Questions tagged [guns]

Questions related to politics and policy on firearms

Gun politics is the politics relating to restrictions on people's ownership and use of firearms, as well as their production and commerce to civilians. Policies vary. Some countries, such as the US, guarantee the right to bear arms and have lenient gun laws. In contrast, in Japan guns are illegal with some exceptions. Switzerland, unusually, mandates gun ownership for citizens subject to conscription, but places restriction on their use.

Issues in gun politics include:

  • Gun control
  • Policy on licensing of firearms (e.g. background checks)
  • Open-carry laws

Gun politics is contentious in some countries, particularly in the United States, where organizations like the National Rifle Association lobby on gun politics issues.

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What do gun control advocates mean when they say "Owning a gun makes you more likely to be a victim of a violent crime."?

Gun control advocates often say that owning a gun makes you significantly more likely to become a victim of a violent crime. How can that possibly be the case? I can see how owning a gun can be correlated with being a victim of a violent crime:…
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Gun prevalence vs homicide rates - correlation and causation

The discussion on gun ownership is often heated and detached from facts. What does science say on correlation and more importantly on causality between gun prevalence and homicide rates? There are academic studies that can be easily googled but they…
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Do people who have survived a mass shooting tend to be pro-gun or anti-gun? Are there any surveys about that?

I would be interested in what people who have first-hand experience in mass shootings think about the idea that a good guy with a gun can usually stop a bad guy with a gun. Are there any surveys about that? The closest thing I've found is a survey…
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Why don't governments recognize each other's gun permits?

Even the world's most gun-favoring country (the USA) doesn't have full reciprocity for gun permits between its states. Likewise none of the EU states recognize each other's gun permits, even though carrying a gun through borders is extremely easy…
JonathanReez
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