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Originally Posted by unreasonable
A "we know better" attitude is hardly confined to the British!
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tis true, but they invented it
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The point is that if everyone is allowed to have a gun, then it rapidly becomes necessary for everyone to have one, as an arms race between criminals and citizens sets in. While if no-one has one, this is a common good. I agree that it makes burglary more common - but it also reduces the lethality of muggings.
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erm, yeah, that in a
ideal society, where criminals are abiding the law (?). The truth is that criminals still will find ways of having firearms, so the government only disarms law abiding citizens, not criminals. That's an old bogus thinking which I've heard ad nauseam..
There have recently been changes to our laws here, now if you kill an intruder in your property, unless it's evident he/she was fleeing, you won't be charged with murder.
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There is also the accident rate to consider - I am too lazy to look it up but I would make a wager that the rate of deaths by accidental shooting in the US is higher than the UK's entire murder rate, whether inflicted with gun, knife or horrible food (eg the "Great British Sausage").
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yeah, and a tenth of the population of the USA?
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I would prefer to live in a society free of handguns and assault rifles, (although I am quite familiar with their use), but I recognize that this is not a realistic option for the USA given the NRA and the sheer number of guns in circulation.
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I am very familiar with the use of firearms, and I can tell you about other societies where firearms control was introduced for the "greater good": Nazi Germany, Ceaucescu's Romania, Franco's Spain and many other happy regimes..
Mind you, in the UK there is no complete ban, you can have bolt action rifles, rimfire semiautos and muzzle loaders, not to mention smooth bore guns, but it's the demonisation of firearms that is plain ridiculous. You need to think about ultimate protection for yourself and your family, cos there won't be anybody answering your 999 call (which is 666 upside down!) when the zombie apocalypse comes