Re: The 2nd Amendment is alive and well
 

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To a certain extent we are stuck with the 2nd Amendment.



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meh.

i dont want to cut and paste my response to the EDF thread, but-- the constitution didn't grant us the right to defend ourselves. Its a god-given right, natural right, whatever you want to call it. A govt can't take it away.

The freedoms of religion and speech and redress are similar, however it is much easier to defend those with a rifle in hand.

I'm very confident young Iron will "get it" eventually. O/U on when???

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QFT

The second amendment reads:

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the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

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not:

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the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall be granted.

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Re: The 2nd Amendment is alive and well
 

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Australia had fewer than a dozen deaths attributed to hand guns last year.

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Curious where you got this statistic, as several sources I've looked at say around 300.

While still relatively low, 300 != "fewer than a dozen"

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I've done some research and found pretty much what I expected, namely that Australia has one of the highest burglary rates, per capita, of all the "Developed" nations.

The assault, both sexual and non sexual is also through the roof. An interesting study of inmates was done, and the results showed that when criminals who are arrested on Burglary and Robbery charges are asked what they fear most, the answer is always the same: "That the person I'm about to rob will have a gun."

Its not always about having a gun. The mere threat that a law abiding citizen MIGHT have a gun does wonders to stop criminals.

See, in nations like Australia, UK, etc, the criminals know only they have the guns. They also know that even without a gun, if they carefully select their victims, always picking victims weaker than they, they stand a good chance of accomplishing their goals.

Re: The 2nd Amendment is alive and well
 

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An interesting study of inmates was done, and the results showed that when criminals who are arrested on Burglary and Robbery charges are asked what they fear most, the answer is always the same: "That the person I'm about to rob will have a gun."

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Do you know what study this was? I've heard this and even seen this on video via news interviews but I've never seen an actual study.

Re: The 2nd Amendment is alive and well
 

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Australia had fewer than a dozen deaths attributed to hand guns last year.

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Curious where you got this statistic, as several sources I've looked at say around 300.

While still relatively low, 300 != "fewer than a dozen"

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300 is the total deaths with firearms. Some are suicides, some accidents. About 4% are with hand guns.

Try: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/...42?OpenDocument

Re: The 2nd Amendment is alive and well
 

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300 is the total deaths with firearms. Some are suicides, some accidents. About 4% are with hand guns.


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Yikes, those Aussies sure do prefer their rifles and shotguns.

Re: The 2nd Amendment is alive and well
 

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If you take 100 murders, where a white guy killed a white guy, and those murders were similar to 100 murders where a black guy killed a black guy, you would find more blacks getting the death penalty than whites.


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Thought you might find this interesting
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/fig5.gif

There was a book that I read (probably 10 years ago, so I really don't remember the details) that argued that a bigger factor than race alone as to whether on gets the death penalty is the gap in social status between the victim and the perpetrator. The greater the social status difference, the more likely the death penalty was going to be applied. One of the factors (among many) in determining "social status" was race.

Re: The 2nd Amendment is alive and well
 

Bump.

I heard on the radio this morning that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. Although its not certain what the ruling will be, this is a major victory for gun rights advocates. Given the degree to which the 2nd Amendment has been gutted in the lower courts, gun rights advocates have nowhere to go but up.

Also, if you didn't see it, I discussed the legalities of the 2nd Amendment at length in the El Diablo forum. Link