that shouldn't stop at gun purchaces. a psyciatric evaluation should be done for drivers licenses and redone every time the license is renewed. this should include a screen to see if the licensee is prone to alcoholism. since graduating high school 32 years ago; i've lost at least 50 close classmates due to drunk drivers. i didn't realize it until i got my school alumni directory 2 months ago and saw the list of the deceased alumni.
when you come to the table with an open mind; you DO have a right to comment. the problem i see is that everyone has some degree of mental illness. i've never heard of anyone walking into a shrinks office and being sent home because they're perfect. so an acceptable level of mental illness must be established.
next; the problem isn't with guns bought legally most of the time. there hasn't been a crime committed with a legal "machine" gun since 1934. (per the FBI); yet thousands pour accross the border illegally daily. i had the chance to buy a fully automatic FAL (swedish maybe?) which was legally brought into the country but the importer missed changing the sear to make it semi automatic.
the gun control act of 1968 created a black market for guns and that's when guns started flooding the streets of america. everyone wants something they're not suppose to have. the same thing happened with the drug control act of 1937.
my concealed weapons permit expires every 5 years and i must take a class; qualify at the range; and submit my fingerprints to the FBI for a background check to renew it.
Do they keep your fingerprints on file and do they know who you are?
All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal.
-Enoch Powell
yes; everything is kept in case you commit a crime. you're actually put into the afis database.
I don't like that. I don't see any more reason to put a concealed carrier into AFIS than an open carrier. They both have the same likelihood of murdering someone. Guilty until proven innocent.
All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal.
-Enoch Powell
I don't like that. I don't see any more reason to put a concealed carrier into AFIS than an open carrier. They both have the same likelihood of murdering someone. Guilty until proven innocent.
it's a way to get around the second amendment. you're trading your fingerprints for the right to carry concealed. i don't commit crimes so i don't care if they bronze my fingerprints.
it's a way to get around the second amendment. you're trading your fingerprints for the right to carry concealed. i don't commit crimes so i don't care if they bronze my fingerprints.
Well yeah, but that's like saying that it doesn't matter if the govt monitors my phone calls because I don't commit crimes.
It's the principle of the thing.
Nonetheless, I would give them my finger prints if it meant I could conceal my firearm.
All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal.
-Enoch Powell
the reasoning that a criminal wont leave you alone because he may think you dont have a gun is TOTAL HORSESHIT - there are more weapons for people to have than guns
most people who attack you in your home or street where i come from do so with a knife or syringe, who needs a gun to hurt or kill someone?
in ireland most common criminals do not have guns, neither do the everyday citizens. this notion that if guns are illegal criminals will still get them is bullshit...sure they could get them but the HUGE majority of crime is petty crime...and here in a society that is a perfect example of guns not being treated as a right there is no gun problem. of course in a country of 4 or 5 million people you will get several gun related deaths in a year - but they are mainly gang-related ...and why do gangs get guns? from the IRA.
after growing up in a society where guns are associated with terrorism, organized crime, and maybe hunting....i really am hearing things i never thought id hear on this page.
if you want to see what this hypothetical fantasy land is where people dont have guns and cant protect themselves come to ireland, where we all travel in groups for protection and dont go out in the dark
Well yeah, but that's like saying that it doesn't matter if the govt monitors my phone calls because I don't commit crimes.
It's the principle of the thing.
Nonetheless, I would give them my finger prints if it meant I could conceal my firearm.
that's the way i see it too. besides; it's a pain in the arse to carry a gun so all their doing is collecting fingerprints and finding out who owns the guns. OOOpppsss; legal guns. that's what the registration freaks want anyway. 23 states have realized you have to give something in return.
the reasoning that a criminal wont leave you alone because he may think you dont have a gun is TOTAL HORSESHIT - there are more weapons for people to have than guns
most people who attack you in your home or street where i come from do so with a knife or syringe, who needs a gun to hurt or kill someone?
in ireland most common criminals do not have guns, neither do the everyday citizens. this notion that if guns are illegal criminals will still get them is bullshit...sure they could get them but the HUGE majority of crime is petty crime...and here in a society that is a perfect example of guns not being treated as a right there is no gun problem. of course in a country of 4 or 5 million people you will get several gun related deaths in a year - but they are mainly gang-related ...and why do gangs get guns? from the IRA.
after growing up in a society where guns are associated with terrorism, organized crime, and maybe hunting....i really am hearing things i never thought id hear on this page.
if you want to see what this hypothetical fantasy land is where people dont have guns and cant protect themselves come to ireland, where we all travel in groups for protection and dont go out in the dark
Aye laddy, this is some baffling stuff. I don't know which position you just took.
By the sound of your last paragraph it sounds like you can't walk out at night because the streets are so dangerous. Criminals know that you can't own a gun. What do they have to be afraid of? Nothing. That's why they don't need guns. They could threaten you with a frozen hot dog and they wouldn't need to worry.
All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal.
-Enoch Powell
the reasoning that a criminal wont leave you alone because he may think you dont have a gun is TOTAL HORSESHIT - there are more weapons for people to have than guns
most people who attack you in your home or street where i come from do so with a knife or syringe, who needs a gun to hurt or kill someone?
in ireland most common criminals do not have guns, neither do the everyday citizens. this notion that if guns are illegal criminals will still get them is bullshit...sure they could get them but the HUGE majority of crime is petty crime...and here in a society that is a perfect example of guns not being treated as a right there is no gun problem. of course in a country of 4 or 5 million people you will get several gun related deaths in a year - but they are mainly gang-related ...and why do gangs get guns? from the IRA.
after growing up in a society where guns are associated with terrorism, organized crime, and maybe hunting....i really am hearing things i never thought id hear on this page.
if you want to see what this hypothetical fantasy land is where people dont have guns and cant protect themselves come to ireland, where we all travel in groups for protection and dont go out in the dark
maybe being a bloody island helps keep illegal guns out but the us has 2 open borders where a million people a year waltz over undetected.
and don't fool yourself. if you have drugs; you have guns.
here's a good quote for you:
"1935 will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future." --Adolph Hitler 1935 'Berlin Daily' (Loose English Translation) April 15th, 1935, Page 3 Article 2, by Einleitung Von Eberhard Beckmann, "Abschied vom Hessenland!"
People who oppose gun rights also oppose individual liberty because they oppose the means by which we defend our liberty. How can you support my right to speak if you don't think I can defend it with violent opposition?
There are other ways of defending Liberty than through weapons. The idea that individual citizens have "the right to defend their Liberty" sounds dangerously close to "asserting their Liberty over another person" from this conversation....which is not the intention of a right granted under your constitution, and which is not an absolute right either
There are other ways of defending Liberty than through weapons. The idea that individual citizens have "the right to defend their Liberty" sounds dangerously close to "asserting their Liberty over another person" from this conversation....which is not the intention of a right granted under your constitution, and which is not an absolute right either
Defending your liberty against a government which has designs to oppress you.
That is something that the Irish know all too well. You know how the British subdued the Irish so well. They kept all the guns in the armory - for British soldiers. You know how the IRA fought back? Well of course you do. They stormed the British garrisons and stole the guns. That's how you keep a government in check - you point guns at it.
The Irish free state would not have been born but from the use of firearms. The point of an armed citizenry is to ensure that the government does not oppress the people. If it does, it has an armed citizenry to deal with and that's more difficult to deal with than one that is unarmed.
Additionally, you own a weapon because criminals may have designs to take away your freedoms. Your right to life, for instance. The defend that right by shooting a criminal who would kill you.
All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal.
-Enoch Powell
i didnt say we dont have guns! i said gangs / drug dealers have guns and so do hunters! huge shipments of guns come into Ireland every year on dinghys, same way drugs get here! theres a gun in my house which was my grandfathers for hunting - but we need adequate storage, proof of purpose, garda checks, licenses, etc etc etc and i dont like having it in the house.
my last paragraph was sarcastic - we're not afraid to go out at night!
if i was unclear i think that there is some value to taking a step back from the rights / constitutional / procedural aspects to the gun issue and looking at societies that do not have a gun culture. thats all.
but we need adequate storage, proof of purpose, garda checks, licenses, etc etc etc and i dont like having it in the house.
I think I know why you don't like having it in the house. The government is fucking nosey as hell! You have every right to have that gun in your home and to not have a government harrassing you about it. You're not going to kill anybody with it.
Come live in America and we'll let you walk through the streets with that gun.
All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal.
-Enoch Powell
wow, most people here feel safer with the political climate within the country (despite the troubles in northern ireland over the past 30-odd years), and the idea of owning a gun to protect myself from a possible oppressive government never once entered my head until you said it! (im lucky to say)
but thats interesting because i didnt know that an american could have feelings that extreme about their government...the US government has far more oppressive power than the irish one does...so maybe thats another reason for the difference.
regarding the irish history you are completely correct about the past BUT the attitude here is that it is in the past - it served a purpose against an oppressive FOREIGN government at the time, but now we are a self-governed neutral republic, so why have armed civilians? leave that to our army. not the same historical background for the use of guns...its not in our constitution either...
I think I know why you don't like having it in the house. The government is fucking nosey as hell! You have every right to have that gun in your home and to not have a government harrassing you about it. You're not going to kill anybody with it.
Come live in America and we'll let you walk through the streets with that gun.
i have no idea if you're joking! thanks for the invite tho! but ill leave it where it is! i dont like having it because there are young children in my home, and kids will always find whats hidden...it doesnt feel natural to me to have a gun anywhere near a kid
One person had a gun, he killed 32 people and wounded 25. he wasn't a criminal when he bought the guns. Just a law-abiding citizen like yourself.
He broke the law when he brought the guns on campus.
The fact is, one person with a gun besides the psychotic could've ended the death toll right there. I'll let you be a victim in that type of situation, but suppose a professor had a gun in his desk or suitcase? He'd be a hero.
All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal.
-Enoch Powell
He broke the law when he brought the guns on campus.
The fact is, one person with a gun besides the psychotic could've ended the death toll right there. I'll let you be a victim in that type of situation, but suppose a professor had a gun in his desk or suitcase? He'd be a hero.
prior to d b cooper; people carried guns on airplanes regularly. there were no hijackings prior. once guns were forbidden; hijackings became a regular part of life. the answer after 9/11 was to put guns on planes. be it pilots or marshalls.
He broke the law when he brought the guns on campus.
The fact is, one person with a gun besides the psychotic could've ended the death toll right there. I'll let you be a victim in that type of situation, but suppose a professor had a gun in his desk or suitcase? He'd be a hero.
He did break the law when he brought the guns on campus, but so would the professor or anyone else with a gun. So are you saying there should be more guns on campus?
Listening to Europeans talk about gun laws is pretty depressing.
If one person had a gun in that Virginia Tech building, they could have shot the perp. He killed himself immediately when he discovered that people with guns (i.e. the late arriving police who have no responsibility to protect you individually) were entering the building.
When you criminalize guns, only criminals will have guns.
that statement could only be made by someone in a country where guns are legal. does it not occur to you that if guns were illegal then the 'perp' would likely not have had a gun himself and the whole sad incident would never have happened?
when you criminalize guns it makes it very easy to spot who the criminals carrying guns are.
He did break the law when he brought the guns on campus, but so would the professor or anyone else with a gun. So are you saying there should be more guns on campus?
Look:
If the psycho is willing to kill someone with his guns, he's not too worried about breaking the law to take the guns on campus in the first place.
Therefore, we need to allow weapons on campus for at least professors. Currently there are NO guns allowed on Virginia campuses. We've seen what that results in: the only person with a gun is the psycho who isn't afraid of being caught with a gun on campus.
You think making it illegal to have a gun on campus is keeping criminals from bringing them on campus? Do you really believe that's working?
All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal.
-Enoch Powell
does it not occur to you that if guns were illegal then the 'perp' would likely not have had a gun himself and the whole sad incident would never have happened?
FALSE FALSE FALSE
2% of legally purchased guns are involved in a crime. That means all other violent crimes are perpetrated by someone with an illegal weapon!! That means that criminalizing guns would have done nothing to stop the perpetrator because they didn't obtain their gun through legal means in the first place!! They got it on the street!!
All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal.
-Enoch Powell
2% of legally purchased guns are involved in a crime. That means all other violent crimes are perpetrated by someone with an illegal weapon!! That means that criminalizing guns would have done nothing to stop the perpetrator because they didn't obtain their gun through legal means in the first place!! They got it on the street!!
it was reported in the uk that the guy got his guns from a gun shop.
there are remarkably few deaths in the uk from shooting. 100% of them are due to crminals. if guns were legal in the uk the number of gun deaths would shoot up. i wouldn't trust 90% of the population of this country with a water pistol let alone a real one. you would have people killing their neighbours because they parked in the wrong place.
that statement could only be made by someone in a country where guns are legal. does it not occur to you that if guns were illegal then the 'perp' would likely not have had a gun himself and the whole sad incident would never have happened?
when you criminalize guns it makes it very easy to spot who the criminals carrying guns are.
Yeah, just like making drugs illegal has eliminated that scourge from our society.
Yeah, just like making drugs illegal has eliminated that scourge from our society.
If everybody was given the constitutional right to possess and use the drugs that are now illegal, wouldn't there more overdoses and addicts?
#==(o )
You are not your job.
You are not how much money you have in the bank.
You are not the car you drive.
You are not the contents of your wallet.
You are not your fucking khakis.
If everybody was given the constitutional right to possess and use the drugs that are now illegal, wouldn't there more overdoses and addicts?
Addicts - probably
Overdoses - maybe
I believe that overdoses are directly related to the illegality of the drug. Prohibition creates an environment where the potency of a drug is unknown to the user, which leads to overdoses.
Either way, I prefer people being able to decide on their own what is best for them rather than a police state with the highest incarceration rate in the world.
that statement could only be made by someone in a country where guns are legal. does it not occur to you that if guns were illegal then the 'perp' would likely not have had a gun himself and the whole sad incident would never have happened?
when you criminalize guns it makes it very easy to spot who the criminals carrying guns are.
dude; if guns were outlawed; only outlaws would have guns. i know the queen disarmed you. if you check your history books; she disarmed you EXACTLY the way hitler disarmed germany. so who has guns in the uk now. CRIMINALS. where there's drugs there's guns. so we know the drug smugglers have guns. being illegal makes a black market for them. so they're easy to sell on the street.
the us has about 150 MILLION legal guns and i imagine just as many illegal guns. i own 30 myself. so using the 150 million guns compared to under 10,000 shooting deaths (which i believe includes police shootings) the percentage of deaths per gun has to be under 1%. my calculator doesn't go past 6 digits but using that percentage; if the uk has 1 shooting death; there must be at least 100,000 guns in the uk.
on the other hand; since the uk banned guns; bombings have increased dramatically. now if you count the deaths from bombings; and project the number of deaths for the bombs found before ignition; the uk would have 4 times as many criminal caused deaths now; as compared to criminal deaths when the population had guns.
since everything you need to make a bomb can be purchased at any garden shop; i'd rather have guns. less than 1% of gunshot wounds are fatal.
Addicts - probably
Overdoses - maybe
I believe that overdoses are directly related to the illegality of the drug. Prohibition creates an environment where the potency of a drug is unknown to the user, which leads to overdoses.
Either way, I prefer people being able to decide on their own what is best for them rather than a police state with the highest incarceration rate in the world.
spot on dude. look at alcohol prohibition. look what happened. my grandfather made a killing making illegal wiskey. why? because it was illegal; everyone wanted it.
now; for those of you with some common sense:
when alcohol was illegal; it created a black market and didn't curb posession; only increased it.
when drugs became illegal; it created a black market and didn't curb posession; only increased it.
the firearms act of 1968 created a black market and didn't curb posession; only increased it.
i was 12 in 1968 and i remember my dad and his friends saying they had to run out and buy some guns before they're made illegal. the threat of a ban caused a jump in sales. prior to the brady ban; i bought all the assault weapons i could afford. after the ban took effect i sold the PRE-BAN assault weapons for 3 to 4 times what i paid for them.
prior to 1968; gun deaths were nil. we were a civilized society and only sportsmen owned guns. when we finally got a tele in the 60's; i would watch shows like the rifleman; gunsmoke; and other westerns. i recall asking my dad why people don't carry guns anymore and he told me we don't need to anymore. but everything changed in 1968. the government created a black market and now we needed a gun for protection.
Comments
Do they keep your fingerprints on file and do they know who you are?
-Enoch Powell
yes; everything is kept in case you commit a crime. you're actually put into the afis database.
I don't like that. I don't see any more reason to put a concealed carrier into AFIS than an open carrier. They both have the same likelihood of murdering someone. Guilty until proven innocent.
-Enoch Powell
it's a way to get around the second amendment. you're trading your fingerprints for the right to carry concealed. i don't commit crimes so i don't care if they bronze my fingerprints.
Well yeah, but that's like saying that it doesn't matter if the govt monitors my phone calls because I don't commit crimes.
It's the principle of the thing.
Nonetheless, I would give them my finger prints if it meant I could conceal my firearm.
-Enoch Powell
most people who attack you in your home or street where i come from do so with a knife or syringe, who needs a gun to hurt or kill someone?
in ireland most common criminals do not have guns, neither do the everyday citizens. this notion that if guns are illegal criminals will still get them is bullshit...sure they could get them but the HUGE majority of crime is petty crime...and here in a society that is a perfect example of guns not being treated as a right there is no gun problem. of course in a country of 4 or 5 million people you will get several gun related deaths in a year - but they are mainly gang-related ...and why do gangs get guns? from the IRA.
after growing up in a society where guns are associated with terrorism, organized crime, and maybe hunting....i really am hearing things i never thought id hear on this page.
if you want to see what this hypothetical fantasy land is where people dont have guns and cant protect themselves come to ireland, where we all travel in groups for protection and dont go out in the dark
that's the way i see it too. besides; it's a pain in the arse to carry a gun so all their doing is collecting fingerprints and finding out who owns the guns. OOOpppsss; legal guns. that's what the registration freaks want anyway. 23 states have realized you have to give something in return.
Aye laddy, this is some baffling stuff. I don't know which position you just took.
By the sound of your last paragraph it sounds like you can't walk out at night because the streets are so dangerous. Criminals know that you can't own a gun. What do they have to be afraid of? Nothing. That's why they don't need guns. They could threaten you with a frozen hot dog and they wouldn't need to worry.
-Enoch Powell
maybe being a bloody island helps keep illegal guns out but the us has 2 open borders where a million people a year waltz over undetected.
and don't fool yourself. if you have drugs; you have guns.
here's a good quote for you:
"1935 will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future." --Adolph Hitler 1935 'Berlin Daily' (Loose English Translation) April 15th, 1935, Page 3 Article 2, by Einleitung Von Eberhard Beckmann, "Abschied vom Hessenland!"
There are other ways of defending Liberty than through weapons. The idea that individual citizens have "the right to defend their Liberty" sounds dangerously close to "asserting their Liberty over another person" from this conversation....which is not the intention of a right granted under your constitution, and which is not an absolute right either
Defending your liberty against a government which has designs to oppress you.
That is something that the Irish know all too well. You know how the British subdued the Irish so well. They kept all the guns in the armory - for British soldiers. You know how the IRA fought back? Well of course you do. They stormed the British garrisons and stole the guns. That's how you keep a government in check - you point guns at it.
The Irish free state would not have been born but from the use of firearms. The point of an armed citizenry is to ensure that the government does not oppress the people. If it does, it has an armed citizenry to deal with and that's more difficult to deal with than one that is unarmed.
Additionally, you own a weapon because criminals may have designs to take away your freedoms. Your right to life, for instance. The defend that right by shooting a criminal who would kill you.
-Enoch Powell
my last paragraph was sarcastic - we're not afraid to go out at night!
if i was unclear i think that there is some value to taking a step back from the rights / constitutional / procedural aspects to the gun issue and looking at societies that do not have a gun culture. thats all.
I think I know why you don't like having it in the house. The government is fucking nosey as hell! You have every right to have that gun in your home and to not have a government harrassing you about it. You're not going to kill anybody with it.
Come live in America and we'll let you walk through the streets with that gun.
-Enoch Powell
but thats interesting because i didnt know that an american could have feelings that extreme about their government...the US government has far more oppressive power than the irish one does...so maybe thats another reason for the difference.
regarding the irish history you are completely correct about the past BUT the attitude here is that it is in the past - it served a purpose against an oppressive FOREIGN government at the time, but now we are a self-governed neutral republic, so why have armed civilians? leave that to our army. not the same historical background for the use of guns...its not in our constitution either...
i have no idea if you're joking! thanks for the invite tho! but ill leave it where it is! i dont like having it because there are young children in my home, and kids will always find whats hidden...it doesnt feel natural to me to have a gun anywhere near a kid
Guns don't kill people...
...bullets do
One person had a gun, he killed 32 people and wounded 25. he wasn't a criminal when he bought the guns. Just a law-abiding citizen like yourself.
naděje umírá poslední
He broke the law when he brought the guns on campus.
The fact is, one person with a gun besides the psychotic could've ended the death toll right there. I'll let you be a victim in that type of situation, but suppose a professor had a gun in his desk or suitcase? He'd be a hero.
-Enoch Powell
prior to d b cooper; people carried guns on airplanes regularly. there were no hijackings prior. once guns were forbidden; hijackings became a regular part of life. the answer after 9/11 was to put guns on planes. be it pilots or marshalls.
He did break the law when he brought the guns on campus, but so would the professor or anyone else with a gun. So are you saying there should be more guns on campus?
naděje umírá poslední
that statement could only be made by someone in a country where guns are legal. does it not occur to you that if guns were illegal then the 'perp' would likely not have had a gun himself and the whole sad incident would never have happened?
when you criminalize guns it makes it very easy to spot who the criminals carrying guns are.
Look:
If the psycho is willing to kill someone with his guns, he's not too worried about breaking the law to take the guns on campus in the first place.
Therefore, we need to allow weapons on campus for at least professors. Currently there are NO guns allowed on Virginia campuses. We've seen what that results in: the only person with a gun is the psycho who isn't afraid of being caught with a gun on campus.
You think making it illegal to have a gun on campus is keeping criminals from bringing them on campus? Do you really believe that's working?
-Enoch Powell
FALSE FALSE FALSE
2% of legally purchased guns are involved in a crime. That means all other violent crimes are perpetrated by someone with an illegal weapon!! That means that criminalizing guns would have done nothing to stop the perpetrator because they didn't obtain their gun through legal means in the first place!! They got it on the street!!
-Enoch Powell
it was reported in the uk that the guy got his guns from a gun shop.
there are remarkably few deaths in the uk from shooting. 100% of them are due to crminals. if guns were legal in the uk the number of gun deaths would shoot up. i wouldn't trust 90% of the population of this country with a water pistol let alone a real one. you would have people killing their neighbours because they parked in the wrong place.
If everybody was given the constitutional right to possess and use the drugs that are now illegal, wouldn't there more overdoses and addicts?
You are not your job.
You are not how much money you have in the bank.
You are not the car you drive.
You are not the contents of your wallet.
You are not your fucking khakis.
Overdoses - maybe
I believe that overdoses are directly related to the illegality of the drug. Prohibition creates an environment where the potency of a drug is unknown to the user, which leads to overdoses.
Either way, I prefer people being able to decide on their own what is best for them rather than a police state with the highest incarceration rate in the world.
dude; if guns were outlawed; only outlaws would have guns. i know the queen disarmed you. if you check your history books; she disarmed you EXACTLY the way hitler disarmed germany. so who has guns in the uk now. CRIMINALS. where there's drugs there's guns. so we know the drug smugglers have guns. being illegal makes a black market for them. so they're easy to sell on the street.
the us has about 150 MILLION legal guns and i imagine just as many illegal guns. i own 30 myself. so using the 150 million guns compared to under 10,000 shooting deaths (which i believe includes police shootings) the percentage of deaths per gun has to be under 1%. my calculator doesn't go past 6 digits but using that percentage; if the uk has 1 shooting death; there must be at least 100,000 guns in the uk.
on the other hand; since the uk banned guns; bombings have increased dramatically. now if you count the deaths from bombings; and project the number of deaths for the bombs found before ignition; the uk would have 4 times as many criminal caused deaths now; as compared to criminal deaths when the population had guns.
since everything you need to make a bomb can be purchased at any garden shop; i'd rather have guns. less than 1% of gunshot wounds are fatal.
spot on dude. look at alcohol prohibition. look what happened. my grandfather made a killing making illegal wiskey. why? because it was illegal; everyone wanted it.
now; for those of you with some common sense:
when alcohol was illegal; it created a black market and didn't curb posession; only increased it.
when drugs became illegal; it created a black market and didn't curb posession; only increased it.
the firearms act of 1968 created a black market and didn't curb posession; only increased it.
i was 12 in 1968 and i remember my dad and his friends saying they had to run out and buy some guns before they're made illegal. the threat of a ban caused a jump in sales. prior to the brady ban; i bought all the assault weapons i could afford. after the ban took effect i sold the PRE-BAN assault weapons for 3 to 4 times what i paid for them.
prior to 1968; gun deaths were nil. we were a civilized society and only sportsmen owned guns. when we finally got a tele in the 60's; i would watch shows like the rifleman; gunsmoke; and other westerns. i recall asking my dad why people don't carry guns anymore and he told me we don't need to anymore. but everything changed in 1968. the government created a black market and now we needed a gun for protection.