🚀 go-pugleaf

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <DJMKtG.5rK@freenet.carleton.ca> Colin R. Leech 
(ag414@FreeNet.Carleton.CA) wrote:

> Go to the USA where they
> are so hung up on individual rights that the rights of society as a whole
> take a back seat. (Gun control is perhaps the most obvious example of
> this, but there are many others.)

Infringing on the rights of responsible firearms owners does not put the
rights of society before the individual. They simply ignore the rights of
both.

> Drugs are illegal because they're
> dangerous - but they're basically only dangerous to the person using them
> (unless you drive a car or use a gun or so something similar while
> stoned). Guns are dangerous to innocent bystanders who have no choice in
> whether to be around them or not, and so should be controlled even more
> tightly than drugs.

The problem, then is one of misuse. One does not change that behavior by
attacking legitimate and responsible use. Drug laws are supposedly directed
against misuse, while "gun control" is directed at responsible people, not
criminals.

> Obviously the police will have guns. I don't worry about them.

Then you should. Being a policeman doesn't automatically remove any criminal
or violent tendencies.

> We already have many situations where domestic violence becomes fatal
> because a gun is easily available,

Wrong. It often becomes fatal because one or both participants ignore the
fact that they should separate, and because the authorities ignore the
situation until after the fact.

> Limiting access to guns means that we limit our exposure to these types of
> incidents.

You are still talking about limiting access to the irresponsible and
criminal, by infringing on the rights of the responsible. There is no
correlation.

> The part I find absolutely incredible is that anyone can buy ammunition
> without a permit. Requiring somebody to show proof of registration for
> legal ownership of the gun before being allowed to buy ammo would go a
> long way to curbing violence.

That is a fantasy. Violence is not dictated by a firearm. However, a
firearm, like any other object, can be used to further violence (just as
they can be used to stop it).

- -- 
               SysOp, CUE Here BBS  (403) 465-7715
               Roger_Walker@CUEHere.Edmonton.AB.CA

    PGP Public Key from:  Roger_Walker_PGP@CUEHere.Edmonton.AB.CA


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2

iQEVAwUBMNNjxqZ872JZyB+1AQFrEgf/WTD2ClYpNXHABD3YQrtNk6mgWxCUslQv
g4k7DQtwp3usb+UywOkJedt9qyGFCXseSNTRQyVRTfkgJyJ2DpwzvObzLmI60pqj
Xr/uHVurSctfercDb5TOQq28dbLuBwx1IeKO1Vo+LZdB+Q+fFpPs2nma61VzWqnd
KXHh0O9xkd3yTjsEguYLBkPGgQi/NNDYa8aA8XalIni3yt4pfZTHIl7w3wbhqXwW
kjS8wTYKW0PU4UPFSzeDmaAlaJPVUOdnk9zkK5v3+MXzlzjz1fuxS8ZpZUDAsHAa
5b3ewe5tv8qjwNuZbUDduIV5YqIOISQ7g6PrOwbrz0x1o962c8PIXQ==
=l3b+
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----