Text 31407, 87 rader
Skriven 2009-04-17 12:16:43 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
  Kommentar till text 31403 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: Piarates
================
17 Apr 09 15:19, Robert Bashe wrote to Roy Witt:

 RB>>> It's basically a question as to who is responsible for public
 RB>>> safety: the government or each individual him/herself. In the days
 RB>>> of the pioneers, with wide-open spaces and dangers from wild
 RB>>> animals and Indians, the latter may heve been justified. But today?

 RW>> Do you think the people who died at the hands of this weeks
 RW>> shootings in Germany would have had a better chance if they too were
 RW>> able to have a firearm? Certainly the 'government' wasn't there to
 RW>> help them!

 RB> If you want my honest opinion, I think there would have been an even
 RB> greater bloodbath, with people unfamiliar with weapons shooting God
 RB> knows what in all directions.

I think that's an ignorant point of view. People who're licensed to carry
firearms don't do so without knowing how to handle a firearm. In fact,
it's a requirement by law that such a person pass a class on gun safety
and firearm laws in every state that issues carry permits.

 RB> As you should be aware by now (I've said it often enough), I like to
 RB> collect and play with guns too - I grew up with them and for me,
 RB> they're tools. But you can't assume that in the general public, and
 RB> I'd rather take my chances with a rare (here) shooting spree than
 RB> with a horde of armed people who know just enough about a gun to pull
 RB> the trigger.

Also an ignorant point of view. See above for the reply...

 RB> So who is responsible for public safety? If _your_ government isn't
 RB> doing it's job, I would suggest applying some pressure to _get_ it
 RB> done.

What good would that do? Are they going to be your bodyguard every where
you go and aprehend someone in the act? Far from it. They'd rather wait
until the shooting is over and then show up to pick up the pieces.

 BA>>>> You are aware, are you not, that the employees of over 100
 BA>>>> separate national government agencies are authorized to carry -
 BA>>>> and presumably use - firearms against the American people.

 RB>>> If that is so, there are _real_ problems in the States.

 RW>> Just another reason why Americans own firearms. Rogue government
 RW>> employees fall just as dead from bullets as anyone else.

 RB> Roy, you're the worst advertisement for anyone contemplating a move
 RB> to the US I can think of.

I'd be afraid like you, if I were as ignorant about gun laws and how
people react to shootings as if they're no big deal, when a country has
laws that don't allow everyone to have a firearm.

 RB> The way you write, the place must seem like the Wild West reborn to
 RB> anyone who hasn't already lived there.

The wild west has become the new age cities with gun violence that
would scare you out of your wits.

 RB> My own personal experience is that outside Immigration and airports,
 RB> you generally won't find a friendlier, more helpful population than
 RB> in the USA.

Unless you happen to be in the big cities like New York, Detroit, Chicago,
and Los Angeles, where firearms are banned. No criminal obeys such laws,
of course. OTH, where there are people carrying firearms legally, you
couldn't find a friendlier place.

 RB> You make it sound like everyone's gunning for everyone else and
 RB> standard American clothing should include a bulletproof vest.

That's probably not such a foolish idea as you make it seem.

 RB>  I _know_ it's not like that and really object to the negative
 RB> image you project of the States.

Or the negative image you say your sister has because she's afraid to walk
the streets after dark in Cincinati.

                R\%/itt




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