Instigator / Pro
0
1486
rating
1
debates
0.0%
won
Topic
#1688

A gun in the home will make you and your family less safe

Status
Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics
Better arguments
0
9
Better sources
0
6
Better legibility
0
3
Better conduct
0
3

After 3 votes and with 21 points ahead, the winner is...

sigmaphil
Parameters
Publication date
Last updated date
Type
Standard
Number of rounds
3
Time for argument
Two days
Max argument characters
10,000
Voting period
One week
Point system
Multiple criterions
Voting system
Open
Contender / Con
21
1557
rating
7
debates
71.43%
won
Description

if you want to be safe , buy an alarm system , or a big dog, or a baseball bat, or a good dead bolk lock, or better yet move to a safer neighborhood , buying a gun is literally suicide https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/do-guns-make-us-safer-science-suggests-no/

Round 1
Pro
#1
Guns can kill you in three ways: homicide, suicide, and by accident. Owning a gun or having one readily accessible makes all three more likely. One meta-analysis ”found strong evidence for increased odds of suicide among persons with access to firearms compared with those without access and moderate evidence for an attenuated increased odds of homicide victimization when persons with and without access to firearms were compared.” The latter finding is stronger for women, a reminder that guns are also a risk factor for domestic violence.
I make my own observation s to be honesty in the name of full disclosure i used to be a member of the NRA i did from 1988 to about 2000 i owned many guns handguns and semi automatic rifles with a military style look i was preparing for whatever crazy angry white men are arming up for, then i got help , therapy and proper medication , once i became less psychotic i realized what the whole gun culture was about , anger fear and paranoia, nothing about gun ownership is healthy or normal, stable people don't  prepare for armegedden thats why we have police and military in a civilization,thats not to say there are not legitmate reason to own a gun hunting, target shooting, collecting and self defense, yes self defense, but other societies that do allow guns, require safety factors backround checks licensing limits on ammo magazine capacity etc, medical check ups training, registration this libertarian wet dream is a night mare
screaming freedom and waving the constitution around like some meth addict or alex jones screaming about gay frogs? thats not an argument for gun rights , its proof you are not mature enough to own a gun , and for the millionth time  there is no right to own a gun, there never was, nor should there be, it is a privieldge you earn through good conduct
Con
#2
Please note:  It has come to my understanding that my opponent has been banned and will not be participating any further in this debate.  However, since they did post their first argument, I feel it important to honor my opponent and DebateArt and respond to their argument as I would if they were not banned.

----------------------------

I would like to thank my opponent for this opportunity to debate them on this important topic.

Before we begin I wanted to propose clarifications to the resolution.  as it stands the resolution is

Resolved:  A gun in the home will make you and your family less safe.

Less safe from What?  I propose we add "... than a gun not in the home."  Therefore the resolution would be better stated,

Resolved:  A gun in the home will make you and your family less safe than a gun not in the home.

A minor addendum, but I think it brings closure to the resolution.

-------

Let me begin with my rebuttal then I will proceed with my opening argument.

Rebuttal

Guns can kill you in three ways: homicide, suicide, and by accident.
Forgive me for being cliché but  "Guns don't kill people.  People kill people."  A gun is an inanimate object with no emotion or ability in and of itself to fire a round of ammo.

Owning a gun or having one readily accessible makes all three more likely.  One meta-analysis ”found strong evidence for increased odds of suicide among persons with access to firearms compared with those without access and moderate evidence for an attenuated increased odds of homicide victimization when persons with and without access to firearms were compared.” The latter finding is stronger for women, a reminder that guns are also a risk factor for domestic violence.
There are several problems with this argment.
1.  The meta anlysis was done on guns that are readily accessible in the home.  The resolution does not lcarifyb whether the gun in the home is readily accessible or not.  The study may have been quite different if it were done in homes where the gun owner had good sense and had their guns, for example, locked in a safe.

2.  The second source is taken from a liberal biased website, which is anti-gun and has an agenda.  Therefore I take issue with the statement, "a reminder that guns are also a risk factor for domestic violence."

I make my own observation s to be honesty in the name of full disclosure i used to be a member of the NRA i did from 1988 to about 2000 i owned many guns handguns and semi automatic rifles with a military style look i was preparing for whatever crazy angry white men are arming up for, then i got help , therapy and proper medication , once i became less psychotic i realized what the whole gun culture was about , anger fear and paranoia, nothing about gun ownership is healthy or normal, stable people don't  prepare for armegedden thats why we have police and military in a civilization,thats not to say there are not legitmate reason to own a gun hunting, target shooting, collecting and self defense, yes self defense, but other societies that do allow guns, require safety factors backround checks licensing limits on ammo magazine capacity etc, medical check ups training, registration this libertarian wet dream is a night mare
screaming freedom and waving the constitution around like some meth addict or alex jones screaming about gay frogs? thats not an argument for gun rights , its proof you are not mature enough to own a gun , and for the millionth time  there is no right to own a gun, there never was, nor should there be, it is a privieldge you earn through good conduct
With all due respect to my opponent, I think it would be better for us to approach this topic without agendas or biases.  I realize that we all bring biases to debates, but let's try to debate the resolution with facts and not emotions that fuel those biases.

My Opening Statement

Why Guns in a home do not make the home less safe than a gun not in the home.

Argument 1:  "Guns do not kill people.  People Kill People."  Therefore people are the cause of a home being unsafe not a gun.

1.  A gun is an inanimate object
2.  A gun cannot load itself
3.  A gun cannot aim itself.
4.  A gun cannot fire itself.
5.  A gun does not accidentally fire itself.  Source (Paragraph 3).

I will bring up at least one more argument in the next round.

Over to my opponent...






Round 2
Pro
#3
Forfeited
Con
#4
My apologies to my opponent I grossly misspelled a word in the first round.

1.  The meta anlysis was done on guns that are readily accessible in the home.  The resolution does not lcarifyb ...

-It should say, The resolution does not clarify...

Rebuttal

-Nothing to rebut since my opponent has forfeited.


Argument

-As promised I wanted to add another argument in this round.

Why guns in a home do not make the home less safe than a gun not in the home.

Argument 2:  Guns need ammo and person to operate it.  If there is no ammo in the house than a gun cannot be fired and therefore the home is as safe as not having a gun in the house.

...to clarify the argument further

1.  The resolution does not state that the home has ammo along with the gun in the home, only that there is a gun in the home.
2.  A gun alone is not enough to make a home unsafe.
3.  To make a gun unsafe it requires several things that were not mentioned in the resolution they are...
  • A gun that is accessible
    • i.e. not in a gun safe.
  • A person that knows how to disengage the safety mechanisms of the gun.
    • "There are many types of safeties on today’s modern handguns. "  - source
  • An unsafe person.
    • A person with mental illness
    • A  person not versed in gun safety
    • An irresponsible person
    • A person with nefarious ambitions.
  • Ammo that is accessible and in the home.
    • i.e. not in a gun safe or near the gun
      • Responsible gun owners store ammo securely - source
    • Knowledge of where the ammo is in the home and the ability to access it
      • this limits the user to the gun owner who would have keys or combination lock information.

Over to opponent...
Round 3
Pro
#5
Forfeited
Con
#6
-My opponent has forfeited Round 3, so I extend my arguments.

Closing Statement

I want to thank my opponent for the opportunity to debate them.  It's a shame they were banned after the debate started.  I wish them well.