"Cliff" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 7 May 2006 13:46:10 -0700, "Hawke" wrote:

It's unfortunate that there are people that use firearms to the detriment
of
others. However, you have to remember that of all the guns in this
country
only a very small fraction of them are used improperly. Half of all the
households in America have a gun in it. In the vast majority of cases
they
are used properly and no one is ever harmed with it. Given the ubiquity
of
guns they are always going to be around, which makes the idea of
eliminating
them an inane idea. Might as well talk about eliminating the house fly.

Since they are always going to be around and that only a tiny percentage
of
them are used wrongly. It's not rational to remove them from everyone who
uses them safely. Your problem is with the small group of people who use
guns to commit crimes. I would suspect that even you would not support
banning all guns if people didn't use them in crimes. If everyone used
them
properly why shouldn't people have them? So the real question is not one
of
banning all guns it's really about doing something about the people who
commit violent crimes and use guns to do it. Find a way to do something
about them and there is no gun problem. Unless of course you are one of
those people who is inherently afraid of weapons and thus wants to see
them
all eliminated. If so, there is nothing to discuss except meaningless
statistics.

The odds are still at least 8 to 1 against you.
Now YOU want to restrict their ownership .... as long as
you keep yours. That's what they all said I think.
The odds are still at least 8 to 1 against you.
--
Cliff


I never said everyone should be able to have a gun. People that are a danger
to themselves and to others shouldn't have them. But the same goes for all
kinds of other things that are inherently dangerous. You are probably right
that most gun owners think they are responsible enough to use them safely.
Statistically they're right, because the vast majority of gun owners never
have any negative consequences of owning one. But owning a gun is a lot like
driving a car. You can say what the statistics are of being killed or
injured when you drive one but the way you operate a car and the number of
miles you drive can change the statistics a lot.

It's the same with guns. For someone like me the probability of an accident
or injury are virtually nil. But then I am single, don't drink, and am very
experienced at gun handling. On the other hand, I've seen plenty of other
people that I don't like to see within a block of a gun, and not because
they are criminal but because they are incompetent. For them, the chances of
injury are high. But the point is gun ownership isn't a privilege in this
country, it's a right, a fundamental right at that. So, guns are here to
stay. My view is learn to live with them and minimize the harm they can
cause. They can also come in quite handy too because in life there are some
situations where the only thing that will save your life is a gun. If you
don't have one in that case you're dead. I don't want that to happen to me.
You can chance it if you want. Statistics be damned. I've been in too many
situations where something happens that is way against the odds of happening
but it still happens. I like to keep all my options open. If you want to
rely on statistics instead of a firearm that's fine, I just don't want to
take that risk. Maybe you're just braver than me...or more foolhardyg.

Hawke