Quote: sootyj @ 23rd June 2015, 7:46 AM BSTDaButt that's a dangerous sentiment and yet another one of the pretty horrid ideas the NRA like.
Control and fear the mentally ill they might get guns, not control guns they might get into the hands of dangerous people.
It's not a sentiment, it's a fact that most rampage killers are mentally ill. I never said anything about fearing or controlling the mentally ill members of society. I think I made my point very clearly when I said that not all mentally ill people are potential rampage killers, but most rampage killers are mentally ill. That's not a damnation in any sense of the word.
Quote: sootyj @ 23rd June 2015, 7:46 AM BSTAs it is when you described your application for a concealed fire arm's license, it seemed to be the model for a sensible ownership system. I'm not sure why you wouldn't want it spread further?
What am I not wanting to spread? The Texas CHL application is very similar to the ATF form that everyone fills out when they buy a firearm in the U.S., with provisions for denial based upon citizenship, criminal history, mental health history, domestic abuse history, drug abuse, etc.
The form can be found here: https://www.atf.gov/file/61446/download
Quote: Nogget @ 23rd June 2015, 9:03 AM BSTI could accept that bringing in gun control now might not be the best solution, but to argue that the existing problem is not linked to the availability of guns is disingenuous, and any attempts to manipulate the homicide figures by distancing oneself from the horrors of gang violence is both statistically dubious and frankly heartless; they are your fellow Americans, whether you like it or not!
Actually, a lot of them aren't American citizens. But I feel very comfortable distancing myself from gangs and drug dealers because they might as well be on another planet. They have nothing to do with my life. The violence in our inner cities is heartbreaking, but until our political and social leaders solve the problem then I'm not inclined to support gun control measures that only target law abiding citizens. Bodies are piling up in the president's back yards in Washington, DC, and Chicago, but he's more concerned about hawking gun control and decrying race relations because a single white gunman went on a relatively rare shooting spree.
Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 23rd June 2015, 9:35 AM BSTThat equates to about 300 million guns (staggering to me)
It's actually more than that.
Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 23rd June 2015, 9:35 AM BSTAnd each year about 30 thousands are used to kill someone
And 23,000 of them are suicides, so they don't belong in the murder figures.
So let's say there are 8000 firearm murders per year from a pool of 300,000,000 firearms. That's one murder for every 37,500 firearms. Now compare it to the United States' stats for traffic deaths: one death for every 7,775 vehicles. The figure for the UK is one death for every 20,400 vehicles. So you're 5 times safer with a firearm in the U.S. than riding in a car and almost twice as safe as riding in a car (on the wrong side of the road) in the UK.