Americans love hand guns

[Bill Cravener]

Looks like we Americans need to start worrying about being shot by six year olds! :eek

http://www.click2houston.com/news/27598215/detail.html

[Astro]

I guess the deal for more candy didn't go down as planned?  :lol

Why the hell did the kid have it with them?  :eek

Best regards,
Robin.

[MichaelW]

Why the hell did the kid have it with them?  :eek

The answer to that one is easy, the kid has idiots for parents.

[xanatose]

I think is more of an idiot leaving a gun where a child could take it, than Americans love of handguns. The fact that it happen in the USA is irrelevant.

It however will be used by overeacting people to push for more strict gun laws, making it safer for the state and criminals, as both groups will carry weapons and is the law abiding citizen that will be at the mercy of them.

[Bill Cravener]

It however will be used by overeacting people to push for more strict gun laws, making it safer for the state and criminals, as both groups will carry weapons and is the law abiding citizen that will be at the mercy of them.

No, I disagree, I am an avid game hunter who owns several rifles and shotguns for sport. Any nut in this country can go to a gun show and purchase a handgun without any background check. Thats plain nuts in my opinion. Any handguns purchased in that manner are often purchased by ignorant morons who leave them laying around the home for their kids to play with or themselves to commit crimes upon innocent people.

[dedndave]

i always wondered why we do not have federal licensing for handgun ownership
we license people to drive cars, why not license them to own a gun
certainly, we should do it for handguns - rifles aren't nearly as big a problem
it seems to me that we would:
1) have the guys picture and fingerprints on record
2) ensure he is a legal US citizen
3) ensure that he demonstrates some degree of proficiency with regard to safely handling, storing, and using a handgun

i like to hunt and target-shoot, too
i would have no issue with going through the trouble of getting a license
i mean, if you want to handle high explosives, you become certified and get a license  doh !

the constitution protects our right to bear arms
it does not mean that a license should not be required

in the long run, it would actually help us to keep that right in place

hell, i operate an amateur radio - i had to pass a federal exam for that license, too   :P
how many guys have been beat to death with a microphone, morse code key, or antenna - lol

[MichaelW]

Licenses are required in some places, just to own a handgun. And in most states to legally carry (concealed carry) a handgun you must be licensed, and this licensing generally requires a background check and a proficiency test, and the fingerprints, etc goes without saying.

Requiring a license for all firearms is just one step away from requiring a license that you can't actually get. The public would never cooperate with such a law.

[oex]

making it safer for the state....

I am interested in this perspective, shared it seems by all gun supporting Americans.... Are there any Americans on the board who would realistically take up arms against the state? :lol.... Are we likely to see another Libya/Syria erruption in the West?

Just wondering just how mad and uncivilised the world really is :lol

[Bill Cravener]

Licenses are required in some places, just to own a handgun. And in most states to legally carry (concealed carry) a handgun you must be licensed, and this licensing generally requires a background check and a proficiency test, and the fingerprints, etc goes without saying.

Requiring a license for all firearms is just one step away from requiring a license that you can't actually get. The public would never cooperate with such a law.

Seven states require background checks on all gun sales at gun shows, California, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Oregon, New York, Illinois and Colorado. Four states, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania require background checks on all handguns but not long guns purchased at gun shows. Six states require individuals to obtain a permit to purchase handguns that require a background check, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota. Certain counties in Florida require background checks on all private sales of handguns at gun shows. The remaining 33 states do not restrict private intrastate sales of firearms at gun shows in any manner what so ever.

[dedndave]

kind of futile unless they all have the same set of rules
reminds me of when i was in the army
we went to the next county to buy beer
the county we were in was limited to 3.2% beer

so, now we are driving back from the other county with our beer
oh yah, that made sense

[vanjast]

the county we were in was limited to 3.2% beer

that is such a disgrace... :bg

[donkey]

Not just hand guns, here's a pic of some quail hunters in Maine  :bg

[hutch--]

I don't personally care if the guy next door has an Ack Ack on his front verandah, as long as he does not bring down any aircrafts on top of me. Long ago we has something like sensible forearm ownership laws here in OZ, every seond house had an ex-serviceman who still owned a 303 (Lee Enfield) but hand guns or anything concealable have been severely restricted since the early 1920s. I owned a 303 as a kid but my dad took the firing pin out of it to make sure it could not be used but my older brother peeled down crackers (fireworks), put it in the breach then hacksawed off a piece of brass rod that just fitted the barrel and it was reasonably snappy at shooting holes in the old house next door at about 100 yards.

Factor that stays with me, the highest firearm ownership country is Switzerland yet it has a very low death rate from firearm murders. Similar phenomenon in Kirshaw Georgia, arm everybody and the crime rate drops to ZERO. I am highly suspicious of any government that actively disarms its own population as the obvious result is dangerous, only government and criminals have firearms and neither can be trusted in terms of population safety.

The real issues are the society that has unhappy, hungry, unemployed people. It a reasonably equitable society firearm ownership is not a safety issue and can be justified for both hunting and self defence where is a dangerously inequitable society firearms end up being used to level the inequities. Apparently its really easy to get an AK47 in Libya at the moment and as soon as the NATO countries start supplying high tech toys to the rebels, Al Queda will hit the big time with direct western support for their armament requirements.

[jj2007]

Factor that stays with me, the highest firearm ownership country is Switzerland yet it has a very low death rate from firearm murders.

Every Swiss man keeps an army rifle in the cupboard. If he takes it out and walks out of his house, neighbours will call the guys with the straightjackets.

[hutch--]

Edgar,

You must have some really big quail flying in from the north to require that much firepower.  :P