As further thought on gun ownership in the US, the framers of the US Constitution believed that citizens should have the right to defend themselves against tyranny, and to that end they explicitly allowed for the ownership of guns. It gives a reason (militias), but it also explicitly says "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be abridged". The wording is important. It doesn't say the right of militias. It doesn't say the right of local governments, or state governments. It says "the right of the people".
Do you remember this line from The Two Towers: ÉOWYN: The *women* of this country learned long ago that those *without swords may* *still die* upon *them*. If you absorb that statement and really understand what it means, then you will get a sense of how some Americans feel about gun ownership. I knew a guy in college from northern Michigan, which is very remote territory, who said that crime was very low where he was from because everyone was armed to the teeth and everyone else knew it. On Jan 8, 2008 3:38 PM, Paul V wrote: > Thanks to all who assisted in my enlightenment... I think from what has > been said, my initial ideas about the debates in the US weren't that far off > after all in that I think that both subjects are contentious, fuzzy and the > arguments have in the past been confused and muddied by the emotions that > both the pro and anti factions stir up regarding both issues. > > Thanks again for an informative take on both! > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:250233 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
