Do not care of anything, but if someone with no matter what problem enters my house in order to rob it or to hurt me or my family - i will kill that jerk.

If I had offended anyone - sorry. I apologise.
Probably should not enter any discussions.

Everyone has opinions... and I don't see anyone trying to swing others to their opinion, that is not what politics or debate is so much about, but more to put thoughts out and see what returns. Attack the topic, yes; attack a person, no. Politics attack one another, we are not politics; we are debating though, which is healthy.

So... the "fore" guns are just not putting forward a convincing argument to myself to warrant the use of guns for protection as yet. I want to understand, and let me explain further on Linda's own statement.

1. Seatbelts purpose is to stop you killing yourself.
2. Stopping at stop signs stop you killing yourself, and killing others.
3. Putting out candles saves your life, by not burning you alive whilst sleeping.
4. Locking your house helps stop others killing you, stealing your possessions.
5. Fire extinguisher puts out fire on your possessions.
6. First aid kit helps mend peoples basic medical needs.
7. Guns have one purpose, to kill.

Hmmmm.... big difference here between the other factors raised compared to what a guns purpose is designed?

Protecting myself from the fire or a natural disaster has no difference from protecting myself from the enemy.
OK, I am not changing my opinion but do not feel like discussing that now.

Anthony,

Guns are for other reasons besides killing people. For goodness sakes! Ever heard of deer hunting? Ever heard of wild turkey hunting? They are sports just like soccer, foot ball, boxing ect. Are hand guns needed for these things? NO! Are machine guns or the likes needed for hunting, NO. But people should be able to hunt for sport. It is not just about protection. I would note advise anybody with PTSD to have a gun just because of the nature of the illness. We here in Missouri are incouraged by the conservation department as gun owners to have a tag to hunt deer because their over population will cause their eventual demise. Ever had deer jerkey? Yum! Yum! Deer on the grill? It is the same way with turkey. Wild turkey, Yum! Yum! One could not very easily hunt turkey without a shot gun. Are there accidents that result in fatalities, yes and that is very unfortunate. However, there are also accidents with snow boarding, surfing, and archery that result in fatalities.

You are right, a gun is for the purpose of killing, but not necessarily just people.

Another example: Pig farmers have guns to do the kill of the pig. This is for their own safety as pigs are very big animals and prone to violence. There are private, non corporate bovine farmers that also use a pistol to do the kill. Out in the country where I live, occasionally a gun is required to kill a ravid animal to protect other people from rabies. They are close to impossible to trap because they are not interested in food. A gun is the only way to kill them safely. Animals that are prone to this are skunks, badgers, racoons, oppossums, feril dogs, feril cats, and armadillos.

Now I will focus on my sweeties protective side and make a humble attempt to explain why he owns guns for protection from criminals. America is a very vastly rural populated country. Most people are not protected by police. And even in the cities, the police show up after the fact. However, we rural folks have only the county deputy sherrif to protect us from criminals. Now I've lived in this area for 7 years and no one has ever had to use a gun to protect themselves. This is in part due to the fact that the criminals know we have guns and we watch out for one another. My neighbors watch out for us, we watch out for our neighbors. Their is alot of violence in the United States, but if you will examine the rate of crime in the UK and Australia you will discover that as soon as the gun bans were put in place as law criminal activity increased substantially and continues to increase. This is just a thought, but perhaps this is because the criminals in the UK and Australia know that law abiding citizens have no guns and it is free reign.
In Oklahoma USA when the conceal carry law was passed, criminal activity decreased by an alarming percentage. Vermont has always had conceal carry and they have the lowest crime rate of any state in the United States.

Anthony, I understand why you hate guns. What you have seen, heard, and even smelled. No person should have to endure such horrible things and I am so sorry that you did.

People do commit suicide with guns. Most successful suicides in the USA are with guns. Some of these guns are even legally owned. However, I will equate this to the abortion issue in the United States. I believe abortion is a travesty. However, I also know that the young women who get them are not selfish evil people. They are people who feel desparation and feel they have no other alternative at the time. Therefore, in order to keep abortion safe, it must remain legal on a limited basis at least. Back alley abortions kill young women. It is sad that people use guns to take their own lives. But if they did not have a gun they would use a rope, if they did not have a roap they would use a knife, if they did not have a knife they would use pills... Guns do not kill people. PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE! More women in the United States die from their own husband beating them to death with their bare hands than women being killed by guns. I firmly believe that gun laws should be greater inforced by the USA BATF. This is why so many individuals acquire guns illeagally. It is the control of illeagal gun owner ship that I believe should be the focus.

As I have said, I could never kill a person with a gun or any thing else. But I could kill a deer.

What enemy? I was unaware their was a classified enemy existence within the United States that required citizens to arm themselves. Could someone please refer me to the documentation of this enemy, so I know who to look out for if I ever visit the USA?

Yes, I am well aware. So then, does everyone in the USA who carry guns use them to hunt? No, as you stated here: "Are hand guns needed for these things? NO! Are machine guns or the likes needed for hunting, NO. But people should be able to hunt for sport."
Difference between an accident occuring whilst deer hunting vs. someone threatening another person with a knife, the person threatened pulling out a gun and shooting them dead. That is not an accident. Even in a court of law, having a knife pulled on you and threatened with it is not justification to pull the trigger of a gun unless that person physically attacks you with that knife, generally wounding you atleast. If a person didn't respond with force, would that person then simply rob a person and take their possessions vs. a life being taken that cannot be replaced?
Yep, so what are all the citizens justifications for hand guns then? Most aren't sport shooters!!!
Now, I partly agree with this, partly could disagree. Generally even here in Australia farmers have guns, and you really have to be quite ignorant to think a farmer wouldn't have a gun considering they hunt vermin animals etc. Farmers here are an exception, and yes they have licensed weapons. I don't begrudge people have weapons period, I cannot see the point of people trying to justify weapons if the only reason they have them is for self protection. A firearm for farming / live stock purposes is one thing, protection another. Australian country is vast, no doubt, just as the USA, hence most farmers have guns and would use them if someone tried to attack them. Same here as in the USA though, rarely happens because people know farmers have guns.
I would disagree with this actually, and not sure where your getting your figures from, but crime in most Australian cities has decreased / remained the same in conjunction with population increase. Sydney has increased, hence Sydney is the main city in which migrates also populate, hence why Australia has pretty much stopped all immigration until such time as migrants calm down, learn the Australian way, and begin adopting it instead of bringing their ways to a country and mixing them to create chaos.
Not sure about the UK, but Australia has a per capita lower crime rate than the USA does, and we aren't armed here. Go figure that one out? Why? Because the way of life here is more relaxed, where it is not bread into people to have guns or to generally have little respect for life itself. If someone is murdered in Australia, anywhere, it makes headlines around the entire country of near 30 million. The US has a much higher death rate per capita once again to Australia, hence not a good comparison to make IMHO.

Crime in Australia is petty stuff, ie. break and enter, graffiti, vandalism, etc... not the shit that goes on in the USA, murder, abduction, etc. When one of those things occur in Australia, it makes National news around the country because we have such low rates of the high crime. Our rates are petty things that do not affect life, nor generally of such a serious nature. Big difference between social lifestyles.

I don't really have an issue with guns in general though Marilyn, that is what your missing and misinterpreting. What I do not understand is why any country accepts any citizen to own a gun for the purpose of protection only. Doesn't that say something about the country overall if the political arena is telling their citizens to arm themselves against themselves?

Yes, suicide is suicide, and not an issue with me. If someone wants to do it, they will do it the fastest method they know how.

So, once again, Doesn't that say something about the country overall if the political arena is telling their citizens to arm themselves against themselves; or that people need to arm themselves against themselves in general? People do not kill people alone, guns help, sorry to say. If a person had a knife, a piece of timber, etc etc, they are items that are not so easily used to kill another person, hence it usually is avoided. Guns however, far to easy to do nothing more than squeeze a trigger, hence the end result is often death or severe injury. Guns certainly do contribute to killing people, its not just the person. That is a very outdated logic.

Perhaps you are right about America. But I'm stuck here. Perhaps I could give some staticstics on pedophiles and inscest in the USA. This whole world stinks and so do weapons to hurt people. But I can think of a whole lot worse things than people owning guns in the USA. Australia sounds like a really nice place. I'm glad you have it so good. Perhaps there are fewer child molesters there too.

That has got to be the FUNNIEST freaking thing I've read in a long time!

Ohh Anthony thank you for that laugh. (it's so true.. but god is that funny!)

bec

On the BBC news last night they said that on average there were 82 people killed by guns in the UK. The same number were killed everyday by guns in America. Even with the difference in population size this difference is massive.

Personally, I was surprised it was so high in the UK! I've checked figures and 2005-2006 gun murder was actually down from 78 to 50.

Yes, Australia is around the 200 mark I believe, and going down each year since guns got outlawed, and as guns are discovered by police each year, more are off the streets and more are being shutdown before reaching them. The best thing though is that the demand for guns on the black market here is low, near nothing really... drugs is the more popular through most societies I believe.