Here's where the gun debate should go!

[Mrs-M]

Originally posted by Bae.
It has to do with all those pesky sporting/hunting regulations you claim we don't have.

My claims are based solely on what Canadians, as myself, know and hear.

As for the rifle argument, makes sense.

[bae]

My claims are based solely on what Canadians, as myself, know and hear.

You perhaps need to find some different information sources. Find a Canadian sportsman who has come down to the USA for hunting or competitive shooting events, and ask them what the story is.

As for the rifle argument, makes sense.

Also consider that modern handguns typically have multiple internal safety devices that keep them from going off if struck or dropped.

Many rifles, even quite modern ones, are *not* drop-safe, and so are a bit dangerous to carry with a round in the chamber, and typically require a bit of fuss to load when in the not-in-chamber state, and so aren't perhaps the ideal weapon to carry around as an item to be used in reactive personal self-defense.

[Yossarian]

but to allow someone the given-right to open fire on someone/anyone, aside from ones very own home, is asinine.

Why would you want to limit personal safety to the confines of your house?

[peggy]

I raised my kids to, first) be aware and avoid trouble, and second) know how to get away if you get caught in it, and third) know how to defend yourself if need be. You may consider that shameful, I consider it my obligation. They are some of the most well adjusted people I know and some of the least likely to be involved in a violent situation because they know violence is only acceptable when other options have been exhausted.

Your kids carry guns? Really?

[peggy]

OK, this argument is going in circles. Gregg, you never answered as to the sensible registration process I proposed a few pages ago. Every gun sale, professional, and private is officially registered, checked, so on, so if that gun ends up in a crime, it can be traced back to the last guy who owned it, who would be held accountable unless he/she can produce a police report on the lost/stolen gun. It would, I think, help to keep guns out of criminals hands while protecting the seller. It wouldn't infringe on any one's right to buy, sell or own a gun. It would just keep the process in the open and legal and safe, for everyone. And of course this standard would be nationwide.

[Mrs-M]

Originally posted by Yossarian.
Why would you want to limit personal safety to the confines of your house?

Wow, just wow...

[bae]

Here's some data on the state of law-abiding citizens carrying firearms in the USA, from the GAO:

http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/592552.pdf

[Mrs-M]

Gregg. If and when you answer Peggy's question, it would be great to hear back from you regarding the question I asked you (some pages ago) Re: gun-related deaths and violence in Japan, compared to that in the US, and how the second amendment has improved overall safety in your country.

[bae]

Every gun sale, professional, and private is officially registered, checked, so on, so if that gun ends up in a crime, it can be traced back to the last guy who owned it, who would be held accountable unless he/she can produce a police report on the lost/stolen gun.

The Canadians just abandoned their longgun registry, as it was costing them a lot of money, not solving any crimes, and not preventing any crimes, to a first approximation. New Zealand went through the same experience in the 1980s.

Adding the element of blaming the victim of a crime for having their gun stolen and not doing proper paperwork is just mean-spirited. And considering that at the moment we have trouble bothering to charge actual criminals for actual violations of firearms laws, it seems just another "well-intentioned" law that will clutter up the books, entrap innocent parties, and cost us all a lot of money.

How about we simply tack on 20 years mandatory sentencing ehnancement for crimes of violence committed with a firearm?

[bae]

Gregg. If and when you answer Peggy's question, it would be great to hear back from you regarding the question I asked you (some pages ago) Re: gun-related deaths and violence in Japan, compared to that in the US, and how the second amendment has improved overall safety in your country.

Cross-cultural comparisons are not a simple black-and-white matter.

If interested in data, you could check out Kopel's book "The Samurai, The Mountie, and the Cowboy: Should America Adopt the Gun Controls of Other Democracies?"