> 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. >
Mutually assured destruction I believe is the Cold War term that seems to fit that particular thought process... Whilst I understand that those who do not own guns may still be killed by a gun, I'm not sure that arming yourself makes it any less likely that you are going to be shot. If someone wants to shoot you, whether you have a gun or not, they will at the very least shoot in your general direction. Having fewer guns in general circulation certainly does seem to me to be the best way to reduce gun violence as the opportunity is far less prevalent in this scenario. In the UK for instance, the rise in gun related deaths can be directly related to the increases that we have seen in recent years with the illegal importation of guns onto our streets... More guns in our case certainly means more deaths. I'd be surprised if the case was substantially different in the US although I guess you could argue that the percentage of criminals owning guns in the UK is far higher per capita than it is in the US simply because the ordinary man on the street in the UK cannot own a gun without draconian regulations that are enforced with random spot checks etc. In the UK, carrying a gun in public whether concealed or on display would probably end up with an armed response unit surrounding you (faster if you have the weapon in plain view) and more often than not that scenario would result in the owner of the gun being killed. To give you an example of how strict our gun laws are, for several years now, the British Olympic shooting team have to train in France because the type of guns (some of which are air pistols!) used were made illegal in the UK in the late 90's after yet another nut shot up yet another school. Every time this has happened in the UK, the ownership of the gun or guns was completely legitimate and regulated hence the politicians took away most people's ability to own guns "for the good of society". AFAIK, even certain non-working replica guns are illegal to own in this country as they have in the past been used by "idiot boyfriends that have been dumped" to threaten people just because they were upset and wanted to lash out at people in general... Most of those situations have ended up in armed response units killing or injuring the "idiot boyfriend" too... Paul ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| 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:250234 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
