[Qdkczrdi]

I chalk the failure up to insufficient application of overwhelming shotgun.

[fkjghfg]

I'll support a solution that will remove guns from the hands of criminals. I wont support any myopic "solutions" that take guns from law abiding citizens while leaving them in the hands of criminals. Is there something about that concept that is difficult to understand?

Yes, what's difficult to understand is that I've never heard you - or anyone who supports broad gun ownership rights - describe such a solution.

[scemHeish]

That's certainly a possibility. My preference is for automated defense systems run by robots. Robots don't miss.

I'm always in the market for an auto-targeting kilowatt laser.

[DailyRingtone]

"In order to protect against bear attack we must stab ourselves in the testicles"
"Look, I don't like bear attacks any more than you, but your solution seems like it won't work"
"How do you propose to eliminate bear attacks, then?"
"I don't know, but your solution won't work"
"If you don't have an idea then your objections to my idea are silly"

[uranbigis]

che and I used to work for a pizza guy a long time ago who was a morphine addict and has a license to carry a concealed handgun. Which he did. Charming fellow, especially after he was lit up and waving the gun around in the shop.

~200 years ago that was common. Similar behaviors from other drugs and diseases like Syphilis too.

We no longer have Morphine legal, and we don't have the Syphilis problem. Yet we still have crazies... maybe even crazier crazies.

What is wrong?

JM

[Stoniaanapy]

I'll support a solution that will remove guns from the hands of criminals. I wont support any myopic "solutions" that take guns from law abiding citizens while leaving them in the hands of criminals. Is there something about that concept that is difficult to understand?

Is there a rogue firearm manufacturer out there selling to the criminal element? Where do you think the guns in the hands of the "criminals" came from?

[BruceCroucshs]

I was going to dig up crime rates by nation and I came across this:

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cr...mes-per-capita

It's highly unlikely that Finland has five times the crime rate of Russia. I think that some countries might be including petty crimes while others (like India and Yemen) ignore just about everything.

[neniajany]

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cr...ers-per-capita

This chart seems a bit more plausible*. Some countries are still probably underreporting, but it's not as extreme.

It shows the US sitting between Bulgaria and Armenia. South Africa, which has very tight gun control, is up near the top. Switzerland, which has widespread firearm possession, is near the bottom. Finland, a relatively gun loving country, is right smack in the middle.

I think that you'd have a tough time correlating murder rates to gun ownership. It seems as though law enforcement efficacy is more relevant. Columbia and South Africa are at the top, with the Swiss and Japanese down at the tail end.

*Plausible is defined here as "Confirming my prejudices."

[Mehntswx]

Please stop taking the retard pills, Lori.

Spencer's argument against gun control is not that it's only partially effective at reducing crime/violence against innocents; his argument is that gun control is only partially effective at eliminating guns, and thus might well INCREASE the danger to innocents.

I don't defend this claim. If you want to provide evidence to argue against it then please feel free. But the line of reasoning which you were following in attacking his claim previously was idiotic.

[DavidShreder]

Not everyone. I believe in gun ownership but I have no problem with ANY restrictions that would make it harder to own one. I just want them to be enforceable and have strong penalties so it can be used against criminals. If private citizens have to jump through a few more hoops in order to make it a more difficult for criminals, fine, that's the price you pay to keep your guns.

[Yifnvmzp]

Agreed, and put whatever restriction necessary to make it hard for those that don't to be denied.

[Aniplinipsync]

But not from themselves, since most murders are committed by people that know their victim. You have to weigh that into the equation.

[Rexaviennatutr]

I don't think that crime in the USA is caused by the guns. But I don't think that those guns are much of a deterrent either. It's more of a feel-good solution for *YOU* making *YOURSELF* safe from the big bad world out there. The public safety version of bootstraps. YOU being your own man in the world. I guess that's why it works so well with americans. This sounds exactly right to me.

-Arrian