Quote:
Originally posted by Azred:
Outlawing guns entirely will not reduce the rate of any sort of crime or make society any safer overall.
|
Ok. now the problem with this statement is that it is impossible to make.
You do not know the future. You cannot with any certainty predict anything. All you can deal with are facts that HAVE occurred.
1.People are being killed by guns.
2.When Australia introduced tough gun and knife laws, violent crime went down.
3.Australia has an exceptionally low crime rate.
These are facts. Australia and America share many things. Common heritage, similar language and cutlure, respect for "individualism", and independent, freedom loving folk.
Though the gun lobby in Australia was powerful, and even formed some political parties (The Shooters Party etc) unarmed citizens sick of gun related deaths won out in the end. It can be done.
But then, arms weren't enshrined in the constitution. Granted we didn't fight a civil war, or a war of revolution.
But then, how much is America going to be chained by the past? The attitude to guns was formed in the wake of the war against Britain. What are the odds of the British monarch taxing Americans without representation again? The threat is over. America is the Roman Republic (soon to be Empire if a policy of 'premeditative invasions' becomes commonplace... oops did I say that
) of the modern world.
My point being,
America is not in the same situation as it was when the constitution was drafted. Internally or externally, The threats are different. The problems different.
New problems require new solutions.
[ 10-22-2002, 02:35 AM: Message edited by: Yorick ]