We would all be safer if everyone of sound mind was armed

It appears my opponent believes that everyone is born one of three ways; Good, Bad or crazy. He doesn't understand that the good can become the bad and that 95% of the bad isn't crazy at all. "I argue that the 10 percent or less would be less likely to commit the crime in the first place if everyone was carrying firearms." First off if you give everyone guns it won't be 10%, it'll be something like 70%-80%. Secondly let's say there is a clerk behind the counter at a store. I walk in and stick a gun in his face and yell" Don't move or I'll shoot". See I know he has a gun, but I have the drop on him. The criminal will always have the drop on you. What do you suggest he do? Make a move for his gun? I shoot. BAM! He's dead. What he should have done was give me the few hundred dollars, he had then called the police. Then he could give a description and go home to his family. Now with the gun laws we have now let's say this same clerk gets his gun legally and I run into his store. Now because you didn't give me a gun, I have a knife. And he can grab his gun and scare me away without me hurting him because bullets are faster than a knife. "One, it assumes that the 15 to 24 year old is a law abiding citizen and not a criminal. Some of the homicides might be justified." Justifiable homicides are a completely different category. This figure refers to murders. "Two, guns should be limited to people of sound mind and judgment which might not be the case for some kids 15-17 years old. The ones that are of sound mind would not concern me." How would you even determine that? Is it based on psychological profile? Because most killers, as I have shown before, are of sound mind and judgement. "Moreover, there are other factors that may contribute to more younger people being victims of homicides in the United States--specifically the illegal drug trade and the profits forthwith comes to mind." Not even sure what this means. Or its relevance to the case. "However, it is possible to teach better gun safety to owners having children and therebydrastically reducing the number of accidental deaths related to poor gun safety. Young children that are not of sound mind should not have guns. Many more children lives are saved by way of detterence than the ones killed as a result of accidents." You keep making claims and not backing them up with any scientific evidence or studies. You need to post sources. Also gun safety is taught now and we still have kids accidentally killing themselves. "To be honest, I really don't care about people committing suicide. These people have nothing to live for and therefore it might be better they kill themselves than someone innocent." But wait! Isn't the resolution " We would ALL be safer if everyone was armed"? Or are we to allow people to kill themselves because you don't care? "Second, if they really wanted to kill themselves, they don't need a gun. There are sleeping pills, bridges and buildings for which they could jump off. " THIS IS FALSE. Even the most severely depressed person has mixed feelings about death, wavering until the very last moment between wanting to live and wanting to die. Most suicidal people do not want death; they want the pain to stop. The impulse to end it all, however overpowering, does not last forever. Having a gun nearby makes the decision easier as it is a spilt second decision. http://www.suicideoutreach.org... "I would argue that the person that kills their wife is most likely not of sound mind when committing the crime. However, assuming theyare of sound mind, what is to stop them from illegally obtaining a gun? Once a person decides that they are going to kill their spouse or lover, legality goes out the window." Also false. Most murders between spouses are not premeditated, but crimes of passion. Having a gun in the house increases the likelihood of a fatal attack. "Most of these womenkilled don't have a gun on them at the time their attacked." Why would they? "In many cases, the male kills not only the woman but their children too." Not true. And even if it was it just helps my case anyway. We shouldn't just give anyone guns. "However, overall we are all safer by having guns in our homes due to the deterrence factor." I agree. However we should NOT just hand out guns to anyone "My opponent seems to contradict himself. He says he agrees with the current gun laws, yet his central argument is that one should not keep their gun at home--that's laughable." It is laughable considering that its not my central argument. I'm only highlighting the dangers of having a gun at your home and how many more deaths will be caused if we give guns to anyone who has a "sound" mind. We would not all be safer with giving criminals guns. We should stick to the way we do things now and people should be screened. "I , however, live in the Nazi state of New Jersey and here its very hard to get a gun permit--just to protect my family. Forget about conceal and carry rights even though numbers suggest that we would be safer if given that right. Many people here are denied a gun permit because of a misdemeanor when they were a minor. In this state, the police policy is to deny a gun permit whenever possible. It seems that my opponent is arguing that I should not have a right to protect my family because some people use the gun for suicide,some people kill their spouse or some people allow their young children to have access to their guns. We don't need Mr. Government protect us from ourselves." Ah. So we should give every gangbanger, drug dealer, and rapist a gun because you don't want to go through the legal system. Makes sense. And yes, you do need Mr.Government to protect you. You really think the absence of a legal system will be safer? "I would like to know where he keeps those guns at night? Are they safely locked up at a storage facility or hidden in the woods at night? No,I assume that he has those guns in a location where he can get to them if some low life attempts to harm him or his family" Right. But if you give the low life a gun, I won't be able to get to mine would I? As it stands 90% of the time, I can grab my gun and get the upper hand "A person of sound mind does not commit suicide." Yes they do "A young child is not of sound mind and should not have a gun." Agreed. Let's not increase the chances of him getting his hands on one "A person that has made up his or her mind to kill his wife is not of sound mind." Yes they are. I have shown you the numbers. 19 out of twenty murderers are completely of sound mind. "I think the numbers that I posted clearly demonstrates that we would allbe safer if people of sound mind all had firearms." No, the numbers you posted proved that gun control works. What you want is the opposite of gun control. You want people shooting at criminals like vigilantes. I hate to break it to you kid, but do you know why its illegal to be a vigilante? Because most end up dead. Just because you have a gun, it does not make you Batman. That's why we have police. If a criminal breaks into my home, I grab my .44 and keep it on him. 90% chance he won't have a gun. If your plan goes into action, he will have a gun and him knowing I have one will make him shoot before I can react. So tell me, how am I safer if you give the criminals guns?