jonhtas

americans couldnt care less about the carnage they created in iraq...
only about americian casualties.. and only when it affects them..

Have a look at this, is it wrong and if so why?
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/yoursay/index.php/theaustralian/comments/gun_laws_disarm_the_vulnerable_not_killers/

Ok Is Mise - I'll have a crack.

Firstly - the argument he's putting forward is that gun regulation won't remove guns from the outlaw sect.

Point taken. The thing is, people like Cho, and Martin Bryant weren't criminal masterminds, neither were the Trenchcoat Mafia of Columbine.

In fact, Bryant is mildly retarded, and Cho was a social outcast, as were the teenagers of Columbine. As I recall, the Columbine teenagers took the gun from their parents.

Cho just walked in and bought his gun from a shop - all he needed was a driver's licence. That was it.

Do these strike you as the kind of people that have extensive connections in organised crime?

At the very least, increased gun regulation makes a spur of the moment killing much more difficult - they have to plan to get the gun. For the mentally unstable, this alone may be enough to prevent such bloodshed.

The outlaws who will be going to the effort to get guns will be those in organised crime and drug running - aside from the odd burglar, who generally wants to avoid confrontation, and the occasional armed holdup, most of these people are shooting at other people with guns, not everyday citizens. These people may be outlaws, but they generally aren't the crazies.

Another point to make, is that many of these crazed shooters end by shooting themselves - one of the arguments I've heard is that more people should be armed as a deterrent.

How effective can a gun be as a deterrent, if somebody's going to shoot themselves anyway? How scary can it really be to somebody in this state?

And the most compelling one of all - if the US gun system is so much better, why does this kind of bloodshed seem to happen far more often over there than anywhere else?

Iluvatar people all over the world follow American culture,including Australians. You cand find gun killings in places where guns are hard to find. Its just that it happens more in America because there are more guns and flexible laws through different states.

I cannot possibly imagine me being able to defend myself with a gun. I'd probably shoot myself in the leg or worse. That's why I prefer to live somewhere where I can go about my business without being armed to the teeth. I would regard it as a huge impingement on my freedom if, in order to live, I would have to carry an automatic rifle with me on all occasions. And be ready to use it.

The article by John Lott makes no mention of domestic disputes, lethal accidents or suicides that have ended in gun deaths. Are they not tragedies worthy of any notice? He seems to refer mainly to the US - and rather selectively from what I can gather. Forget the US for a moment. Places like Johannesburg or Capetown make New York look like Disneyland. Guns in Jo'burg are way more readily available. Jo'burg is not getting any safer.

A final note: if the students at Columbine in 1999 had guns it wouldn't have made a difference if the killers carried out their original plan - they wanted to bomb the place. For the greater safety of US citizens, would Lott propose loosening the laws on bomb ownership? I'm afraid of the answer.

hi all,

from what I have gained from americans, they are used to
having guns around.... normal in the family suburban home...

perhaps all hand gun laws in the US should be revised,
say a good long 4 month course....

like when getting a car.... here..... and the age lifted of
course....

a society that gets used to using guns, simply will do so

quite alien to me, think if I picked up a real gun, I would
have an anxiety attack...grin

making excuses will not work, if he had no gun access ?
or easy gun access..... he would have been slowed down a bit...

whats wrong with sensitive metal detectors..... ?

gun was the blame

nothing else

JHH