Posted by Eyesonly at zeb.zqwdrqsz.com on May 15, 2003 at 13:18:42:
In Reply to: A Political Poll posted by Kev Hoffman on May 15, 2003 at 10:21:01:
: 1) How could our nation elect members of congress that would not vote for a ban on assault weapons? (Tom Delay reports that their will not be enough votes in favor of the ban)
: 1b) Do you, as an American, feel that this banning assault weapons would be fair?
: 1c) (Taking this question from CNN.com) Should President Bush take a higher profile on his support for the ban on semiautomatic weapons?
: 2) What SHOULD be Bush's top 3 priorities be?
: 3) If you live in another nation, what do you think of America, and it's foreign policy?
I'm a Brit and I live in the UK (as in yuck!) I've visited quite a few States and, generally, find that I like Americans... US foreign policy can tend to be a bit heavy handed - I agree that a more positive effort should be made to 'interact' with the Arab world. There are precious few democracies in that part of the globe... The US should be demonstrating just how a First World democracy should be functioning (so should the UK).
: 4) Nominate the next leader of your country:
Ewan McGregor!
:
: That's all folks.
The gun issue:
First off, I'm a shooter. In the UK, in 1987, semiauto rifles other than .22 calibre were banned. Result - increased in armed crime. In 1997, pistols were banned (sob - I had some rare pieces and had to hand them over...). Result - increase in armed crime.
Things are getting so stupid here - now, apparently, they are considering licencing AIR GUNS! There are millions of air weapons in circulation in this country...
As to whether members of the public need access to semiauto weapons/assault rifles. I had to give up my Khalashnikov (which was semiauto - full auto were never legal here) which I used in competition. I never used it to shoot people... In the US, I have taken part in competition shooting using M-16s, SKS and Khalashnikovs - timed turning targets needing firearm with high capacity magazine, which means ya gotta use either an assault type weapon or a Ruger mini14 or similar.
For hunting - no, no assault weapon, but you need semiauto to get that second shot off quickly when you have to.
It's an emotive issue, and I would not dare to argure too strongly with those with an opposing viewpoint to myself, because I do understand where they are coming from.
At the end of the day, although a gun might be the means, the person who pulls the trigger is the moving force. People kill people, guns just make it easier. If assault weapons or semiautos were banned in the US - well I'm sure that there are enough illegal weapons around not to make much difference in the statistics. If you are a law abiding, responsible citizen, you are not going to use your gun, whatever it is, to harm someone. If you are not law abiding, you are going to disregard the law anyway.
If a husband decides he has had enough of his wife - so much so that he is going to kill her.. Well, he's going to do it. If he doesn't own a gun, he'll use something else...
Cars kill a lot of people. Maybe there should be a ban on automatic cars...
OK, I'm off my soapbox now. I get very exasperated when, in this country, there is news of another armed robbery, invariably followed by a rant about how we have to tighten up on gun control... Legally owned firearms, in the UK, figure in 0.1% of armed crime - and that 0.1% is accounted for by those who use a legally owned firearm to commit suicide, which counts in the crime statistics.