Quote: DaButt @ January 27 2009, 4:12 PM GMTConcealed carry laws are anything but lax. They entail a thorough background check and many hours of professional training. Cops aren't worried about grandma with a derringer in her pocket, they're worried about the gangbanger with a pistol under his seat and the will to use it.
In this case it was the mentally unbalanced sex offender with prior convictions and a licensed firearm.
Quote: DaButt @ January 27 2009, 1:11 PM GMT
I don't really see how making guns childproof and stopping people from owning high-powered, fully automatic assault rifles in cities equates to "taking our guns away".
A hand gun to protect yourself is one thing, an assualt rifle spraying 300 armour piercing rounds per minute in a built up area is quite another and anyone who says they need one is clearly a retard.
Quote: sootyj @ January 27 2009, 5:02 PM GMTIn this case it was the mentally unbalanced sex offender with prior convictions and a licensed firearm.
I'd be interested in reading more about this case, as convicted felons automatically lose their right to possess firearms. Same goes for nutjobs.
Isn't gun ownership similar to nuclear armament?
If your adversary believes you're armed, they're less likely to threaten you and you feel more secure with that.
A good debate DaButt.
Quote: Geoff Mutton @ January 27 2009, 11:18 PM GMTIsn't gun ownership similar to nuclear armament?
If your adversary believes you're armed, they're less likely to threaten you and you feel more secure with that.
A good debate DaButt.
Probably, in that it would maybe be better if noone had nukes to begin with.
Maybe??
Quote: zooo @ January 27 2009, 11:20 PM GMTMaybe??
Was that to me? If so, you type bloody quickly!
But yeah, I meant it in a 'not maybe' way 
Quote: Afinkawan @ January 27 2009, 5:10 PM GMTI don't really see how making guns childproof and stopping people from owning high-powered, fully automatic assault rifles in cities equates to "taking our guns away".
A hand gun to protect yourself is one thing, an assualt rifle spraying 300 armour piercing rounds per minute in a built up area is quite another and anyone who says they need one is clearly a retard.
Fully automatic weapons are illegal in the United States and have been for 75 years. The "assault rifles" that you hear so much about are not fully automatic. Gun foes strive mightily to equate them to machine guns that "spray bullets", but that is simply not the case. Add a pistol grip to a hunting rifle and you have an "assault rifle." Add one more bullet to the magazine capacity and it's an "assault rifle." Add a folding stock and it becomes an "assault rifle." But it will not "spray 300 armor-piercing rounds per minute in a built-up area" no matter how much the gun opponents would like you to believe.
Quote: Moonstone @ January 27 2009, 11:22 PM GMTWas that to me? If so, you type bloody quickly!
But yeah, I meant it in a 'not maybe' way
Quote: Geoff Mutton @ January 27 2009, 11:18 PM GMTIsn't gun ownership similar to nuclear armament?
If your adversary believes you're armed, they're less likely to threaten you and you feel more secure with that.
Absolutely. From what I've read and heard from many UK residents, home-invasion robberies (crooks entering an occupied dwelling) and random physical assaults on the street are not uncommon. We have plenty of break-ins here, but the burglars almost always choose a building that they've determined to be unoccupied because they're worried that Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner will blow their heads off with Daddy's shotgun.
Most home invasions here take place in drug dealers' houses where the bad guys expect to find the other bad guys armed as well.
There's a very good chance that the nice old schoolteacher in line next to you at the grocery store is carrying a pistol in her purse. It's a deterrent that keeps a lot of street thugs at bay.
In the US: If you own a gun as a deterrent but are not a firearms enthusiast, how frequently should you have it checked over and by whom?
Quote: Geoff Mutton @ January 27 2009, 11:50 PM GMTIn the US: If you own a gun as a deterrent but are not a firearms enthusiast, how frequently should you have it checked over and by whom?
I suppose you could take it to a gun store or a friend. The critical components of most guns are coated with a thin film of lubricant, so if you've kept it clean and dry and haven't fired it, then it should be good for years and years. One of the guns my friend and I were shooting in the desert a few weeks ago was a 1991 Colt .45 that had apparently never been fired. He found it at his father's house when he died (of natural causes) a few years ago and all he did was disassemble it to check for cleanliness and then reassemble it. Dry fire it a few times and then you just chamber a round and hope it doesn't blow your hand off. 
Quote: DaButt @ January 27 2009, 11:56 PM GMTDry fire it a few times and then you just chamber a round and hope it doesn't blow your hand off.
Rather you than me!
Quote: Geoff Mutton @ January 28 2009, 12:07 AM GMTRather you than me!
A smart shooter checks (safely!) to make sure the barrel is unobstructed before firing. That's why you see soldiers putting condoms over the barrels of their rifles when they're crawling around in the boonies. A little plug of sand or dirt and BOOM!
Guns scare me. There's probably a name for it, like ballistaphobia.
I don't trust anyone with a gun and certainly wouldn't trust myself with one.
I'm the same with horses, so I'd have been shit in the "Wild West"! 