Guns: how much longer will it take ....

and to let 'em buy guns...

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My brother visited the States when he was 17.
He walked into a store and bought a gun.
He was an underage foreigner and nobody asked him for ID.
Stupid.

If a Canadian chooses to come here and buy an American gun,
I don 't see a problem. Y is that "stupid"??
If a 17 year old fellow chooses to buy a gun, again,
I see no problem. I began my own gun collection when I was 8.
Some of the kids in my neighborhood who were younger than I was
had gun collections. We never had any trouble.
From the writings of Annie Oakley, we know that in the 1800s,
when she was 8, her mother put a rifle into her hands and sent her out
ordering her not to come back without lunch; every day.
From doing it so much, she became a proficient trick shot.

James Butler Hickok "Wild Bill" told the same story about himself, when he was 9.
It was no big deal. Did your brother do something inappropriate with his gun? (I bet he did NOT.)
If he asked to buy an ax, it is stupid to sell him that ?

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Cho obviously had problems and yet he was able to buy an arsenal. Stupid.

He shoud not have been free.
Dangerous lunatics shoud be isolated.
Thay shoud be prevented from having access to the decent people.
We had a case here in NY wherein a lunatic in a crowed street
smacked a young woman on her lunch hour, a stranger to him, over the head
with a fragment of a cement block, inflicting grievous, life-threatening injuries.

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In my perfect world there would be a lot less guns and other nasty weapons but I live in a reality that this will never happen. Canada actually has more guns per pop. than the US. Crimes in this country are increasingly involving guns and gangland type killings.
Most of these killers aren't interested in bomb. Knives certainly, but these cowards aren't willing to look their unsuspecting victims in the eye. These monsters shower innocent or evil victims and anyone else in the vicinity of the spray of bullets. Damming anyone happening by to the quick staccato strafe. It would be wonderful if someone could stop the carnage before, during or after but... generally the damage has been done and the gun owner escapes.

The same way that criminals can have access to alcohol or to marijuana, thay can have access to guns,
even if recourse to underground gunsmiths is necessary.
Prohibitions have never worked.

Violent criminals can be ISOLATED and thereby prevented from
having access to the decent people.

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In your perfect world, with cat like reflexes you would live
to be the hero, shooting and blocking the first bullet mid barrel.

The US Constitution does not guaranty that u will win every gun fight,
but it recognizes that u have the right to stand on an equal footing
when u rise to your own defense against predatory violence.
When it was enacted, there were no police
(neither here, nor in England, until the next century)
and every citizen was expected to defend himself.

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Reality is not what either of us want or like, however, it's more likely all those gun toting hero's, at the ready to strike down an aggressor, would, at the first sign of trouble, stand out like a meerkat, blinking in stunned fear, then diving for cover and with hands shaking and heart pumping. They would manage to recover their senses and their Piece and the action would probably be over.

Human beings can only do the best thay can
with what is available. Tactical training might help.

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I know we all want to be heroes. We've been raised to believe we all have an inner Bruce Willis in us. You may play scenes over and over again in you mind what you would have done, or what other could or should have done... Reality is another thing all together.

I can only speak for myself. I do not play those scenes in my head. I do not wish to be a hero.
However, in some circumstances, I will resist illogic and resist evil and I WILL defend myself
so long as I have the ability to do it.





David

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This is an interesting area of discussion.

Agreed.

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Dave, at this time, can an illegal alien from, say, Saudi Arabia
legally buy a handgun in the USA and, if not, should he be so allowed?

If I remember accurately, that is not legal, as of now.

It used to be legal, with no ill effects.

Government shoud have no jurisdiction of that,
but it has the jd to deport any alien.





David

Canada actually has more guns per pop. than the US. Crimes in this country are increasingly involving guns and gangland type killings.

Most of these killers aren't interested in bomb.

In your perfect world, with cat like reflexes you would live to be the hero, shooting and blocking the first bullet mid barrel. Reality is not what either of us want or like, however, it's more likely all those gun toting hero's, at the ready to strike down an aggressor, would, at the first sign of trouble, stand out like a meerkat, blinking in stunned fear, then diving for cover and with hands shaking and heart pumping. They would manage to recover their senses and their Piece and the action would probably be over.
I know we all want to be heroes. We've been raised to believe we all have an inner Bruce Willis in us. You may play scenes over and over again in you mind what you would have done, or what other could or should have done... Reality is another thing all together.

This is an interesting area of discussion.
Dave, at this time, can an illegal alien from, say, Saudi Arabia
legally buy a handgun in the USA and, if not, should he be so allowed?

"Reality shows" that people successfully use guns for self defense all the time. And without freezing up like you described in that fantasy scenario.

Exactly, "reality shows". That's the problem, you're all enthralled with these stupid shows, you're all heroes.

Gun control does work, albeit imperfectly.

For instance, it has been shown that the Brady law has saved many lives.

Regarding the effectiveness of the Brady Law, please see
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-helmke/the-brady-law-by-the-numb_b_93929.html

You dodged everything I said. I did the same.

I've trained with police forces. I can tell you people freeze all the time.

Restriction does work,

but gun nuts will get their guns regardless

Show me a class room where someone cut up 30 people, hell make it 10 or even 5 students. Not possible. Doesn't happen.
If all these gangland killers were interested in bombs, LA would be shrapnel.

Gun control does work, albeit imperfectly.
For instance, it has been shown that the Brady law has saved many lives.