Walter Hinteler wrote:[Could it be, Thomas, that you report an urban legend about "Mr. Uzi"? Biography
Uziel (Uzi) Gal, born Gothard Glas.]
It's possible -- your quote certainly suggests that Mr. Uzi finished his prototype after he got released from prison, and it doesn't say whether he had a usable gun while in prison.
Quote:After graduation, he joined the Palmach (underground infantry forces of the Hagana) and specialized in weapons maintenance. In 1943 he was arrested by British forces (who ruled Israel until 1948) after being caught with a gun, and was sentenced to six years in prison. After over two years in prison he was pardoned and returned to Yagur in 1946.
During the 1948 war of Independence, Uzi participated in several battles in northern Israel. After the state of Israel was established in May 1948, he was sent to an officer-training course, and while there, demonstrated the submachine gun prototype he had developed on his own in Yagur. Uzi was sent to work at the Israel Military Industries to continue developing the gun. After over two years of development and modifications, The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) adopted the new weapon as its official submachine gun and named it <i>UZI</i>, after its developer, despite Uzi's protest.
But even if we follow this version of the story, it still supports the point I was trying to make. It demonstrates that a competent tinkerer can build a prototype machine gun on his own if he wants to. Making a gun isn't rocket science. And even if it's illegal, a criminal with sufficient energy will always be able to get one somehow. It is the law-abiding citizens, not criminals, who are most strongly affected by prohibitions against guns. Remember how, after the massacre in Columbine, CO, several pundids here in Germany boasted that this thing "couldn't happen here" because we, unlike the United States, are a civilized country and have tough gun control? Remember how we experienced a very similar high school massacre in Erfurt a few years later? Remember how after this massacre, which was followed by several smaller ones, nobody here ever asked whether Germany's rationale for its stricter gun control was based on unrealistic expectations?
