How many guns do you own?

[Felonius_Monk]

[Felonius_Monk]

[Rhound50]

[iceman5]

The old saying goes.....if guns were outlawed, then only outlaws would have guns.

Handguns are illegal to carry outside your home (there are a few exceptions) in most every state. That doesnt stop all the criminals from carrying guns. Theyre criminals remember? They dont care about laws.

You could make it alot more safe if you somehow destroyed every handgun in existance in the country I guess, but thats a bit unrealistic.

I couldnt care less about guns. I dont hunt. I dont shoot my gun anywhere except once every 6 months when I have to qualify at the pistol range. But the fact of the matter is that most anyplace near a major city is flat out not safe and Im not going to be without my gun. I take it everywhere I go and Ive needed it a couple times.

Not to tick anyone off, but lets not forget where the 2nd ammendment came from. We had a little war with England a few years back, remember? We needed guns to protect ourselves from them.

[Cactus Jack]

[iceman5]

[Juskimo]

[excession]

If you want the figures for the UK here they are:

2003 Deaths

Guns 81
Knives 272
Motor Vehicle 3508

2004 Deaths

Guns 68
Knives 237
Motor Vehicle 3221

All down year on year thankfully.

http://www.roadpeace.org/news/aadleafl.html

I can find the equivalent US fihures

Gun Deaths 30,242 (2003)
Knife 8517 (*source unverified, year not known)
Motor Vehicle 42,116 (recent)

US population is 60m, USA 300m, so per head of population the USA is a much more dangerous place 34x more likely to die from guns, 8x more by knives and 2.5x by motor vehicle...

[Cactus Jack]

I guess I'm not so much anti-gun as anti-violence. As for rambling, it's what I do best.

Iceman, your story exactly proves my point. While the moron may have gotten out of his car for an altercation, the gun may have escalated it to the point of no return. From your point of view, I can understand how you'd be glad you were armed. From my point of view, I'd have to change my underwear as I don't carry a gun. If he wants to argue, let's rock. If he wants to rumble, let's roll. If he comes out firing, I have no answer for that. His having a gun increases the chances I get hurt.

It's this idiot I worry about. Guns may embolden him, make him much braver than he might otherwise be. Criminals are criminals and they'll always find a way to be criminals. Otherwise law-abiding citizens with no control over there emotions should not be armed. They have a right to own a gun, but that doesn't make it a good idea. And they are the least likely to realize it.

I would guess most people reading this would be frightened by your story. You may have won the battle, but we might have lost you. Senslessly. Unneccessarily. Sadly. That's not political, my friend. That's a fact of life we can do without.

Juskimo, "dodge or tackle a guy with a gun"? One of us is completely nuts. I've got a chance with a guy who has a knife--beer bottle, pool cue, chair, out running him. Ok, maybe not the last as I'm old and slow, but you should be able to get the drift. But a chance unarmed against a guy with a gun? Stop using crack, babe. It's messing up your brain.

Seriously, you can't be serious.

And this endeth my participation in this thread. Nothing left to say. Any more doubts it's an emotional issue?

CJ

[JJSCOTT2]

[iceman5]

What makes you think the 2nd ammendment was intended to protect the people from their own government?

[JJSCOTT2]

It's a reasonable theory. The founding fathers wanted to create a country of the people by the people and all that good stuff we learned in second grade; however, they were intelligent enough to realize that anarchy isn't exactly feasible, and thus the need for government. They intended though for the government to be limited in size and control only as much as was necessary (which those filthy democrats are trying to destroy)<<(Somone's going to yell at me for that). In order to ensure that the government did not grow out of control (which was a reasonable fear given the political conditions in Europe in the 18th century) they built a measure into the Constitution for the people to protect themselves. All very idealistic, their only downfalls were not forseeing a country of 300 million people within 250 years and assuming that people were smart enough or motivated enough to recognize when actions of their government were not in line with their best interests.

[Stoneburg]

[T-Rod]

[iceman5]