The question of whether private gun ownership is reasonable polarises opinion, particulary in the United States. Jeff McMahan examines the arguments in conversation with David Edmonds in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.
Listen to Jeff McMahan on Gun Control
Read a New York Times article by Jeff McMahan on Gun Control
Earlier Philosophy Bites interviews with Jeff McMahan:
Listen to Jeff McMahan on Moral Status
Listen to Jeff McMahan on Vegetarianism
Listen to Jeff McMahan on Killing in War
Philosophy Bites is made in association with the Institute of Philosophy
Interesting podcast. Though I am not convinced by Mr. McMahan's arguments, I agree with him that the issue deserves more philosophical treatment than it gets. I was particularly intrigued by his introduction of the Prisoner's Dilemma, inspiring me to write a blog post:
http://etceterology.com/blog/2013/2/18/prisoners-dilemma
Posted by: Lee Daniel Crocker | February 19, 2013 at 12:16 AM
With regard to magazine clips - Any idea if there are stats pertaining to number of shots necessary for a successful defense? Perhaps clips can be limited to that number of bullets.
Posted by: Toby | February 19, 2013 at 05:32 PM
If it were shown empirically that gun violence tends to increase after gun prohibition, then would Jeff McMahan change his mind about gun control?
Would Jeff McMahan accept that reasonable people have carefully looked at the data and have come to the conclusion that gun prohibition does not decrease gun violence and in many cases has aggravated gun violence?
Posted by: Gavin | February 19, 2013 at 07:21 PM