Quote: sootyj @ June 21 2011, 11:20 AM BSTBut safer if we had Norways?
I haven't a clue what Norways gun laws are but I strikes me as relatively safe so I'll say yes. Absolutely. And then bow out as the gun debate is even more skull-f**kingly tediously repetitive than the Dr Who thread.
Should Dr Who have a gun?
Dog Frisbee championships.
Guns don't kill people - bullets do!
Bill Oddie new ad
"birds know what's good for them and so do I"
Does the RSPB have a sex offenders register?
Quote: Marc P @ June 21 2011, 11:58 AM BSTGuns don't kill people - bullets do!
Cars kill more people, in fact about 3 times as many in the US. What's more, bullets don't contribute to global warming, so they are the greener alternative. Let's ban cars in the UK and make gun ownership compulsory.
Quote: EllieJP @ June 21 2011, 11:55 AM BSTDog Frisbee championships.
Are you sure this isn't from the Dog Catapaulting Championships? 
Quote: Nogget @ June 21 2011, 12:11 PM BSTCars kill more people, in fact about 3 times as many in the US. What's more, bullets don't contribute to global warming, so they are the greener alternative. Let's ban cars in the UK and make gun ownership compulsory.
Actually a really sensible point
Most people on this site are car owners, but how many of us worry we would run people over or be run over by some one driven mad with rage?
Quote: chipolata @ June 21 2011, 12:18 PM BSTAre you sure this isn't from the Dog Catapaulting Championships?
Oh yes, sorry you're right.
Quote: sootyj @ June 21 2011, 12:21 PM BSTMost people on this site are car owners, but how many of us worry we would run people over or be run over by some one driven mad with rage?
Probably not as many as there should be. I'm constantly worried about the road, and the mental state of other users; not so much of someone 'mad with rage', but anyone who drives badly enough to endanger me and my family. And we've all come across them...but usually, our reaction is one of anger, which masks the more sensible emotion of fear.
Road rage incidences by licensed drivers are statistically quite rare
Quote: Kenneth @ June 21 2011, 8:34 AM BST
Many states and schools have begun to allow licensed gun owners to carry on campus. Texas is working on such a law at the moment.
Columbine was a high school so students couldn't lawfully be armed but if teachers had been allowed to be armed a lot of lives may have been saved that day.
Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ June 21 2011, 9:35 AM BSTI do feel a little sorry for you dabutt. Not in a condescending way but because this argument is never going to be resolved. And the fact that you are outnumbered on this forum by people that have never seen a gun, never mind used one.
I'm not at all bothered by any of this. I don't expect anyone to change their opinion or even agree with me. I'm merely stating my opinion, correcting the occasional bad piece of information and describing situations from a point of view that some people might never have considered.
I feel sure that if either had, had a handgun tucked safely and legally away in the glove-box they would have used it.
I disagree. The fact that neither man actually struck the other one with his weapon indicates that neither one actually intended to harm the other, much less kill him.
What people need to consider are the actual laws regarding the licensed carrying of a concealed handgun:
1) It must be concealed. You can't use it to threaten anyone. You can't wave it around in an argument.
2) The instructors stressed that every bullet has a lawyer's name on it. There had better be clear evidence that you acted lawfully and in self-defence.
3) If you fail to follow the law you'll find yourself in prison just like any other thug charged with gun crimes.
Deadly force is only authorized if you fear for your life or you're stopping a murder, rape or robbery that us in progress. You can't shoot someone who is only shouting at you. In your example both men should have been arrested for their crimes. Personally, I would have stayed in my car. I would have done nothing while he pounded the fender with a bat but if he tried to smash my window and drag me from the car I would have shot him in the chest and would have been legally justified (in this country) for doing so. But it sounds like the guys were merely hot heads and not murderers. That's the case for most people.
Quote: sootyj @ June 21 2011, 9:46 AM BSTbummed by a bugler,
I love the picture that conjours up !
You dirty old man
N.B. Israel considered putting an armed guard on every bus.
In the end they chose about 1 in 10 or 20. All you need is to convince the terrorist bastard there is a respectable percentage his headline will read "terrorist bastard killed by hero"
to put most of them off.
Most effective guns are never drawn, criminals, terrorists are by and large vain and cowardly. All you have to do is give the impression they may die to make them give up.
