MagiK

who said anything about arming yourself with a sub-machine gun?

and it's not about untrained people getting a gun and maybe using it. it's about criminals HAVING a gun, and you don't. thats all i'm trying to say.[/QUOTE]The point is that owning an SMG is overkill. It is legal in certain states of the US to own it. Again, i don't have anything against responsible people owning a pistol or rifle but an SMG IS overkill.
It's all about untrained, and even worse, unbalanced people owning a gun. That's why so many people get shot over, well, nothing, if you think about it. If the criminal has a gun and you don't, i agree that, to put it mildly, you are at a disadvantage. But it's rather easy for untrained and unstable people to get one legally. The threat doesn't lie solely with the criminals. If you allow such a free selling of guns, overpowered guns to people who aren't carefull enough with them or are not totally balanced, you're going to get 'accidents'. Why do you need a very powerfull gun to protect yourself when a normal pistol will do ? This is my point. Again i do not have anything against trained and balanced people owning a gun but why does it have to be a powerfull one ?[/QUOTE]Contrary to media hysteria, not very many people get shot in the USA with Submachineguns, Machineguns or assault rifles. You are way way way more likely to be killed in a car wrek.....And I can assure you, if you are killed by a bullet...you do not give a damn wether it was from a hand gun, a rifle or a machine gun.

With over 400 MILLION firearms leglally owned in the USA the percentage of all firearms used to commit crimes is miniscule. Guns are not the problem.

Actually considering that there are roughly 300 million people in the USA, the percentage of anyone getting shot for any reason is quite low too. Someone else pointed out that only 67% of the murders are due to firearms...so almost half are due to other means.[/QUOTE]Ok then don't take a submachine gun, take a desert eagle for instance. If, and that's what you are talking about, want to use a gun in self defence, wich i condone mind you, how powerfull does it need to be ? I mean, in most situations, you will not be far from your target. A normal pistol does enough damage to stop someone like that. The point i'm making is not that i'm against trained, stable individuals having a gun, i'm only trying to make clear that it doesn't have to be a very powerfull gun. The fact that they are legal is the proof. Those should be outlawed, even if not many people own such a gun.[/QUOTE]Actually JR Automatic weapons (in the USA) are only illegal if 1. you are a fellon or 2. You cannot come up with the $5000 Federal Firearms Fee for the registration of such...the only reason they are illegal at all is so that the government can charge an arm and a leg for the license, that $5,000 every year.

As for how powerful is powerful enough, well thats pretty subjective, besides power isnt the only criteria, I own a .357 Magnum, now if I used a heavy load with a solid slug, that would penetrate the villian, the wall behind him, the car across the street and the next wall behind that......so instead I load my .357Mag with what is called "sanke shot" it is a special shell that is like a mini-shotgun shell, the pelets will stop an intruder..and knock him on his ass but won't kill my neighbors....if you are going to own a gun, you are SUPPOSED to know how to use it properly.