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It is likely Glen only experience gets this point across.Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
Random acts of the insane shouldn't control public policy. Public policy should determine the fate of predators by empowering those whom they would prey upon.
Guns are tools for a job no one wants but frequently must be done. Denying access to the tools is ignoring the truth that some people want to hurt others and if good people stand silently inactive tyranny rules by fear and violence.
Point taken!Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
The situation up here aren't all that much to use as a comparison, I'll admit.
Not to say we don't have issues up here, we most certainly do.
All I'm trying to do is relay alternative views of these matters.
I do enjoy following discussions on other nations ways of doing things, there are most certainly things to learn from that.
Different countries have different culture with guns and that is just a fact we have to live with.
In Finland getting a hand gun used to be easy but nowadays it is almost impossible. And my opinion is that it is good that way. Getting a rifle for hunting is still relatively easy.
Although crimes made using a gun are very rare, statistics say that almost every killing is made with a legal gun by the legal owner. And a victim is almost always a family member, wife or kids. Also getting robbed by someone using a handgun is almost impossible here. Bad guys do not carry guns either. It is legal no illegal guns that kill here.
I have a gun but i carry it only when at work and because there is no obligation to carry it, i do it only when ordered to and never even imagined getting it home. Of course i practice shooting few times a month.
Even police have no right to carry a gun when off duty and not all police still carry a gun when at work.
I cannot imagine a situation outside work when i would need a gun. Actually i have never needed it at work either but i've used a rifle for few times back when i was in deployment.
As far as i know, police has to draw their weapons for few times a year here and the last time police was killed in a line of duty was Oct. 22. 1997 and even then the shooter was foreigner.
Off topic but wolves used to be (and still are) some sort of problem here. When getting out to woods with my dogs i usually carry a knife, just in case. I've never needed it, luckily.
In this country I believe the problem is the rapid decline of american sociaty.
Young people today put no value on human life,they are starting to believe what they see in video games.
In countrys like Norway that were trashed during WW2 (far to many others to list)these countrys seem to have a higher standard because they saw firsthand, in thier face what war and death was all about,as such perhaps those countrys have a higher standard for human life and a better way of life.
Perhaps if the axis actually invaded U.S soil and killed millions of americans,maybe we would be a better people for that happining.
America is circling the drain folks, just like Rome two thousand yrs ago.
The whole argument is pointless. No one will change their minds over this. People are far too inculcated in their own beliefs to countenance a real debate on this issue and all that happens is that bad blood is generated. We've seen it before (unfortunately) in many threads over many years.
And in the meantime the families and friends of a group of movie goers mourn the deaths and or injuries of their loved ones.
Personally, I am fed up with these pointless and energy sapping "debates". The fact of life is that in the US the NRA has a lot of political clout; (resulting from) a lot of grass roots support. That will not change, and hence the US attitude to gun control will not change. Therefore the most logical solution is off the table.
That leaves two options as I see it: 1. work on general public mental health; 2. increased public safety, like they do at schools in the US.
Or, of course, you could just wait for it all to die down and do nothing.
James.
Birnado,
Off topic but i just watched the concert live from Oslo. My deepest condolescenses, once again. To hell with ABB.
Thank you Sailor:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailor
To have Bruce Springsteen join in with his version of "We shall overcome" was quite special to behold.
Yes, that maniac is never gonna experience life as a free man again. Good riddance I'd say!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
And therein lies the problem.
It's obvious that we need to spend more on mental health issues.
It's obvious we need to stop the cycle of poverty in urban areas in the US (not saying the rural areas don't have problems but there are more people suffering and as the urban areas are centralized distribution / resource centers should be easily available) .
Doing those two things would increase public safety and vastly reduce violent crime in the US.
But the old farts in power are choosing to lie down and hope it goes away. They are in best with interests other than their constituants. You would think that the Boomers would be leading the way after what they experienced in the late 60s-70s with all the frustration at the Vietnam debacle and the civil rights movement.
But most of them in power have become corrupt. And Gen X is just starting to get to the point where we can take the power and hopefully right this country before it implodes. I'm hoping politicians and leaders from Gen X have enough frustrations and desparation are able to sustain them to start righting the system and be an example to Gen Y and the Millenials so that in a generation or two real, positive, change will have occurred .
Otherwise we'll have another generation just lie down and wait.
And that would be horrible.
The statistics out there have never changed and don't take this as an anti-gun post cause I own several but if you have a weapon and can carry it's more likely either it will be stolen in a robbery or used against you or used by a family member in a rage of obtained by a child than you would ever use it in defense. That's just the way it is. You can deny the stats but they are what they are.
Just one small thing. The notion that if one guy in that theater had a weapon fewer would have died is such rubbish. In a real situation like that with panic stricken folks running in all directions if an armed civilian had a weapon and tried to use it it's more likely he would have shot another patron cause there would be no clear shot. Unfortunately the bad guy doesn't have to worry about such things.
I think any jerk who decides to start shooting at innocent people should have the favor returned immediately and decisively. It's only fair.