[MILAMBER]

Originally posted by Thoran: quote: Originally posted by MILAMBER: quote: Originally posted by Spelca: quote: Originally posted by MILAMBER: ... I ask you, where is the difference between shooting bows and shooting rifles? Is archery a noble sport and shooting not? Both were initially created with the sole purpose of killing, yet exceptions are made in one instance and not the other. Why is that? I submit that shooting guns is no different then shooting a bow and arrow. Both can be dangerous in the hands of those lacking maturity and training.

There's nothing wrong with shooting as a sport. But walking around with a gun is different. And there is a difference between walking around with a gun and with a bow. You can see the bow, and you can't see the gun...

I would be terrified to go out on the street if I knew that people have guns with them... I would feel less safe then than I do now when I know that it's harder to get a gun. I'm in Sweden btw. [img]smile.gif[/img] [/QUOTE]There are two different ways to carry a firearm on you. You can carry, which means in plain site, or you can carry concealed which means you can hide the weapon on your person. The ONLY people who can get concealed weapons permits either work for the government, or work as say a bodyguard in the pivate sector. Conceales weapons permits are VERY difficult to obtain. Also, the only place in the U.S that you can carry any type of weapon on you in public is Texas, a nd when you do, it has to be in plain site.

So, while you could see somebody carrying a bow, you could likewise see somebody carrying a gun, unless they worked for the government.[/QUOTE]While your intent is accurate, the details are not 100%.

Vermont is the only state in the country that allows concealed carry without permit.

Somewhere around a third of the country allows concealed carrying of a handgun with the proper permit (if required)

There has been no documentable increase in firearms related violence in states which passed concealed carry laws.

If there is a statistical deduction to be made regarding gun control, it would be that states and countries where gun ownership is allowed have LOWER rates of homicide than those with strict gun control laws than their gun control neighbors. In europe for instance, Switzerland requires firearm ownership of it's citizens, and has a homicide rate that's HALF that of handgun banning Luxembourg.
In the US in 2000, states that had Right-to-Carry laws had lower violent crime rates on average, compared to the rest of the country. Their total violent crime rate was 21.9% lower, murder was 28.4% lower, robbery was 37.7% lower, and aggravated assault was 16.5% lower. (admittedly this data was compiled by a pro-gun forum... but it was extracted from the fbi crimes database. I would be interested to see conflicting data from a pro-control source)

Israel allows it's citizens to carry firearms (if they've received training) and actually will provide a citizen with a firearm at their request (which it does millions of times a year), It has one of the lowest murder rates in the world.

I think the idea that disarming the public will make the country safer is simply not supported by ANY data... domestic or foreign. I believe representing gun owners as trigger happy hicks does a disservice to the pro-gun control community, becuse it's an obvious ploy to artificially dismiss the valid arguments of that community... without having to actually respond to their arguments. That sort of tactic appears evasive to me... so of course I wonder why a group who feels so strongly has to evade simple debate points.

I respect the right of anyone to choose not to own firearms (as I have chosen not to own a handgun). But I simply can't support the idea of taking a right away from someone simply because you THINK it will somehow improve society. Beyond that, I see people continuing to blindly push this concept, with not a shred of evidence to support their position... and significant evidence to the contrary. If I've ever seen a more head in the sand, hands over the ears screaming "I can't hear you" group of people I sincerely can't think of where.

Now if you'll excuse me, me 'n pa r gonna head out to da woodshed and shute us some possum... from thirdy paces fer shure.[/QUOTE]I stand corrected. The only laws I'm really familliar with are Californian laws. I did a little bit of research for curiosities sake, and Vermont is the only state that DOESN'T have any concealed weapons legislature. It's not that the law says you can carry concealed, it just doesn't say you can't carry concealed.

[ 05-01-2002, 07:39 PM: Message edited by: MILAMBER ]