filerunner Loc: Michigan

Why don't you jump on here and post a link every time a firearm saves lives? I know, that would not fit your anti gun agenda and you would have a full time job posting.

reelfishin Loc: Yorktown, Virginia

First of all guns don't kill people. People kill people and they do it with many items beside a gun. Should we ban all of them? Cars, knives, clubs, poison etc
Second, criminals will always find a way to get a gun if they want one.
Third Doing away with guns will only give the govenment more power over the people. Look at what happened in England. A man protects himself from a intruder with a gun and he goes to jail and the entruder goes free.
Carry a concealed weapon and you might just save your own life or the life of others.

filerunner Loc: Michigan

Well said!

morris cowley Loc: australia

Where did BOB44044 get all the rubbish about Australian gun control laws? Have never heard of an Australian newspaper called Daily Caller. Everything in his article is pure imagination and from a very sick one at that. Unfortunately views from BOB44044 are dangerous and add nothing to reducing the tragic death of innocent people who in many cases are not involved with guns. Just victims of gun crazed mentally ill people.





Never heard of an Australian newspaper called Daily Caller

Skellum0

And you are doing it again. Presenting a statement from a right wing think tank intent on persuading people to their viewpoint with selective facts out of context and misleading quotes.

A very little proper research will show you that while these increases may be genuine, the full context including actual rates of crime, reporting levels etc paints a completely different picture as which of these countries is safer to live in.

My suggestion is that you broaden your horizons to look outside of articles which agree with your narrow view of the World. Try understanding contrary points of view.

Clearly you do not know Australia well so stick with what you do know.

cameraniac Loc: Huntingburg, Indiana

Well said.

Radioman Loc: Ontario Canada

************
Removing the right to bear arms does little to help the right to live. This report describes what happened in Australia when that country banned arms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh4oHK8Dgck&feature=player_embedded

The evidence supports the probability that removing the right of the public to bear arms will increase crime, not reduce it. After all, as this report shows, Australia has found, making it safer for the criminals encourages them to do more.

The real problem is not the arms, it is the people. In my opinion, one major cause of these shootings, are computer shooting and killing games. There are so many of them and they are getting very realistic. It is not a big leap for those with psychiatric problems to carry their game experience into real life, and as Australia, Britain and Canada have found, laws banning guns do not prevent people getting their hands on them. These laws only effect law-abiding people.

Another related topic - which country is the safest? The real answer to that would be the country with the most law-abiding citizens. The least safe countries are IMHO those where crimes, such as the recent shootings, hardly merit a mention in the news.

DennisK Loc: Pickle City,Illinois

Here's an idea to all our British friends.No,it's Christmas,I won't say it....

TimS Loc: GA

Why raise federal taxes to pay for local police officers?????????

Around here, we already have school resource officers at most schools - high and middle school but not elementary.

Colleges already have their own police force. I would gladly pay a little more in taxes to have a cop in all the schools around here (I'm just not going to pay for police in CA schools).

Shopping malls - every time I've been to a mall for the past 10 years+, there has been a police presence.

I don't quite get your post. Are you just trying to criticize the idea of having a cop in every school just because it was proposed by the NRA or do you honestly oppose it? In other words, if the idea was proposed by a liberal group, would you be for it?

When you think of the costs already in place at a school - adding one additional person to a staff of hundreds would be rather trivial.

DennisK Loc: Pickle City,Illinois

Great idea! I whole-heartedly agree..Now if we could just get non USA Americans to do the same....

Skellum0

Please then explain why the murder rate in the US is approximately 4 times higher than both the UK and Australia?

One of the barriers to effective gun control in the US is that there are so many guns in circulation that criminals obligated to carry arms. It is a wired arms race.

What I find particularly frustrating is ignorant people misquoting, or quoting out of context violent crime statistics for countries they know nothing about. I live in Australia but have travelled extensively around the World. The places I feel least safe are any big American city.

Places I feel most safe include most American small towns where I am sure gun ownership is at least as high as in cities.

I repeat though, most of the relatively very small amount of gun crime we have in Australia is where either the criminal is doing a very specific 'hit' or where there is some kind of territorial dispute normally involving drugs.

The gun control measures in place mean the risk to reward ratio simply does not favour firearm possession for their everyday business.

There is even less firearm crime in the UK, and although they do have some violent crime issues, critically the homicide rate remains at around a quarter of the US.

Gun control has been proven to work and this can be demonstrated by an overwhelming amount of evidence from most of the countries where it has been introduced. Research unbiased reporting on Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Norway etc. all these countries statistically are much safer places to most states in the US, roughly on a par with your safest state (New Hampshire)

Note that all this talk about violent crime ignores the other side effects of firearms. Total deaths by firearms in the US are over 30,000 per year. Over 10 per 100,000 of population. Again, compare to countries with strict gun control. UK is about 0.25 per 100,000 and several countries are even lower. A rate of .25 per year in the US would mean less than 800 deaths per year.

There are exceptions, for example Mexico. But where these exceptions occur there are specific and identifiable reasons.

Finally, gun control does not necessarily mean no guns. Switzerland and Norway both have high gun ownership coupled with tight control. Israel is a different case again but us an interesting study.

I have had enough. Try living in a country with both well thought out gun control and backed by the judiciary and law enforcement. In America the NRA and other right wing organisations spew out scare messages. Do not confuse their rubbish with facts. Remember they are fundamentally self interest groups.

Imagigraphic Loc: Englewood, FL

Columbine had an armed guard.
The U of V has its own police department!
Ft. Hood is a military base.
The NRA solution is ridiculous.

bob44044 Loc: Ohio

Columbine Father's Surprising Words 12 yrs Later

On Thursday, Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott,... a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee. What he said to our national leaders during this special session of Congress silenced the room.

They were not prepared for what he was to say, nor was it received well. It needs to be heard by every parent, every teacher, every politician and so-called expert!

These courageous words spoken by Darrell Scott are powerful, penetrating, deeply personal, and surprising! Here is a portion of the transcript:

"Since the dawn of creation there has been both good & evil in the hearts of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers.

"The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used.. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.

"In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent

I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy -- it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best.

Your laws ignore our deepest needs, Your words are empty air. You've stripped away our heritage, You've outlawed simple prayer. Now gunshots fill our classrooms, And precious children die. You seek for answers everywhere, And ask the question "Why?" You regulate restrictive laws, Through legislative creed. And yet you fail to understand, That God is what we need!

"Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history.

Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs -- politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties.

We do not need more restrictive laws. Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

"As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right!

I challenge every young person in America , and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him.

To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA -- I give to you a sincere challenge.. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone! My daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!" - Darrell Scott

You can bet our national leaders didn't expect this!

bob44044 Loc: Ohio

sundancer2004 Loc: oak island, nc

Your such a jackass, its not the NRA that wants, in fact there have been officers in schools for several years now, they are called School Resource officers, One thing is a constant, everything that comes out of your mouth is proven false.