When will they ban guns?

[AtW]

I think that the flaw in the argument here is that making things more expensive only makes the black market more attractive.

No it does not - law abiding people who are now not allowed to have firearms don't exactly go and break law to get cheaper guns on the blackmarket, most of those who do are criminals who also commit other crimes for which they should have been in jail long before they had a chance to buy a gun.

Gun ownership should not be cheap or available to anyone - people should get regular training on situations and how to handle them correctly, insurance aspect (which I think is not used anywhere in the world for gun ownership) should cover issues with 3rd party damage just like it happens with cars - 3500 dead every year in car accidents, that's 7/7 every week.

[Gonzo]

No it does not - law abiding people who are now not allowed to have firearms don't exactly go and break law to get cheaper guns on the blackmarket, most of those who do are criminals who also commit other crimes for which they should have been in jail long before they had a chance to buy a gun.

OK, I won't argue with that.

Gun ownership should not be cheap or available to anyone - people should get regular training on situations and how to handle them correctly, insurance aspect (which I think is not used anywhere in the world for gun ownership) should cover issues with 3rd party damage just like it happens with cars - 3500 dead every year in car accidents, that's 7/7 every week.

But this won't address the issue with people picking up £200 shooters that have been smuggled in from Eastern Europe, who won't have the training, or the insurance.

3rd party insurance has never been the issue anyway, the current restrictions are knee-jerk responses to a couple of loners who have ruined it for everyone.

Switzerland has high levels of legal gun ownership, does anyone care to look up the implications of that and report back to us?

[AtW]

OK, I won't argue with that.But this won't address the issue with people picking up £200 shooters that have been smuggled in from Eastern Europe, who won't have the training, or the insurance.

It's the same situation as right now - these people would be breaking the law just like they do now, the difference will be is that if they try to break the law further then they will risk their life as they can meet a legal hand gun owner who will protect his/her life.

I can appreciate that there are some countries where too many people can be deemed as a serious risk to society if they had guns, but in this country vast majority of people are good, so really, hand gun ownership should be normal, of course not for everyone and not with cheap barrier of entry like in the USA, but still it should be possible for a responsible law abiding citizen to own and carry concealed firearms, perhaps the latter should require higher grade license with compulsory training etc.

[xoggoth]

Sure criminals will know where to get guns whether they are legal or not but for the most part they shoot each other and generally they are not used in most robberies even when carried.

The most serious incidents in the US that we do not get here are by nutters. Guns being easy to obtain there probably has a great deal to do with it since misfits and isolates probably would not know where to get a gun or have the social contacts if they were illegal.

[PAH]

Yeah at times I'm glad I have no access to a gun.

It doesn't take a master of logic to work out if guns are accessible they're more likely to be used.

As for the yanks, those old westerns aren't based on fiction. Asking a yank to give up his guns us like asking a brit to give up his beer.

[AtW]

It doesn't take a master of logic to work out if guns are accessible they're more likely to be used.

Yes guns will be used more often, and some victims who got raped won't be raped, where as people who try that won't get getting out of jail early because they will be buried 6ft under. Burglaries should drop considerably.

[NoddY]

Handguns have no place in a civilised society. They're only required by paranoid uncivilised cavemen because other uncivilised cavemen have them.

Marksmanship is a skill and I see no reason why shooting and gun clubs couldn't co-exist with a ban on guns outside their perimeters.

[AtW]

Handguns have no place in a civilised society. They're only required by paranoid uncivilised cavemen because other uncivilised cavemen have them.

Rubbish. Right of self-defence (and ones family) is as God given as it can possibly get in situation where there is no God in existance.

France, Germany have gun laws - in Switzerland I thin men are REQUIRED to have assault rifles at home, just in case of war.

Police can't arrive in time everywhere to save lifes - that's why it is essential that responsible people have access to means of effective self-defence.

[PAH]

Yes guns will be used more often, and some victims who got raped won't be raped,.

No, they'd probably shot then raped.

Burglaries should drop considerably.

True. They'd be called armed robberies.

[Gonzo]

Police can't arrive in time everywhere to save lifes - that's why it is essential that responsible people have access to means of effective self-defence.

Actually, responsible people that do have guns have them locked away where they cannot be accessed quickly enough if such a situation can arise, let alone walk around carrying a loaded weapon.