== ... What? ==
I really think this article needs to be toned down a notch. Some Conservatives can accept it, sure, but saying that gun control if a leftist conspiracy to confiscate everyone's firearms is not going to help convert people to Conservatism. [[User:Whiterose|Whiterose]] ([[User talk:Whiterose|talk]]) 19:06, 22 April 2017 (EDT)[[User:Whiterose|Whiterose]] ([[User talk:Whiterose|talk]])
:I completely disagree. This is what we see happening (although I would dispute using the word "conspiracy"). People on the left have the goal of totally eliminating guns from society. Sounds strange? Well, these are the same people who want to unite Europe [http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-president-of-france-wants-eurozone-members-to-transfer-their-sovereignty-to-a-united-states-of-europe/5463350][http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/10918134/Italy-to-push-for-United-States-of-Europe-when-it-holds-the-EU-presidency.html] and eventually the world into one unified country and eliminate borders entirely from the planet.
:The only reason (in the U.S.) why liberals have not succeeded in banning guns is because guns are popular among regular people, and the Second Amendment prohibits them from enacting a complete ban. Fun fact: in 2008, the Supreme Court was '''one vote away''' from making it constitutional to enact complete handgun bans and effectively eliminate the Second Amendment (see [[D.C. v. Heller]]). Some municipal bans on possessing handguns were only struck down in 2010 (see [[McDonald v. Chicago]]). The courts and the people oppose the liberals, so they have to proceed slowly. I'm sure the situation is similar in Europe, even though gun control is more popular and the gun laws more strict. --[[User:1990'sguy|1990'sguy]] ([[User talk:1990'sguy|talk]]) 21:46, 22 April 2017 (EDT)
:::We need to be as factual as possible. There are liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, etc. on '''both''' sides of this very complicated issue. A gun control law can be designed to prevent insane people or young children from accessing guns without eliminating all self-defense weapons. The article needs a complete rewrite to highlight the current set of controversies, and it is very out-of-date. [[User:JDano|JDano]] ([[User talk:JDano|talk]]) 18:49, 14 July 2017 (EDT)
== Some statistics ==
Contrary to what you might think from the news media, murders involving guns are statistically quite low in the U.S. Here are the numbers from 2015, for example:<br />
Heart disease - 633,842<ref name="CDC causes of death 2015">https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm</ref><br />
Cancer - 595,930<ref name="CDC causes of death 2015">https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm</ref><br />
Chronic lower respiratory diseases - 155,041<ref name="CDC causes of death 2015">https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm</ref><br />
Automotive accidents - 146,571<ref name="CDC causes of death 2015">https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm</ref><br />
Stroke - 140,323<ref name="CDC causes of death 2015">https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm</ref><br />
Diabetes - 79,535<ref name="CDC causes of death 2015">https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm</ref><br />
Suicide - 44,193<ref name="CDC causes of death 2015">https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm</ref><br />
Shot (homicide) - 13,521<ref>http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls</ref><br />
I could turn this into a graph if people want it, but we seem to be a bit low on image space on this page already. Of course, this is not to minimize the number of deaths. Even one murder is too many, though we all know that it is impossible to eliminate murder this side of the grave. It is also true that if they don't have guns, they'll use knives and other weapons.<br />
<br />
On a side note, I found this BBC article interesting: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34996604<br />
They provide a graph on homicide in a few different countries, and show how many of these *involved* guns. Since they are ignoring population, it looks like the U.S. has a real problem. However, if you consider the size and population density of the U.S., those numbers change a bit. It's another obvious example of selective reporting used to push a false idea. --[[User:DavidB4|<font color="ForestGreen">David B</font>]] <sup>([[User talk:DavidB4|TALK]])</sup> 14:42, 29 March 2018 (EDT)
== Marx quote ==
If I understand the context of the recently added quote, Karl Marx is speaking in regard to an armed revolution to overthrow the bourgeoisie. Yes, this sentence is speaking of not letting "the workers" be disarmed by the authorities, but this is because he is trying to build a military to overthrow that government. The full section containing this quote is listed below.
{{cquote|To be able forcefully and threateningly to oppose this party, whose betrayal of the workers will begin with the very first hour of victory, the workers must be armed and organized. The whole proletariat must be armed at once with muskets, rifles, cannon and ammunition, and the revival of the old-style citizens’ militia, directed against the workers, must be opposed. Where the formation of this militia cannot be prevented, the workers must try to organize themselves independently as a proletarian guard, with elected leaders and with their own elected general staff; they must try to place themselves not under the orders of the state authority but of the revolutionary local councils set up by the workers. Where the workers are employed by the state, they must arm and organize themselves into special corps with elected leaders, or as a part of the proletarian guard. Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary. The destruction of the bourgeois democrats’ influence over the workers, and the enforcement of conditions which will compromise the rule of bourgeois democracy, which is for the moment inevitable, and make it as difficult as possible – these are the main points which the proletariat and therefore the League must keep in mind during and after the approaching uprising.<ref>https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/communist-league/1850-ad1.htm</ref>
}}
May I then ask:
#How does this relate to the topic of Gun Control in the western world, and
#Why are we quoting Marx as if he was supporting the same thing we do, when in fact it is very different context?
#If we do want to keep this quote, can we include some context, and put it somewhere other than at the top of the page, above the intro?
--[[User:DavidB4|<font color="ForestGreen">DavidB4</font>]] <sup>([[User talk:DavidB4|TALK]])</sup> 23:28, 25 April 2019 (EDT)
:Superb points, David. You're right. But the jarring quote is an eye-opener, and it is good occasionally to have a change-of-pace at the top of an entry like that. A surprise quote is not a bad thing. But feel free to move it as you think best.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] ([[User talk:Aschlafly|talk]]) 13:32, 26 April 2019 (EDT)
== Knife control ==
The Church of England wants to ban pointed kitchen knives because of the number of stabbings in London: [https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/09/27/pointed-kitchen-knives-should-be-illegal-says-church-england/] They continue to fail to see that it's the person who does the violence, not the appliance. --[[User:1990'sguy|1990'sguy]] ([[User talk:1990'sguy|talk]]) 08:11, 27 September 2019 (EDT)
:That has been a growing trend in Europe [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/04/09/london-mayor-knife-control/500328002/] [https://thefederalist.com/2018/04/13/britains-knife-control-bad-parody-gun-control/], and some are even starting to push for it in the US [https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/08/knife_control.html]. As usual, it's the tried and failed concept of banning the tool to prevent bad people from doing bad things. --[[User:DavidB4|<font color="ForestGreen">DavidB4</font>]] <sup>([[User talk:DavidB4|TALK]])</sup> 19:02, 29 September 2019 (EDT)
::Next we'll need "Rock control" [https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/family-heartbroken-after-man-killed-by-rock-thrown-from-overpass-on-i-75-in-michigan] After all, there is NO GOOD reason for anyone to possess large but movable rocks. --[[User:DavidB4|<font color="ForestGreen">DavidB4</font>]] <sup>([[User talk:DavidB4|TALK]])</sup> 19:07, 29 September 2019 (EDT)
:::According to FBI data, over twice as many people are killed with fists and feet than with rifles: [https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/09/30/fbi-twice-killed-fists-feet-rifles/] --[[User:1990'sguy|1990'sguy]] ([[User talk:1990'sguy|talk]]) 08:17, 1 October 2019 (EDT)