety training should be required by law, before purchasing a gun?
• Draft:You can't blame guns for socioeconomic problems.
  • True. And if guns aren't the cause of social problems, then you can't expect guns to be the cure for social problems.
• Draft:You can't stop gun-theft, they steal them by the boxcar off train tracks.
  • Strictly regulating the transport and storage of commercial gun inventories will stop people stealing them off boxcars.
• Draft:You're not qualified to have an opinion about gun laws if you've never used a gun.
  • A medical patient does not need to be a surgeon in order to make decisions about their own medical treatment.
• Liberals falsely claim accidents count as "school shootings"
  • I agree. An accidental discharge of a security guard's firearm is not a "school shooting".
  • But that's just one group, called "Everytown for Gun Safety", not "Liberals".
• No gun control laws anywhere ever worked to reduce gun-violence.
  • False. States with stronger gun laws tend to have fewer gun deaths.
  • But it's true that guns alone are not the whole problem. We have to fix society.
• The U.S. does NOT have the world highest gun-homicide rate.
  • True. Countries with civil wars, domestic terrorism, and high poverty have higher gun-homicide rates.
  • The U.S. has the world highest gun-homicide rate among high-income countries.
  • The U.S. has the highest rate of mass-shooters among all countries.
• Trucks are being used to commit mass murders in Europe.
  • In far fewer numbers:
    • Killed in truck attacks worldwide: 149 people in eleven years.
    • Killed in mass shootings in the US-only: 208 in one year.
  • You can't rob a store with a truck. You can't shoot your ex with a truck. Your baby can't accidentally discharge a truck. An angry teenager can't shoot up a school with a truck. It's an absurd comparison.
• Unlicensed sales are allowed by law.
  • True. U.S. Code § 922 implies that unlicensed sellers have the authority to determine whether a buyer is prohibited from buying a gun.
  • True, and the laws should be revised or repealed.