American Gun Laws

Hi guys, given the recent tragic events in America. Would it be a good idea if the Americans modified their gun laws as we did after Dunblane? Is O.K. to post this thread up, Mods?

 

Hi cajary.

Very sad events at the college in Virginia.

I worked in criminal law in America for ten years in the 60s/70s. When I went to work for the criminal trial lawyer, on the first day he showed me where the gun was in his desk drawer
"in case I needed it". I am anti-firearms.

I was in Toastmasters in England and my main speech was anti-fireams.

The law will not change in America whether we like it or not .. whether we live there or not.

Very sad! Breaks my heart.

 

I don't think its guns or knives or any weapon thats the problem its the culture or the mindset that's the problem if you intend to go out to kill someone you could use anything guns just make it easier.A lot of people use their cars as weapons and kill a lot of people i.e take a drink go over the limit drive and kill or maim thousands every year everybody knows it's wrong but they still do it. There's a thought ban all cars problem solved

 

They were talking on the radio yesterday and they had someone on there who said that one particular state made sure that every house holder had a gun and even children were taught about guns right from an early age.It was said on the radio that the crime rate had gone down,because no criminal was going to try and rob the houses becasue there was a good chance they would be blown away or injured ...

Even an ordinary house brick has been used to kill motorists when dropped from a great height from these motaway bridges...

People always want guns banned when there are mass killings,but as Walnut says people are killed everyday of the year through some type of weapon being used.Nobody seems concerned then,only when it is guns....

 

Guns dont kill people- its the person who pulls the trigger that kills someone. I've been around guns since I was about 8 years old and have always been tought how to use them properly.
If a gun had not been availanle to this person in America he would have found something else- explosives or chemicals or biological agents to cause harm.
As to the comment that in some state everyone has a gun -where does that end up more people get shot.
Even in this country, you used to be able to go out at night and if trouble started in the pub/ disco it usually ended up with a punch-up outside .Then people started to carry knives for "protection" -now everyone does .Now teenagers are starting to carry guns- where does it end?

 

Kandy, I believe it is the State of Georgia, next door to Alabama where I lived for 14 years, that has the "you must own a gun" law. Very sad!

Two years ago we had an e-mail from a friend in Alabama who lives in a nice "estate" in the country outside of Huntsville. He had heard what he assumed was a gunshot so went outside, as did several other neighbours. They all went in the direction of the noise and found a neighbour with his head blown off ... apparently a drug dealer incident. Another friend of ours who is a cop there went to the scene.

When I worked in criminal law there (60s/70s), the town had about 250,000 people and we had one murder a month (average), and three out of four knew the person who did it, invariably a relative.

 

After the Dunblane shootings (I think that was the time) there was a public outcry to ban all hand guns in the UK, which the government did.
Has this stopped shootings in this country? the answer is, NO.
Reason being criminals do not, by their nature, abide by the law, therefore they still have their guns. The only people affected were those that owned guns legally.
What happened in Virginia could very easily happen here, even with all our restrictions.
I seem to remember hearing somewhere that the country with the most guns owned per head of population was Switzerland, that may or may not be true. But they dont seem to have many problems.

 

Coming back to this, because it's very close to my heart, it's NOT the State of Georgia but a particular town in Georgia which brought in this law.

At least Portugal can boast the most mobile phones per capita in Europe ... prefer that although I don't use a mobile phone!

 

Thanks for all the opinions guys and the practical knowledge of the situation in the U.S.A. It's not something I know a vast amount about. I have used full-bore weapons both hand-held and rifles and although they were just a weapon to me, some of the guys I was training with did say it gave them a buzz to use them. As regards the use of chemicals etc., that takes some form of knowledge to put together, afirearm is easier if you can lay hands on them easily. Thanks again for the info., all the best.