🚀 go-pugleaf

Rosco (Roger_Walker@CUEHere.Edmonton.AB.CA) writes:
>> There are extremely few guns stolen from police and military, for 
>> reasons which I assume should be obvious.
> 
> More illegal firearms come from government/police/military armories than
> anywhere else. The reason is obvious: The quantity of firearms in a single
> location. Another reason is that owners of "gun shops" are more likely to be
> prepared to fight back.

Gun shop owners are going to have better security over their stocks than
police and military? I find that hard to believe. In any event, it is stil
*far* easier to break into somebody's house and steal their gun if you
know that they have one. Contrary to what Hollywood would like us to
believe, most robberies are not of the type where you could wake up in the
middle of the night with the robber prowling through your bedroom. Most
residential breakings now occur during the daytime, since it is now
unlikely that there is a family member home all day, or neighbours around
as witnesses. It is ar easier to steal a private gun than to break into an
armoury or police station. If people had to show a proper licence for the
gun when buying ammunition, it would be far harder for these stolen guns
to be used. Instead, I can walk into Canadina Tire and buy ammo to feed my
stolen gun.

>> Hey, I'm a law abiding citizen too, but that still doesn't give
>> me unlimited rights to drive 200 km/hr down the highways.
> 
> The firearms community is not asking for rights to shoot at people. They are
> asking that their rights be respected. 

To repeat an overused expression: your right to throw a fist ends when it
encounters my right not to have a bloody nose. No rights are absolute. All
rights involve tradeoffs between competing rights of individuals. My right
to travel 200 km/hr on the left side of  a residential street is tempered
by society's right not to have me endangering all the other users of the
road. Your right to build a 10 storey apartment building next door to me
is tempered by my right not to have my solar panels living in your shadow
(zoning laws). Your right to carry a gun is tempered by society's right to
protect *all* of its members by minimizing the level of violence in society.
--
#####    |\^/|     Colin R. Leech            || Civil engineer by training
##### _|\|   |/|_  ag414@freenet.carleton.ca || Transport planner by choice
##### >         <  Opinions are my own. Consider them shareware if you want.
#####  >_./|\._<   Support misc.transport.rail.uk+ireland: CFV closes Dec.18