day of retribution

[GUT]

G'day c.d.

Hello Gut,

Being Australian, I don't know how familiar you are with the National Rifle Association (the NRA) here in America. They are an extremely powerful lobby and politicians live in total fear of them. The NRA believes that the government is coming to take their guns away. Any step in that direction, no matter how logical, innocuous or beneficial is seen as the first misstep on a slippery slope. They will target any politician who they believe is taking an anti-gun stance and will do their best to see that he does not get reelected.

c.d.

I'm aware of the NRA.

We have similar groups here, we actually have a political party called "The Shooters Party" A N D they hold seats in Parliament.

After the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996 Australia banned Automatic weapons and had a huge gun buy back, where the govt. actually paid people to hand guns in, which were then destroyed, I believe that in some areas there are still caches of guns buried in huge numbers.

I was when I was younger a keen shooter, rifles but mainly pistols but have never understood why Joe Average needs automatics. As an aside pistols have never been freely available here in my lifetime but are still used in crime, so I agree you will never stop gun crime totally, but to shoot 20 people in 90 seconds takes an automatic.

[Cogidubnus]

Hi cd

Hello Dave,

Are you saying my logic is simplistic or D.C.'s gun laws?

c.d.

I'm implying that you're advancing a simplistic argument based upon stupidly existing gun laws....are you seriously suggesting that if the gun laws in the surrounding states, (or all the states), were the same as yours, the effective outcome wouldn't differ?

Our experience in the UK has been that there have always been ways and means for criminals to get hold of guns, but.....

All the best

Dave

[c.d.]

Hello Dave,

I think you misunderstood my point. D.C. has no control over Virginia gun laws and vice versa. I was attempting to point out that strict gun control, using D.C. as an example, only leaves guns in the hands of criminals. As you point out, criminals are always going to find ways to get guns. But if D.C. were to loosen its gun laws so that law abiding citizens can obtain them in order to defend themselves against the criminals, criminals might not be so eager to rob stores, break into houses, carjack or mug people on the streets knowing there was a chance those people could be armed.

Certainly far from a perfect solution but as of right now for all intents and purposes only criminal in D.C. have guns.

c.d.