Question authority and think for yourself. Big Brother does not know best and never has.As you should be able to see from my posts I am neither pro- nor anti-government. Government like any other human institution has its good and bad sides depending on whether it is working for the good of the whole society or being used by a single or group of elites to further their own short term ends or is working for the long term benefit of the entire society. IMO, in the US today the Regannomic economic policies that both the Democrats and the Republicans have contributed to have rebuilt the moneyed aristocracy that F.D.R. began to put minor controls on in the thirties. Neither party is devoid of responsibility but what both my experience and my economic studies have taught me is that wage earners, for the most part, make out better under the Democrats. Blaming government is largely a copout, go after the people who are crating the problems and too often control the government, not through violence, but through democratic electoral means, starting with getting gerrymandering, and unlimited campaign contributions under control and eliminating the Electoral College. There ain't no "big brother" anymore than there is a god. Ther is only a government who controls the people it is told to. Spelling
So what? Many do agree with me. Still, so what that as well? By and large, the Swiss just aren't going around murdering each other left and right, and it's not as if there's a lack of firearm availability.Oh, no, another gun addict! Imagine two societies of which 75% of the people never make any problem, 15% have heavy family problems, 5% are somehow insane and 5% are criminals. Of course it is impossible to identify all problematic individuals. In which society do you think there are more death cases: - one were it is difficult to get weapons (so generally only part of the criminals can get guns) - one where weapons are freely available for everyone And then Switzerland has less poverty, no big heavy discriminated groups: that are the main reasons that weapons are not so a huge problem here. And do not forget: in Switzerland weapons should be registered. The insane and criminals should be excluded. (In practice the checks are not rigid enough, and there is no central registry, there is the problem for the Swiss.) Army weapons can be taken home, but ammunition is not allowed. And, yes, your government cannot be trusted in all matters (well, no government can, but there are not so many countries that can afford just to start a war...). But generally, in western countries, the way to cope with that is to intensify democratic control, not it give access to guns for everyone.
EOC,
Don’t you think that the fact that Americans do go around murdering each other left and right (unlike the Swiss) is enough of a reason to make guns illegal in the US? When Italy tried to get rid of speed limit on their highways, they quickly realized they were not Germany as car accidents skyrocketed. They couldn’t do it. People and peoples are different and their laws should be adjusted accordingly. The right to own arms in the US is as idiotic as trying to introduce democracy in Afghanistan.
The bad news is that making guns illegal in the US won’t happen, e.g. The dems are now backing away from the assault weapons ban. However, the good news is that despite the hype by the NRA, gun ownership is down nationally. It is the lowest it’s been since 2000 and dropping. There are more guns but they’re being bought by those who already own weapons. There are fewer buyers. Also, if you look at the stats, most owners are white, over 50, with average incomes ($50,000), a high school Ed., and conservative. In short a shrinking minority in America that supports the NRA. This may have an impact in the future. It seems that America’s love affair with weapons might just fade in time.
Cap’t Jack
Your post shows you don't know the actual meaning of the phrase.Whether all that is completely true or well-analyzed or notIt is. Overall, you did a nice job of missing the point. Most gun control....to say nothing of a lot of other initiatives....assume at it's very core that Big Brother knows best and is worthy of being trusted. It doesn't and it demonsterably is not. I made a point of citing whipping boys and issues harped on by both the right and the left so you have no room to complain and neither do your esteemed opponants on the other side. (Of course, a ot of people deep down are well aware of this but don't want to admit it when is comes to advocating whatever idiot right or left wing agendas they want to push on everybody else under penalty of law.). You may wish all those ooopsies weren't there because they're so inconvenient but they are and they won't go away because you or your polar opposites don't like it. Face it and deal with it.The UK, for one, seems to survive with strict gun control and “the gummint" hasn’t tried rounding up unarmed people yet.And the Swiss do just as well without it. (And they keep for real assault rifles IN THEIR HOMES as a part of their militia system.) -- and weapons, training and their use are strictly controlled by the authoritarian Swiss government, which keeps detailed records of every weapon and its owner. I can't imagine Americans wanting anything like the Swiss system. People like you think it's perfectly all right to sacrifice innocent people, including kids, to protect everyone's right to own and use weapons of mass destruction. Good thinking. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc[/I] either way.
EOC, Don't you think that the fact that Americans do go around murdering each other left and right (unlike the Swiss) is enough of a reason to make guns illegal in the US? When Italy tried to get rid of speed limit on their highways, they quickly realized they were not Germany as car accidents skyrocketed. They couldn't do it. People and peoples are different and their laws should be adjusted accordingly. The right to own arms in the US is as idiotic as trying to introduce democracy in Afghanistan.I strongly agree with George, here. Well put. And as an aside, I wish people would get over the silly idea of "Big Brother" government. We are the government and it will do as we, the citizens as a whole desire, just as long as we are active and knowledgeable about the behavior of those representing us. Occam