Originally posted by lazs2
Nope angus... that is not the point at all.
The point is that about 5% of the population will try to commit serious crime... The point is that the rest of us need protection from them in this very large and diverse country.
The point is that the second works.... we stop these guys and lesser criminals millions of times a year.
the final point is that it needs to be a two pronged thing... you allow everyone to be armed but you punish those who would missuse firearms severely..
This is working... the example in the beggining of the thread is a good example.... criminal doesn't use gun.... law abiding ciitizen does.... much happier ending.
Having a firearm to protect you and yours should be a personal decision... just like wearing seatbelts or helmets or safety glasses.
lazs
Well...being sceptical about firearms, bear in mind that I am a gun-guy. I just stop at being too free about them, and I am against any fool getting their hands on conceilable arms and then automatic thingies like automatic pistols or rifles.
This for starters:
"The point is that about 5% of the population will try to commit serious crime... The point is that the rest of us need protection from them in this very large and diverse country."
5%!!!! Wholly cow!!!! that is a very high number. Isn't it out of your head?
Then:
"The point is that the second works.... we stop these guys and lesser criminals millions of times a year."
And the times you don't? Watch it, for the crimerate in capital is one of the highest in the USA of any 1st world nation. Same goes with "dead by gunshot" rate. So, do you assume that that it'd be worse with a less armed society?
And here:
"the final point is that it needs to be a two pronged thing... you allow everyone to be armed but you punish those who would missuse firearms severely.."
I take it then, that you support strict gunlaw?
(Yes, you can have guns, if you're OK. Just like where I live, except the pistols and automatic ones)
Here there is something not fitting:
Lazs says:
"This is working... the example in the beggining of the thread is a good example.... criminal doesn't use gun.... law abiding ciitizen does.... much happier ending."
And Jackal:
"You don`t have to arm the criminals. They arm themselves. There is no way, with laws, to disarm the criminal if he wishs to be armed. It is impossible."
So, the game is, or rather WAS, lost for normal law abiding civilians. The thugs were already armed before somebody realized that they were. So, the response is to rearm the population, thereby putting more guns into the circulation?
Won't be the judge there. Would be sceptical about conceilable arms (note how many of the events in the post were stopped by shotgun carrying persons (very obvious bad-arse weapon)).
But bear in mind that the bigger part of the 1st world has less in the arsenal as well as less gun-dead and capital crime than the USA. So, either the USA has too few guns, too many, or to many thugs...
To arm them you need...ahem..arms..in rotation.
