Have we become obsessed with eliminating risk?

[harvey19]

Good! But not good enough, in my opinion!

 

but I think it's a collective responsibility to keep society safe by removing efficient killing machines from the hands of those whose state of mind has become imbalanced ... something that cannot be predicted.

 

Unfortunately people act in all sorts of ways when their mind is unbalanced but I do not think we should not have blanket bans because of the actions of one individual when there are already regulations in place.

[spinac]

Unfortunately people act in all sorts of ways when their mind is unbalanced but I do not think we should not have blanket bans because of the actions of one individual when there are already regulations in place.

 

It's happened before, it will happen again. Are you happy to do nothing?

 

When the next mass killer goes on the rampage next year, the year after, 5 years, 10 years time, will you be happy to say that you fought for his right to carry lethal weapons and cut short the lives of innocent people?

[harvey19]

It's happened before, it will happen again. Are you happy to do nothing?

 

When the next mass killer goes on the rampage next year, the year after, 5 years, 10 years time, will you be happy to say that you fought for his right to carry lethal weapons and cut short the lives of innocent people?

 

But take your argument to the extreme, should we stop soldiers carrying weapons because one may go on the rampage ?

[spinac]

But take your argument to the extreme, should we stop soldiers carrying weapons because one may go on the rampage ?

 

Of course not. What role does a soldier perform? What role did Derrick Bird perform?

 

We're balancing risk against benefit here. Have you seen Michael Moore confront Charlton Heston in "Bowling for Columbine"? When there are more guns floating around in society they will be misused - by children even. Yes guns should be locked away, no children shouldn't be able to get their hands on them, but this is not an ideal world. We're human, we make mistakes, situations arise that weren't planned. Like 6 year olds getting hold of the family gun and taking it to school to shoot their classmates. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/mar2000/flin-m01.shtml

 

Then, the likes of Charlton Heston from the National Rifle Association turn up in town to defend the right to bear arms. It's sick and I don't want to see that in Britain.

[llamatron]

It's happened before, it will happen again. Are you happy to do nothing?

 

When the next mass killer goes on the rampage next year, the year after, 5 years, 10 years time, will you be happy to say that you fought for his right to carry lethal weapons and cut short the lives of innocent people?

 

sometimes you should do nothing, because we can't protect everyone against everything.

 

To be honest I would be happy to ban all guns, but thats because I am vegetarian and against hunting. As I would rather people hunt for their food than buy it from the supermarket (as a lesser evil) I think until everyone is veggie guns should be allowed.

 

People that do not hunt OR own a farm with livestock OR partake in gun sports should not be allowed a gun as they have no reason to have one.

[spinac]

sometimes you should do nothing, because we can't protect everyone against everything.

 

While I agree that you cannot protect everyone against everything, that's not the point. You can protect some people against obvious dangers. Fire safety regulations haven't stopped all fires, but we still make the effort to design and maintain buildings to be as safe as possible.

[L00b]

While I agree that you cannot protect everyone against everything, that's not the point. You can protect some people against obvious dangers. Fire safety Firearm regulations haven't stopped all fires gun crime, but we still make the effort to design and maintain buildings vet and heavily restrict ownership approveal to be as safe and legitimate as possible.

By the same token, firearm acquisition, ownership and safekeeping is heavily legislated and regulated in the UK (most, amongst western countries). It is the point

[Cyclone]

People that do not hunt OR own a farm with livestock OR partake in gun sports should not be allowed a gun as they have no reason to have one.

 

Luckily that's the current situation.

In order to be granted a firearms license you need to be a member of a club and a registered official of the club has to confirm your active and ongoing membership whenever your license comes up for renewal. Or as you say, you use it to hunt vermin and that can be verified in some way.

Firearms licenses are actually quite difficult to obtain, you need character references, an interview with the firearms officer and a valid reason for owning the gun. They aren't just given away because you ask for one nicely.

 

And despite this, and despite the vast majority of handguns and semi-automatic weapons now being illegal, gun crime continues to rise. The reason for that is that the criminals rarely apply for a license.

[llamatron]

Luckily that's the current situation.

In order to be granted a firearms license you need to be a member of a club and a registered official of the club has to confirm your active and ongoing membership whenever your license comes up for renewal. Or as you say, you use it to hunt vermin and that can be verified in some way.

Firearms licenses are actually quite difficult to obtain, you need character references, an interview with the firearms officer and a valid reason for owning the gun. They aren't just given away because you ask for one nicely.

 

And despite this, and despite the vast majority of handguns and semi-automatic weapons now being illegal, gun crime continues to rise. The reason for that is that the criminals rarely apply for a license.

 

Exactly what I was saying-more legislation would be pointless. The only thing I would think is required is more checks for illegal weapons, but no matter how many times you check for illegal weapons you could always do more and there will always still be a chance of a mentalist shooting everyone.

[spinac]

By the same token, firearm acquisition, ownership and safekeeping is heavily legislated and regulated in the UK (most, amongst western countries). It is the point

 

I simply don't agree with you that there's nothing more we can do on firearm control. Derrick Bird should not have been in possession of those firearms and the Cumbrian deaths were preventable.

 

Firearms licenses are actually quite difficult to obtain, you need character references, an interview with the firearms officer and a valid reason for owning the gun. They aren't just given away because you ask for one nicely.

 

The local community are still giving Derrick Bird good character references (including the local vicar) even after the events of last week. Predicting when people will "flip" is just about impossible.

 

The Rev Jim Marshall said they had no idea what triggered Bird to go on his murderous rampage – killing 12 and injuring 11 – saying the man his loved ones had known “was not the person they saw” five days ago.

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/bird-family-derrick-was-the-nicest-man-1.717043?referrerPath=/workington_comets_latest_1_49988

 

And despite this, and despite the vast majority of handguns and semi-automatic weapons now being illegal, gun crime continues to rise. The reason for that is that the criminals rarely apply for a license.

 

It's very difficult to stop criminals obtaining weapons illegally. Gun crime is on the increase. That's absolutely no reason to make it easier to obtain guns generally.