just ignore and let this one die

*whimpers, mentally pets kitty, whimpers*

Aww, Lexxi. I'm so sorry.

It didn't seem as real last night, and won't be until the deed is done and kitty is put down. But it is hitting harder at moment. Thinking how it is likely I saw kitty for last time this morning.

Increasing gun control may decrease gun related deaths but at the same time it treads on our liberties in the U.S. and opens the doors to other forms of crime.
This letter fails to mention that over 90% of gun related crime is also drug or alcohol related. It is my opinion that narcotics in America is a greater threat to life and property than the Second Amendment.


*The link that must be included with the letter.*
http://mixedink.com/GovTrackUs/111Hr45Against

Did some exploring today. Omega Point:




Floating in the Meditation Field:

That can pretty much destroy a person. I would hold you in my arms and let you cry if I could.

Brann,

I won't go into specifics, but I can bring my weapon into play a lot faster than you suggest. I'm not sure where you are going with the rest of your argument, though. On the one hand, you seem to side with Scylla that ready access to guns is a clear and present danger...but then in your final paragraph, you note that our laws make it harder for those who would misuse guns to get them.

Rafe,

Well said. Thank you.

All,

Those of you who say that the presence of a firearm can lead to disaster in situations such as a family argument, or depression, or drunkenness, or accident are right...some of the time. Just as the presence of an automobile can lead to disaster in similar circumstances. Nevertheless, in my opinion and in every honest study I've ever seen, an armed citizenry is a positive deterrent to crime and a factor in societal stability. In other words, the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Please bear in mind that I am not a "gun nut". I advocate firearms ownership only for trained, responsible individuals. I do not, however, equate "trained, responsible individuals" with "government officials".

By "trained" I mean someone who has had training in firearms safety, is proficient in using their weapons, and knows and obeys the laws regarding their posession and use. This must be supplemented by regular re-training and practice.

By "responsible" I mean someone who is mentally competent, who is willing and able to control their emotions and actions under stress, and who is willing to abide by the consequences of their actions. The responsible gun owner knows what their weapon can do, what they can do with it, how to keep it in working order, how to store it safely, when to use it and when not to, and how to prevent its use by others. The responsible gun owner (heck, the responsible PARENT) trains their children in gun safety. My kids are safe around firearms, and have been since they were six or seven.

It isn't hard. Almost anyone can become a safe, competent shooter in a couple of weeks, and maintain their proficiency with an hour at the range every month or two.

Much of the narcotics violence takes place because it is illegal. The high profits that prohibition provides to criminals fuel this violence. Add in the fact that the drug dealer or buyer isn't going to go to the cops and the courts (yes I know there are some idiots who do) for a redress of grievances leads to disputes being settled with violence.

This is a very important point. Every year in the USA, when the rates of shooting the wrong person are compared between the police and private citizens, shooting the shape in the dark, the mistake rate for the police is usually double that of the private citizen.

Whoot! It's actually been pouring with rain here all day. amazing.



Lol!! How close together do you all live?



That does indeed sound like an awesome experience, Malia. It's pretty cool just hearing about it from you.

Oh Lexxi. I'm so sad for you.

What lovely fantastical pictures, Oryx.

QFT. If recreational drugs were legal, maybe even regulated and taxed. Crime and violence and prison population numbers would go way down.

And I just had lunch with not only Treasure but also Maureen. They are both so cool, and smart and nice and funny and kind and beautiful. I wish you all could have been there.

/me is jealous.

Then there would be more room for Corporate CEO's and Politicians...the REAL criminals.

((((Lexxi)))) I am crying with/for you and kitty, I am SO sorry, so painful.

/me laughs at all those compliments, which apply of course, to Kaimi and Maureen but, meh, I'm just me and was a very cold and wet me today, horrible storm in San Diego, rain, wind, etc. I told Maureen I tried to clean up San Diego for her arrival and she responded yeah but you just left the water on. It's really a mess out there but such a joy to spend a little time with two of my forum friends, to put a rl face to the name is so fun. I really had a nice time and wish we could have spent more time together.

It IS fun. It's like, Instant Friend. I know Maureen, and I wish I could have been there to meet you and Kaimi too.

The thought of an armed citizenry is absolutely terrifying to me which is why I dont live in USA anymore. I hate guns. Their only purpose is harm. They have no other reason to exist.

Take a tour of a refugee camp in Africa (as I have done) and see the carnage created by these damned things). I spit on the makers of firearms throughout history. They don't create freedom, they suck you in to believing you have freedom but they click into that cruel part of the human soul. Awful, awful things.

(I try to never post here so you can see that I really mean how bad bad bad guns are)

There you go. And there would be money left over to pay for stuff like health insurance for minimum wage workers and their kids.



Me too. You are such a treasure!



Ooh me too, Lindal! That would have been awesome.



There's no escaping the fact that gun manufacturers and arms dealers make a profit on every gun that exists. I don't like guns either, I'm afraid they give some people a false sense of security and others the impetus to do more harm than they would otherwise.
At the same time I know some very responsible people, who I respect, who own guns for various reasons. Including a single woman who actually shot an intruder in her house in the middle of the night. She didn't do him serious damage but what if she had? If someone comes into my house uninvited I am going to try and kill them with what ever I can lay my hands on. Because I've also heard of people who were seriously injured because they couldn't bring themselves to hurt their attackers when they had the chance...
I lived in the U.K. back when the police there didn't carry guns. I felt a lot safer than I do here now. Heck, the house I live in now is the same house I grew up in and it felt safer in the 50's and 60's. I've probably watched too many episodes of "Law and Order".

To me, a home invasion is the vilest of crimes. One's home is a sanctuary, a place where they should be safe. I own 2 guns, a handgun and my dad's shotgun. I am trained on their use, and I keep in practice. I guarantee you, any intruder into my home will be met with as much deadly force as I can muster.

If Mankind hadn't invented firearms, he would have invented some other form of technology to kill one another. Before guns, there were crossbows, trebuchets, axes, spears, and rocks. It's not the guns, nor the makers of guns that are to blame. It's the genetic predisposition of animals to kill to defend their territory/food source/genes, and man is no exception. We just happen to be really good at it.

I'm sorry Oryx, but I refuse to accept that we have some sort of genetic predisposition for killing each other. Overcoming such "biological imperatives" is precisely the point of "culture," and, on the whole, humans have done a pretty good job over the last 100,000 years or so of abandoning a whole lot of such "predispositions." To believe otherwise, in fact, is not merely to suggest that we have accomplished nothing in that time (consider, for instance, the evolutionary importance of the first evidence of humans caring for their sick or their elderly), it is also to deny free will.

While I will readily grant that such a statistic on its own can merely be suggestive, rather than conclusive in any way, I'd like to point, with reference to the issue of gun control, to these stats from the "Seventh United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems" (1998 - 2000)



The per capita rate of Canada, which has reasonably stringent gun control, is less than one fifth that of the United States. That of the United Kingdom, also with gun control, is lower still. Both the United Kingdom and Canada are comparable with the US in other regards: all three are relatively wealthy nations with very diverse populations and high levels of immigration from all over the world.

Only seven nations, according to this survey, have higher rates of murder by firearm, and all are essentially very unsettled third world countries: South Africa, Colombia, Thailand, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Belarus, and Costa Rica.

Again, this is just one stat. But it's a pretty powerfully suggestive one.