OT - the truth about gun control - Page 4

SitasMom,
Its not a trade I speak of.  
Its tactics.

And someone raiding my garden is not a life threatening situation calling for deadly force.
A confrontation can be.

I don't wave my weapon in the air,  I place rounds where they do the most good.
Yeah I've had the cops come out,  but I can fire my weapon on my property at any target I choose at any time day or night.
Accidents happen everyday, so stay off my firing range.
Wanton endangerment requires knowledge.

Response time here is about twenty minutes, I've told them they can figure it out when they get here.

There are fine lines and you must know them well, and you must use your head, not lose it.

Yes it is mixed up, knowing the rules helps.  
And remember, dead men tell no tales, nor can they hire expensive lawyers or lie in court.
And a throw down is gold, it doesn't have to be a firearm.

The truth about gun control is those who are in favor of it would live in a bubble and depend on others for their survival.
It doesn't work.  Anything can become a weapon and bubbles burst.

And then there is the true reason to possess a weapon, in my state it is (to protect human life and the state of Indiana). Thats right out of the book.

We forget that our founding fathers had just defeated a tyrant and wanted the citizens to be able to prevent another from taking what we had just won, foreign or domestic.

Moons.

mindhunt, where are you from?

"first step in my house and right in the chest with my 45 the whole clip."

Holy Cows SitasMom, that's overkill and ammo abuse !!

I didn't expect so many comments about that video but it really does tell it like it is from the criminal mind's point of view. A criminal can and will commit the crime without a gun, a gun's just a tool to make his job easier. Are criminals really going to go turn in or register their guns? Um, NO. Granted, there are people that have no business possessing guns and I'm all for enforcing the laws we already have about that.

Take away the average joe's right to a firearm on the pretense of protecting the public and who is really protected here? The government is. They're protected from the possibility of an armed revolt by the people. We all gripe and complain, and we have the illusion of power to do something about it through our vote, but what really changes? Nothing. We vote for the people they want us to vote for one way or another.

An invasion of this country by a hostile force would be stupid with the huge heavily armed general population we have. But we are being slowly invaded and taken over when our land, natural resources, etc is being bought up by foreign entities. And we let it happen every time we allow our sovereign rights as Americans to be trampled on.

History speaks quietly but powerful people listen when it's in their own interests.

Bottom line, guns in the hands of responsible law abiding citizens hurt no one except the people who fear an armed citizenry.

Here in Wichita, Ks a few years ago, friends of ours were robbed at their liquor store.  The husband was gone at the time but the wife and an employee were putting up a new shipment.  Some men came in, wandered around, left then came back.  When one of them stuck a gun in her face and pulled the register off the counter she blew him away with her handgun.  The employee was in the back of the store, heard the commotion and took out the other guy with a shotgun.  Both dead at the scene.  Our friends were cleared.  Guess it depends on where you live how it turns out.  If you are threatened with death or grievious bodily harm you have the right to protect yourself.  Here, store owners have the right to carry a gun on their hip in plain sight.  You don't usually see it, but it's there.  And we make an effort to frequent places that have signs up saying "FIrearms are welcome here" instead of those stupid signs with the red slash across the gun.  Like all the crooks are going to say "Dang!, I gotta walk back to my car and put my gun away before I can enter this building.  I sure don't wanna be caught breaking the law!"  People who are for gun control are just stupid.  IMO

There is little that anyone can do for the US now that there are so many guns; however, the notions that guns make it "safer" is simply not factual.  (although gun control is not the answer, either) 

Dont get me wrong - I actually like them - did some black powder shooting years ago - love the smell of gunpowder, my good friend was a gunsmith, etc...  BUT...  it simply isn't true that gun control relates in amy way to increased gun violence. 

Canada has very strict gun control laws.  I don't have recent stats, and prefer to compare "per capita" rates (as Canada's population is 1/1oth of the USA) but between 1998 to 2004, the average murder rate in Canada was 1.82 per 100,000 and in the USA for the same tine framer, it was 6.3 per 100.000.  One-third of the murders in Canada involved firearms, while 65% of the murders in the US involved firearms.  In 2002 there were 149 gun murders in Canada, in the United States, there were 10,800.

But whe you look at the Swiss - all males aged 20 to 42 are required by militia system regulation to keep rifles and/or pistols at home. In addition, gun shops abound. Yet firearms are rarely used in crime.  Guns are used by young and old - it is a part of the Swiss culture.  Children and guns are together from a young age in Switzerland.  They have a three day festival that includes a shooting contest for 12- 16 year olds - the festival has been held since the 1600s! 

Sooooo....  gun control is not likely any answer.  The cultural component is the largest problem.  While Canada has a significant number of households with firearms,  the defensive use of firearms in Canada is also extremely rare.  While 27% of Canadian households have a firearm, most are in rural areas where hunters and target enthusiasts and there is no real culture of using of a firearm for "protection" per se.  Shop owners don't even think of using guns for protection their property.  That is what insurance is for, I suppose. 

The gun controls in Canada include strict regulations about locking up ammunitions separately from the firearms.  Most handguns are prohibited.  Carrying a concealed weapon of any kind in prohibited. 

I think the most disturbing fact is the suicide rate with guns.  The US has the same suicide rate as most other countries for non-firearm related suicides - but when you add the gun related suicides, unfortunately, the US suicide rate doubles.  That, to me, is just sad. 

So, I don't actually think gun control is an answer because of the pro-use-of-guns culture, but I do think that there should at least be the beginnings of a dialogue about the reality of the fact that the mindset about using guns for protection might be a large part of the reason for the increase in gun related homicides in the US as opposed to other countries. 

luvdemdogs,
Save your stats and numbers, comparisons and so on.
Your never going to figure it out, understand it, or make sense of it.
It doesn't matter what you actually think is the reason for anything.
Increase, decrease, one is not enough two is too many.
So many think they have all the answers and they don't.
Homicide, suicide, are social issues and the tool (firearm) has nothing to do with it.
We have a culture that has a life of its own, for better or for worst it is what it is..
I wouldn't trade our screwed up country for any other country on earth, even if I do bitch about it sometimes, I love it.
You can have Canada and Switzerland.
Moons.

LOL!  I'm much more hopeful than you that things can change for the better.  I believe the culture will eventually change for the better.