Hey Bernie, Is this true?

[COBRA427]

My 2 cents on this topic, if I may:

Living in America, we have every single nationality , race, religious belief and language spoken ,..... and that's just in California!! That may have something to do with the degree of violence in our country.

To my fellow Cobra brothers, if you are ok with turning in all your firearms to the government, that's fine with me. I'm not trying to have a pissing contest on whose country's gun laws are better or worse.

At least for right now, if I deem it necessary to own a pistol or shotgun and keep it in my house for defensive purposes, I have the legal RIGHT to do so. If my neighbor doesn't want a gun in his house, then that's his CHOICE. When a government decides for a whole country that they cannot keep a pistol in their end tables, who will then help defend them when an intruder(s) enters their house at 3:19AM for not so benevolent purposes?

"boxhead": What if a criminal breaks into your house with the intent on robbery, but while there, holding a gun on your whole family, takes a fancy to your wife or your 2 adorable 11 and 13yr. old daughters?

I prefer to to have the right to defend myself.

[turnpike boy]

Clois' post is actually some pretty old material, pulled together about a year or so after the great Australian gun ban took effect. The purpose of that data was to impart to Americans generally, and gun-control-advocates specifically, that there is a downside to trying to wipe out private ownership of firearms. Whether it did or not is a matter of ample conjecture. Since that ban has been in place for several years now, it would be good to see some more-current data to see if there actually is a difference beyond subjective good feelings.

Different cultures breed different perspectives on life - too many differences between here and there to make much out of simple data. To each their own. Amazingly enough, there are still many who want to live in The Sudan or in Chad, too.

It's good to see there is some rationale applied to the give-backs, and not just simple emotional bile. It deserves to be mentioned, at least in passing, that those dreaded military style semi autos represent an insignificant proportion of gun crime here in America. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/guic.pdf Again, this data is pretty old, but factual nonetheless.

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by turnpike boy

It's good to see there is some rationale applied to the give-backs, and not just simple emotional bile. It deserves to be mentioned, at least in passing, that those dreaded military style semi autos represent an insignificant proportion of gun crime here in America. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/guic.pdf Again, this data is pretty old, but factual nonetheless.

Interesting that the vast majority of gun crime is hand guns. We have much fewer hand guns in Australia due to our stric laws for hand gun ownership. Anyone wanting to own one can only realisticly use it at a gun range and the licensing and storage requirements have been tough for a very long time. To keep a hand gun My current rifle safe wouldn't pass and it's made from 3mm steel plate with internal hinges and 3 locking points.

You also need more than a letter from your mum to get a hand gun licence.

The more common firearm for criminals for a long time is sawn off shotguns and rifles. All modifications to make the weapon easier to conceal.

I think the US is in a difficult position with gun control. If Obama wants to do anything about it he'll have a difficult time. You already have such a huge number in circulation and a whole industry and economy revolving around them. The gun is so entrenched in US culture that you can't let it go.

Cheers