With a couple of recent shooting rampages in the news today, the old question of gun control is going to come up again. I think there are good points to be made on both sides. In Canada, we have a gun registry, and it is more difficult to obtain a gun than in the USA. But politically, there is a lot of pressure to dismantle the gun registry even though it was the police support for the registry that got it passed. In the USA some groups are trying to get assault weapons banned, while the powerful National Rifle Association lobbies against it.Those opposed to a gun registry say that it doesn't stop criminals from owning guns. The police point out that first, many law abiding citizens do kill people with their guns, and the registry also makes it easier to lay charges against criminals with unregistered weapons.
Some of the arguments are simply propaganda stories that play on fear and hate. Here is one that has flooded the Internet lately. This story is crafted to make it look like foolish liberals are siding with the terrorists. It describes a hypothetical situation where "freedom to bear arms" gives law abiding citizens a chance to defend themselves against terrorists.
You can google for "You're walking down a deserted street" or go to this link for an early version of the story that does not mention liberals by name, although you just know the guy who wants to raise taxes instead of shooting the terrorist is a liberal, and later versions of the story are less subtle.
The terrorist, for some strange reason , has a knife and no gun, even though "Freedom to bear arms" applies to everyone. Since the gun is better at offense than defense, if both sides were equipped with a similar gun, the family would all die in the ambush. And even more likely where the alleged terrorist had chosen to use his freedom to buy an assault weapon.
Just too many guns around, especially in the U.S. where it's becoming like an arms race between the cops and the civilians.
ReplyDeleteSince 'D.C. v. Heller' last year, we can only expect it to get even more crazy down there ... Foreign Affairs Canada should add the U.S. to their Official Travel Warnings section.
Sure - I wouldn't like to be done in by some maniac with a big knife, who would? But I'm not about to lose sleep over that remote possibility, and I'm certainly not paranoid enough to start arming myself with lethal weapons.
I'm sick of (and bored with) that tired old 'freedom' rhetoric from the gun lobby in the U.S.
And I also resent their support for anti-gun control groups here in Canada. Like a damn pestilence, spread by propaganda.
Another swing and a miss by Madeye.
ReplyDeleteThe problem isn't that there's too much freedom. Quite the opposite. While I have never owned a gun and wouldn't feel comfortable around them I do like the idea of living in a country where free citizens are allowed to arm themselves.
We can't un-invent guns. They will always be with us and crazy people will get a hold of them.
Madeye is correct in that the chances of being stabbed to death by a stranger are remote (even for Greyhound passengers) but he must remember that the chances of being shot by a stranger are extremely remote too. It is a price we pay for living in a free society. Like getting maimed in a car wreck or losing all of your money in Vegas - sometimes bad things happen when people are free. That is much better than the alternative.
Just as an aside, the 10th anniversary of the Columbine (sp?) school shootings is on April 20th. There may be a rash of shootings that day. If you're a teacher you may want to call in sick.