Gun accidents? Guns are dangrous?

[slickss]

NCAces, I'll try to answer your accusations.

If you had followed what I wrote in this thread, you'd know that I never claimed that a full ban against guns is feasible in USA. I wrote that I suspect that the conditions under which USA was founded - basically a bunch of Europeans committing genocide and stealing land - has made the Americans the gun loving people you are today.

The settlers took America from the natives with brute force, which was possible mainly because of British muskets. Furthermore, compared to the British, the Americans were a lot more accepting towards change and new technology - which later would make USA the super-power it is today. Following the patent system (of 1790) and other factors, the Americans made several significant improvements to the muskets. Examples are the smoke-less gunpowder and the cone-shaped hollow ammunition. Finally, around the Civil War, Americans invented the rifle (1850s). Meanwhile, Samuel Colt would invent the revolver.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not try to teach history here. I'm sure you can find factual errors in what I wrote (don't disappoint me, pvn!). My point is that significant weapons technology originate in USA, for the most part. It's your creation, and it has been a necessary tool in your creation of liberty and freedom. I live in America, and I've come to understand that the last thing I want to do is to mess with an American's "rights for freedom". Americans have a very unique society and a very unique relationship with weapons.

Because of this, I don't think USA will ever function without guns. To me, that's sad. Your death-by-gun-rates are very high, and I would say it is very likely that they will stay very high.

[slickss]

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I haven't bothered with any other marksman qualification regimes, though I doubt I would have much trouble with the handgun or shotgun series.

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Are you still a member of the NRA? Why did you stop with this at 16?

I'm only asking because I'm curious, I'm not accusing you of anything (in case you thought so).

[ShakeZula06]

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If you're implying everyone having a gun leads to less verbal abuse/conflict in a society, you just don't know what you're talking about.

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switzerland disagrees with you.

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Heh, you sure love responding to my posts. It's not the guns that make them polite, it's the culture.

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I actually agree with you. Culture is a big factor in deciding crime rate and deaths from guns, likely bigger then gun control laws.

I mean we see Switzerland with really lax gun control laws and very low crime rates, and we see the exact opposite in gun control laws in Australia yet they also have very low crime rates.

There isn't a one size fits all solution, which is what makes the "OMG gun laws will cure everything" crowd so annoying.

[slickss]

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There isn't a one size fits all solution

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I'm tempted to go with this as the conclusion of this debate.

[pvn]

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I haven't bothered with any other marksman qualification regimes, though I doubt I would have much trouble with the handgun or shotgun series.

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Are you still a member of the NRA? Why did you stop with this at 16?

I'm only asking because I'm curious, I'm not accusing you of anything (in case you thought so).

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I wasn't a member of the NRA at the time; you don't have to be a member to qualify for their various marksman awards. I did most of my qualifying at summer camp.

I joined the NRA for one year when I was in my 20s. I didn't renew for a whole slew of reasons. Partly because the NRA has a large interest in keeping gun control discussion alive (if the issue goes away, so does most of their money).

[Shoe]

Great Article: Link

[PLOlover]

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d we see the exact opposite in gun control laws in Australia yet they also have very low crime rates.

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Please update your information. Australia's crime rate has greatly increased after the gun ban.

[Phil153]

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d we see the exact opposite in gun control laws in Australia yet they also have very low crime rates.

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Please update your information. Australia's crime rate has greatly increased after the gun ban.

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Please provide the statistics to back up your lies. Thank you.

P.S. - here's mine. The guy buyback began in 1997.

http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/f...rdedCrime.html

[PLOlover]

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Please provide the statistics to back up your lies. Thank you.

P.S. - here's mine. The guy buyback began in 1997.

http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/f...dCrime.html<br />
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ok, from the page you posted, here's a quote.

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# The trend in the rate of recorded assault has shown a steady increase from 1996 to 2003.
# The trend in the rate of recorded sexual assault has displayed a steady and significant increase between 1996 and 2003.

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[Phil153]

Um...all that information is in the graph. And assaults were increasing prior to 1995 at around the same rate.

I love how you left out the other stats and quoted that two that help your argument.

BTW, the gun buyback began in 1997 and took a while to complete - and undoubtedly even longer for supply effects to propagate down to criminal gun ownership and gun culture among youth.

Bottom line: your assertion that crime has greatly increased is flat out wrong.