Bertman,
Remain calm my friend. I am an Endowment Life Member of the NRA and a stalwart believer in the rights of the individual.. Always remember that the USA is a Republic, NOT a democracy. That we currently seem to be breeding ratschitt-rabid-nut cases, is a bit of a sticky wicket, but as has been pointed out previously by others, not much out of proportion to our norm..
The most sickening video I have ever witnessed was bulldozers crushing firearms in the land of OZ! If an individual does not have the right to protect the life of himself and his family, he has nothing. I would prefer to live with freedom, regardless of it's price..
Roger
Rodger,
You should know that I don't get hot & bothered by anything.
I have relations in South Africa where they sleep with firearms under their pillow to protect themselves from vigalantie black men.
To date more of the whites have been shot by each other accidentially ( or so they say ) than being shot by home invaiders.
A an ex- military man you should have been taught hand to hand and realize that a knife, sword, machette , hammer, chainsaw etc etc etc can all kill but can be defended against.
You can not do the same thing with a fire arm except with another fire arm.
So either no one is armed or everyone is armed.
Arming everyone means that lots of people with serious mental problems will end up armed or even worse, people under extreme emotional distress and acting in a temporary irrational mannar will also have easy access to a fire arm
Down here most shootings were a crime of passion and in the bulk of these cases innocent by-standers were also hit, in fact more by-standers were hit than any one else.
As people are people world wide I would expect it was some what similar over there.
If you know a single case where a by-stander whipped out a fire arm and protected the public, including their own family from a gun toting offender, I would be interested.
I am yet to hear a single law enforcement officer in any capacity saying it would be better if every one was carrying and come to think of it haven't heard the same from any military offical either.
As an ex-military person you should also know that the only time a person hits the target with every round in a uncontrolled ( real , not range ) situation is in movies & TV shows.
The idea that you are protecting your family by having an arsenal at their disposal is as silly as thinking you are providing for your family by buying a stack of lottery tickets.
You can protect your family by creating an enviroment where they are neither under threat nor feel threatened.
Otherwise you would have to be carrying 24/7 and always on alert for potential threats.
That means you are in a perpetul state of combat, and being combat aware is very stressful & tiring , as you should know.
If the fire arms are to "protect your family" then they have to be carrying 24/7 as well or a firearm has to be within arms reach at all times.
Now I have no objection to owning a fire arm, if you have a real need for one & have been properly trained, which is the case down here.
There are over 1,000,000 registered firearm owners down here, so that is about 4%.
However they can not carry in public so I don't have to size up every person walking through the workshop gate just in case they are carrying.
Our firemen ( and women ) know when they attend a house fire if there are firearms in there, so it makes their job easier as they know if they are in danger from exploding ordinance .