Post by Colonel Edmund J. BurkeLike he says, guns don't kill people, people kill people.
If you take away guns, only criminals will have them.
Is that what you want?
Yes. You are a colonel. You know what firearms can do.
Criminals are only a percentage of the population. That is very
different from everybody having a gun, and having no respect for its
lethal capabilities. The FBI story tells of a man who threw a loaded
handgun at the ceiling. The gun went off, and killed him. A proper
licensing system would satisfy the shooter group, and ordinary citizens
would no longer live in fear. If you prefer, take the guns away from
criminals and give them to trained, law-abiding citizens.
You seem to be sharing Jordy's view that a person with a gun is a "noble
savage," and wouldn't use it for the wrong reasons. Human nature isn't
like that. There is always carelessness and gross ignorance, as the FBI
story shows. In our papers a couple of years back, members of two
families in a small community went out shooting rabbits. A man saw a
movement in a bush and opened fire. It wasn't rabbits, it was two young
boys. At least one will have shotgun pellets in his body for the rest of
his life. A mother committed suicide as a result of the incident.
An Australian in the USA to play with a basketball team was shot dead
from behind by two bored boys wanting a thrill. No other motive
whatever. I think that 3 boys have been charged.
The ones behind the massacres aren't ordinary criminals. They are
mental cases. At the time of Obama's attempt to limit the death toll
from shooting, one chap said he goes to bed with his rifle. In
Australia they wouldn't be granted a license. There was a family with 3
boys, all with disorders from birth. They were clients of mine. One
had a heart condition and was able to run a farm. Another was a bad
psychological case and lived on medication. The third was similar, but
not as bad. He lived by shooting rabbits - until he pointed the gun at
his mother, and his license was taken off him.
In a movie, a woman had a tiny gun with a silencer in her handbag and
shot her boyfriend dead with it. In Australia, pistols can be used only
on shooting ranges.
In southern USA, there was a boy of 3 in a car with a pedophile. One
policeman could have arrested the man. But he might have had a gun, so
police cars drove in from all directions. A waste of police resources.
Shootings here were almost unknown for years, until the terrorists
decided we were allies of yours, and would get similar treatment. Now
they don't use guns as much as automobiles, just as yours do.
Doug.