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melchiz: Drunk driving, cost to society of drug addicts, drugged-up burglaries and murders, etc. etc.?
Stupid people will abuse drugs and can hurt others. Stupid people will misuse guns and hurt others. Surprise!

Yeah true enough.
This is why I dont believe in laws much.
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Krypsyn: That is why i mentioned the crime numbers from the U.K. and Australia...

Yeah, I saw. It's just statistically, its not a perfect direct connection. For example, how many of those crimes were violations of the new gun law (ie someone who didn't voluntarily hand in their guns and had them confiscated by police)? Or how many of these crimes were rescaled- for example - Bar fight, angry guy shoots guy, flees while everyone in shock. -> 1 crime, FA. vs Bar fight, angry guy punches guy, other people join in, ->multiple crimes ( Assaults/ FA's).
You see my point? Crime stats are really whacky that way, which makes really hard to compare. I agree with you in principal, it just one can't look at past years and go "Mr. Criminal, you didn't commit X crime on Y day, why?"
Stuff-
Thanks for letting me make fun, I figure if they tried to collect guns, u'd have a number of bad situations. Alabama, Mississippi? Don't forget major inner cities.
Post edited January 17, 2010 by denyasis
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melchiz: Something that makes my head spin:
If you are for the legalization of drugs, how can you not support gun rights? Likewise, if you support gun rights, how can you not support more lenient drug laws? It really is the same argument: stupid and malicious people will always do stupid and malicious things, regardless of the tools available to them.

Lofl, drug laws and guns have *nothing* to do with each other.
Drugs are personal choice, and ONLY the personal choice aspects should be legalized. IE, make drug DEALING a stricter offense, make drug USING nobody elses business.
Guns kill people.
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Mnemon: What about Sweden, Norway, Germany, ... ? The majority of the countries in this world do not allow private ownership of guns to the degree that is the case in the US. I don't think (feel free to prove me wrong) a correlation between amount of criminal activity and gun ownership is all that obvious/easy to prove.

Ok, points 4 and 6 in this one are noteworthy:
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4706
Another nice one:
http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=206&issue=007
Not sure if this directly deals with guns, but it has some nice crime-rate statistics between the U.S and some European countries:
http://www.tinyvital.com/blog/2003/7/26/american-vs-european-crime-rates/
EDIT: corrected bad link
Post edited January 17, 2010 by Krypsyn
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Krypsyn: I agree, the entire argument has gotten a little out of hand. Some of these assault weapons (full-auto or not) that people buy make me scratch my head. A buddy of mine just bought an AR-15 M6A3 (semi-auto). I acknowledge it is a pretty gun, but what is he going to do with IT? Shoot deer? Home defense (rofl)? It isn't even a 6.8mm, it is a 5.56...

I think ex-military are more likely to own assault rifles. There is a warm, fuzzy knowing your weapon is there. I personally don't care if I ever see one again. . .=) PRETTY GUN?? Say that out loud and we will all be out in a field shouting "This is my weapon, this is my gun, THIS is for fight'n, THIS is for fun" . . . yet again! LOL
What I was hoping to hear was if anybody was witnessing the confiscation of weapons to the extent this video reports????

Hm. Ok. Says there's more guns. Says there's less crime. Doesn't prove that A is the cause for B. Just puts two statistics next to each other.
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Krypsyn: Not sure if this directly deals with guns, but it has some nice crime-rate statistics between the U.S and some European countries:
http://www.tinyvital.com/blog/2003/7/26/american-vs-european-crime-rates/

Ugh. I'll not trust a webpage that in it's title claims it is "Exposing the Fools in Media, Academia, the Left, and elsewhere". And sadly the source link he provides leads nowhere.
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Krypsyn: Ok, points 4 and 6 in this one are noteworthy:
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4706

Thanks. That seems legit and there does seem to be a correlation for at least the US internal situation. Wish he'd included his sources though :/.
Post edited January 17, 2010 by Mnemon
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anjohl: Guns kill people.

So do drugs. Oh, and while we're at it, so do knives, high-sodium diets, automobiles, alcohol, and sedentary lifestyles.
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Stuff: What I was hoping to hear was if anybody was witnessing the confiscation of weapons to the extent this video reports????

That's a good question. I'm also curious of that as well.
I'm also curious as to what you guys own or perhaps wish to own. :-)
Gun control is a good idea. Then again I read Freakonomics and it shows that guns are not the cause of most deaths anyway.
But the NRA IS run by a bunch of conservative Limbaugh ass kissing morons.
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Mnemon: Ugh. I'll not trust a webpage that in it's title claims it is "Exposing the Fools in Media, Academia, the Left, and elsewhere". And sadly the source link he provides leads nowhere.

I don't give much credits to that kind of statistics. It seems that every country has their own statistics and make their own statements. I heard and read different statistics as well. When it comes to criminality, western countries are all on the same boat. There is 1000 crimes in the USA and 1200 in Europe ? Wow, big deal !
And if you think that you can "regulate" the crime rate with guns, think again.
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Cambrey: And if you think that you can "regulate" the crime rate with guns, think again.

The same logic applies to gun control. You cannot "regulate" crime with gun control. You prevent crime with urban renewal (clean up bad neighborhoods) and/or strong, effective law enforcement.
Limiting the law-abiding public with additional laws accomplishes nothing, because criminals, by their very nature, have no respect for the law.
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melchiz: You cannot "regulate" crime with gun control.

Of course you can, but that's not enough.
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Cambrey: Of course you can, but that's not enough.

Owning a gun should not be a crime, because it is not directly related to criminal activity.
Making it extremely difficult for law-abiding citizens to acquire firearms has no effect on the weapons black market, which is how criminals acquire guns now, anyway.
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Cambrey: I don't give much credits to that kind of statistics. It seems that every country has their own statistics and make their own statements. I heard and read different statistics as well. When it comes to criminality, western countries are all on the same boat. There is 1000 crimes in the USA and 1200 in Europe ? Wow, big deal !

I see this as an admission that there is no proof gun control works, even if it, perhaps, doesn't prove outright (which assertion I believe is false) that it doesn't work. If there is no conclusive evidence either way, then it becomes a moot point, and the debate must hinge on another argument. Such as, for instance, a basic freedom and right extended to all law-abiding citizens to guard against an overzealous government.
Post edited January 17, 2010 by Krypsyn
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melchiz: You cannot "regulate" crime with gun control.
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Cambrey: Of course you can, but that's not enough.

I find it interesting how differently each country views the subject of gun control. I have a friend who is from Beijing and he told me no one owns guns anywhere in China. Instead he insists the weapon of choice is the hatchet . . . the common weapon of criminals he says. That was about ten years ago so it may have changed.
I do believe if you could magically destroy every gun in existence . . . that the next alternative would immediately become the norm . . . following those efforts . . . we would be banning the possession of clubs eventually . . . =)