Jayb,

Your anecdotes and stories are just that and flawed - easily disproved by the very low incidence of problems with licensed persons.

Another example, as if any more are required, is the excellent record over many years of school cadets. Thousands of secondary school students had custody of the most potent and fastest firing bolt action of WW2, the SMLE, and were skilled with light machine guns such as the venerable Bren and the Aussie Owen.

Many of those young Cadets earned and proudly wore the crossed rifles of marksmen on their uniforms.

In the field on bivouacs and camps they fired blanks, full load, no projectile but possibly harmful if misused. They fired live ball ammunition on ranges, the exact same cordite rounds used in WW2. They were issued with and used all sorts of edged weapons - tools to cadets in the bush or on parade (swords), again without the loss of life your catastrophysing hysteria imagines. Many Cadets received instruction and fired the SLR and M60 machine gun on ranges.

Many schools had their own .22 ranges. Again, no problems at all.

Jonathon Swift, "What about my right to carry vials of mutated anthrax for my own protection? What about my right to gas home invaders with prussic acid? At the very least I should be allowed to lay a small minefield in my front lawn"

Why would anyone say that?

Attention-seeking is one thing, but that stuff is outrageous and obscene.

I also want to be allowed to lay a small minefield in my front lawn.

Not that I would ever do it, but the knowledge that I COULD would be a good deterrent for intruders.

OTB: Your anecdotes and stories are just that and flawed - easily disproved by the very low incidence of problems with licensed persons.

Well I can only speak from my experience, I can't force you to believe me.

OTB: the excellent record over many years of school cadets. Thousands of secondary school students had custody of the most potent and fastest firing bolt action of WW2, the SMLE.

I have no problem with that & as Has been said, these people have been properly trained from an early age. It's the, Would be, if could be, that cause the problems & the criminal element. The ones that have never had any training or just a one day basic. The ones that weren't given a Size 9 where it hurt if they even looked like bending the rules, I don't have a problem with. For the people from WW2 & Vietnam & to a lesser extent CMF & Cadets have had many, many hours of training. Would be or Could be haven't, There-in lies the difference. People like Johnathon Swift. would you let him carry a weapon?

I Don't think so!

There are others here that know what I'm talking about. You make it obvious that you have no idea & would be, I think, another person I wouldn't let use a butter knife.

Jayb, "It's the, Would be, if could be, that cause the problems & the criminal element. The ones that have never had any training or just a one day basic"

If what you believe was true it would be reflected in crime and accident numbers. There are thousands of illegal firearms out there and that is not the only way to wreak mayhem, even if you wrongly conflate the lawless with the law-abiding as you unreasonably do.

Gun crime is low and always has been.

However if you are so worried about the stupid and untrained getting hold of dangerous things, what about tools like chainsaws, a whole array of chemicals, and (shudder, shudder, as you must do) a motor vehicle or booze?

How do you sleep at night surrounded by your neighbours? Better still, what might you have done that you are so scared of them?

Jayb,

I was SG1 with high mechanical ability and low clerical.

I did 12 months once as one of the two Battalion HQ Orderly Room Clerks !!