To answer this question we need only look at the poorly-thought-out "War on Drugs," which has utterly failed to keep cocaine, herione, and other drugs out of our country. Nowadays many drug shipments from Mexico also include illegal weapons. The government cannot totally stop such things, unless you want to live in a police state. ("Papers, please.") The banning of guns would give rise to an even larger black market than exists now. The government cannot keep firearms out of the hands of criminals who are determined to get them. Therefore the government has no right leaving me defenseless.
vigilantism is actually much less prevalent today than it was in the past, when there were no real police in much of the rural areas of the US. To take my statement about acting in self-defense to prevent imminent (as in right now, no time to call police and no way to escape) death or serious injury, and turn that into "Vigilantes rule the streets." is pretty asinine, don't you think?
As for the "fabric of society breaking down", I think you're making an incorrect assumption that American culture is just like European or Aussie culture. We are an individualistic society. My business is my business, not the government's or anyone else's, and the business of my countrymen is their business, not mine. The only time we ever really have a sense of "national unity" is when attacked from the outside. Otherwise we're a nation of individuals, looking out for ourselves and our families, rather than "the fabric of society". It's easy to see why socialism is so despised here. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Hardly any homicides are committed by people who purchased their gun legally and are registered for it. Banning would increase crime from the way I see it, just like prohibition did.
That is absolutely correct, in fact, we now have 15 years of statistical data since states began bringing back "shall-issue" concealed-carry laws allowing citizens to obtain licenses to carry concealed weapons. ALL states which have enacted these laws have seen significant drops in overall violent crime, and those rates have stayed down. Despite the fact that only about 3% of residents of North Carolina hold concealed carry permits, no criminal can know whether the potential victim they've got their eye on is one of those 3%, and the overall crime rates are measurably lower.
25 States allow anyone to buy a gun, strap it on, and walk down the street with no permit of any kind: some say it's crazy. However, 4 out of 5 US murders are committed in the other half of the country: so who is crazy?
Last edited by cls12vg30; 11-08-2004 at 07:44 AM.
"The good news is, not one of the 50 states has the death penalty for speeding....although I'm not too sure about Ohio."
Sesquipedalian -- a really cool word. It means long-winded, polysyllabic, or verbose. See the word describes itself...isn't that neat?
1988 Nissan 200SX SE V6
UCP's most hardcore S12 fan!