American Gun Laws

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

IMO both sides of the debate often oversimplify the argument. The worst case manifestation of this is spewing forth emotive one liners or slogans believing it's all simple.

The elephant in the room is the US Constitution. You can't legislate against or hinder gun ownership (long arms and pistols) until you change the constitution. Changing a democratic constitution is no mean feat - and rightly so!!! The other elephant in the room is the traditional American reluctance to accept government regulation in favour of self regulation. Some would argue (as I might) that this is a primary element of true freedom.

If you're interested in the real public opinion in the US on gun control then look at this - it makes an interesting read:

http://www.pollingreport.com/guns.htm

This contrasts somewhat to the opinion of US law enforcement personnel:

http://ddq74coujkv1i.cloudfront.net/...mmary_2013.pdf

You may get a clue that it's not as simple as you think.

Cheers, Marcus

[Kal (Andrew)]

But a well armed militia is important incase those canucks invade!

[marc4darkskies (Marcus)]

The right to self defense is also a major issue in the debate. I thought this was interesting:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybel...control-lobby/

The following blog seemed to be one of the more "reasonable" pro control opinion pieces. But even it acknowledges the right of self defense. Alas, the last para loses me as it's simply a political and ideological rant.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/0...of-Gun-Control

The solution of course is to find common bipartisan ground. If you looked at the polls in my last post you'd see there's plenty of common ground to be had. Unfortunately, there are too many political hacks on both sides.

Cheers, Marcus

[Larryp (Laurie)]

Originally Posted by Kal

But a well armed militia is important incase those canucks invade!

Not to mention aliens!

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

Originally Posted by Kal

But a well armed militia is important incase those canucks invade!

We have plans....