Dox47 wrote:
greenblue wrote:
Is gun control = banning guns, in the strictest sense?
In the end it always is. Everything in between is just incremental impositions to get people used to the idea and less resistant and able to resist when it does come. It's already happened in countries like the UK and a number of authoritarian regimes, and is an ongoing process elsewhere (Canada and Australia come to mind). People such as I here in the US know this, have taken note of historical precedent, and thus respond to
any further encroachments as a full blown attempt at a ban, because that's where they inevitably lead.
so if i said i didn't think people should be allowed to own an m240 light machine gun, and proposed a law about that, my goal would be to ban handguns and hunting rifles?
what about explosives? if i proposed a law making it illegal to possess c4, would i be able to stop myself from banning fireworks?
i think that the best policy is to make as few laws restricting individual rights as necessary to ensure that individuals keep their rights. that should not be misinterpreted as "i think the best policy is to make no laws restricting anything" because that only works if no one is a dick. ever.
i'll bring up the same point as i did about the video. if someone pulls a gun on you and demands your wallet, it's probably best to put your action-movie fantasy aside and evaluate the situation from a real life perspective. pulling your gun takes time, even if you're fast. if i'm in a mental state that makes mugging you at gunpoint a good idea, i'm probably going to shoot you while you try. if i'm mugging you at gunpoint, we're probably not somewhere with a quick response time from the police after hearing shots fired. if you're carrying a weapon openly, and i'm in a mugging-you-at-gunpoint state of mind and a mugging-you-at-gunpoint kind of place, i'm probably still going to want to mug you. all the gun on your hip says, to mugger-me, is shoot you. legal guns cost money, you've probably got money and credit cards on you that i can take/sell, not to mention that pretty pistol that i could keep for myself or sell to whoever i got this old one from.
"flashing" or "brandishing" a weapon is about as effective in diffusing a situation in which the other side is similarly armed as throwing your arms up in the air and yelling "come get it, motherfisher!" when someone is in your face. you're asking for more trouble than is currently being offered. if you're dumb enough to "flash" your pistol at someone who's already got theirs out, you're dead. if you're not that dumb, but dumb enough to "flash" your pistol at someone who has one on them and just doesn't have it out, you might have a fair chance to draw and duel like in the (fake) old west that you seem to think you live in.
if you decide that, rather than just lift up your shirt or open your jacket to "flash" your pistol, you want to actually draw it so you can use it if you need to, mugger-me might
laugh my fishing ass off, shoot you with my own legally purchased and registered firearm, take the cash out of your wallet, and then call the cops and say it was self defense.
personally, while i'd prefer to live in a world where nobody had guns, the ones that would be willing to give them up aren't the ones who cause problems with them. there's no easy answer, with gun control. gun safety, however, is critical.
i think the NRA ought to stop funneling money into conservative politicians promising to protect them from the anti-gun lobby and, instead, use that money to lobby for and help pay for firearm use, maintenance, and safety training.
taking away registered firearms is stupid. it's usually not the registered firearm owners who commit crimes using firearms.
pretending that everyone having a gun on their hip would solve anything, or even be a remotely good idea, is equally stupid.
You're assuming that armed robbers are rational to begin with. Google "Channon Christian" if you think not fighting back is a good idea...
Open carry, brandishing (except in a few circumstances), smack talking, and the "stand and deliver" school of shooting are for idiots and poseurs.
The training to properly use any weapon in self-defense is readily available to those who want it with a few mouseclicks.
17 Jun 2010, 5:15 pm
