Dear OldGeezer,
I'm going to thoroughly address the points you raise because they seem based on misinformation instead of the usual hysterical ranting that most people who don't like guns have.
1.) Yes, shootings happen. Innocent people DO get killed by unpleasant people who use guns. When it happens, the media crawls all over it. Some people might say that's because they're biased and they might be. Even if they weren't, it's still bad news and that always sells. However, there's a couple points the news doesn't discuss. Many of those shootings happen in places with high crime where strict gun control is already instituted or in specific places where guns are forbidden (like the Virginia Tech shooting). In other words, the reason innocent people get killed is because they follow the law and homicidal criminals don't worry when they break it.
Also, what you DON'T hear about are all the tragedies that get avoided specifically because people have guns. A gun doesn't have to be shot in order to fend off an attacker. According to the US Justice Department, there are as many as 1.5 million cases of self-defense every year using guns. The National Institute of Justice published this figure in 1997 as part of "Guns in America" -- a study authored by criminologists Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig (known for an "anti-gun" bias, no less).
Sooo, when you say "look at all the shootings" you're looking at people who misuse guns. What that ignores are all the millions, literally, of times guns are used responsibly by law abiding men AND women to save lives and protect themselves from dangerous, violent criminals.
2.) The right to keep and bear arms was, like subjon said, installed specifically so citizens could prevent the goverment from taking away its rights, by force if necessary. That may not be a popular view today, but let's not forget the founders of this country were revolutionaries who fought for freedom against an oppressive monarchy. Many of the founders of this country talked about this subject,as did more comparatively recent important figures like JFK.
"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country." - James Madison.
"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed."- Alexander Hamilton
"The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed and that they are entitled to freedom of person, freedom of religion, freedom of property, and freedom of press." - Thomas Jefferson
"That the said Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms..." - Samuel Adams
"Arms are the only true badges of liberty. The possession of arms is the distinction of a free
man from a slave." Andrew Fletcher
"By calling attention to 'a well regulated militia', the 'security' of the nation, and the right of each citizen 'to keep and bear arms', our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy. Although it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation, the Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For thatreason, I believe the Second Amendment will always be important." Senator (get that) John F. Kennedy, 1960
My favorite quote is from William S. Burroughs and it applies very much to your concerns. "After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it."
3.) A statement like "The USA gets all upset about people making love on TV or a singer showing her boob yet they think nothing of shooting there neighbour or bring in laws to control guns more." doesn't make sense.
It's mixing up a lot of different issues. Some people get upset over having sexually explicit material on the air, some don't. Some people throw hysterical tight-assed fits over other people owning guns, some don't.
4.) Never mind the "shocking example" the US is showing to the rest of the world. The UK has total gun control, violent crime continues to skyrocket with the emergence of a "knife culture" (something formerly seen in the Middle East and Latin America). The UK is showing the world "the shocking" example of how gun control does nothing to stop crime, quite the contrary.
As a purely personal editorial, that last point of yours is so typically Euro: criticize those nasty Americans as a bad example of something (in this case, urban crime) while ignoring even worse exaples of it in your own backyard.
Best Regards,
BaldGrrrl!
beerfarts 14:18:11 02/14/2008 (105)
beerfarts 16:18:29 02/14/2008