[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Glice

Only a brain-dead constitution not just allows but actively encourages a state's brain-dead citizens to possess something with which they might accidentally kill their son. It's still not the same as cars. Or knives. Or tobacco. Or jaunty dancing.

the constitution doesn't actively encourage-- it says "the right of the people to bear arms SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED".

but there's the whole militia clause. read it. the interpretation is not in the constitution itself, it's in the supreme court and how 9 judges read that thing.

no states that i know have a militia. there's the national guard, but that's a military thing done by civilians who serve once a month, then get conscripted into going to the middle east (sucks.)

switzerland on the other hand has a well-regulated militia. i mean the whole country is an army, not just with their little red knives but they all have automatic weapons at home.

so it's not the guns.

it's the social inequities, the gangs (half of the murders in LA are gang related-- dealers battling for turf), poverty, saturday night specials (cheap guns for quickie crimes), robberies and muggings and carjackings and drugs, mostly. then again saturday night specials are used for self-defense by poor people in high-crime neighborhoods...

maybe guns in a country with such income disparities is a bad mix but it's not one that was created on purpose and it's certainly difficult to disassemble in this political climate. because the greater the unrest, the more people want their guns.

here it's knives that get a bad reputation by the way. "a thug's weapon". guns are gentlemanly & honorable. back home in my 3rd world ghetto guns are considered a weapon of cowards-- you wanna kill someone you get close to them & do the deed. but here, no-- it's a different ethos.

all countries have their own problems. why don't we start criticizing england's horrible class structure and how people keep you in place by your accent. the government should ban social classes. ha ha ha!

ok, though i'd like to see guns more regulated & traceable to owners, it's inconceivable that the american government will ban guns in the foreseeable future. it shows a lack of imagination for foreigners to make such comments, i.e., assuming that all societies and governments are the same. kinda like the argument against banning burqas in france-- americans don't get it that the french do it in the name of equality. etc. etc.

anyway, some of the best guns are european-- berettas, glocks, kalashnikov rifles...

i guess the best one could hope for is that the country one lives in is a good fit for one's values. the idea of a world government and the homogenization of social life may be appealing, but only on the surface.

anyway, i've argued long enough and i'm tired. agree to disagree, etc.