Tyranny in America? Somewhat funny vid

[Coolazice]

I am a liberal. But I believe in the right to bear arms. I do not support assualt rifles. I also fully support a very thorough background check and gun registration. I do not support private sale.

The Truth About Assault Weapons

[h2s]

I remember the days when being a liberal meant that you wanted an extremely limited government that, above all else, stayed the fuck out of your life and let you live it as you wished, so long as you were not hurting anyone else. Nowadays, that is the definition of libertarian. I am proudly libertarian.

Although predominantly conservative, I do not do religious issues in government, I stay away from the pro-life/pro-choice debate and I have no problem with gay rights. But I think the federal government is absolutely ridiculous in its size, scope and power and that we are slowly and steadily losing our liberties through incrementalism.

What is most troubling to me is the failure on the part of Americans to acknowledge the deep-rooted corruption. It's prevalent in both the Democrat and Republican parties. Barack Obama, for example, is Dick Cheney with charisma. He is all about amassing power.
His people largely profess to be anti-war, but do not call him out on the unconstitutional and illegal acts of war he engages this nation in. They do not call him out on the drone strikes overseas, that to date have killed 176 children. They don't balk at his signing of the National Defense Authorization Act, despite threatening to veto it, then caving, then saying he was for it but against it and then fighting when a federal court overturned it.

And now we have the attempt to greatly limit the scope of the Second Amendment based on a politically-manufactured term, "assault rifle." These "assault rifles" are no more deadly than popular high-powered hunting rifles, but based on their look, they are interpreted as evil and therefore the target of an overzealous movement that ultimately wants to see the people of the U.S. disarmed.

"Assault rifles" as defined by the low-information politicians who are pursuing their ban, are NOT machine guns. "Semi-automatic" does not mean that you hold down the trigger and bullets spray everywhere. One trigger pull means one bullet, and marksmanship will always rule the day.

At the same time I grapple with the gross misunderstandings on this issue, I am also equally disgusted by the GOP for a myriad of reasons that just make me angry to think about. We've reached a point in this country where nothing concerning how this nation is governed makes any sense at all.

The Truth About Assault Weapons

An armed individual enters a school where your child attends. Would you rather the individual have a 6-bullet capacity handgun, or a 60-bullet capacity Ar-15? That is the difference between an assuault rifle and a standard "gun." If you state that you don't see a difference, then I refuse to believe you have any intelligence behind your view, and are so-stuck in your argument that logic has been toppled.

A semi-automatic rifle provides an extremely fast range of fire. That 60 bullet clip can be emptied in 60 seconds. This is a rifle designed to provide an assualt-like attack. It can be fired into a crowd of people and hit with great accuracy. It also provides a much larger range of fire than a standard semi-automatic pistol. A combination that can be, and has proven to be deadly.

The logic side of me says do away with guns compeltely. Do not feed me the bullshit about how citizens would become enslaved, etc.. The fact of the matter is this country has more guns, and in turn, more gun-related violence. We are the number one country for homicides involving guns. Countries with stringent laws against guns also happen to see the least gun violence. This is fact, not opinion.

Unfortunately, the constitutional supporting side of me states that guns should stay, albiet I see the need for regulation (including registry). I also realize that there are so many guns in this country that a complete removal wouldn't work, and would leave the weapon balance in the hands of the criminal.

[Freepressright]

An armed individual enters a school where your child attends. Would you rather the individual have a 6-bullet capacity handgun, or a 60-bullet capacity Ar-15? That is the difference between an assuault rifle and a standard "gun." If you state that you don't see a difference, then I refuse to believe you have any intelligence behind your view, and are so-stuck in your argument that logic has been toppled.

A semi-automatic rifle provides an extremely fast range of fire. That 60 bullet clip can be emptied in 60 seconds. This is a rifle designed to provide an assualt-like attack. It can be fired into a crowd of people and hit with great accuracy. It also provides a much larger range of fire than a standard semi-automatic pistol. A combination that can be, and has proven to be deadly.

The logic side of me says do away with guns compeltely. Do not feed me the bullshit about how citizens would become enslaved, etc.. The fact of the matter is this country has more guns, and in turn, more gun-related violence. We are the number one country for homicides involving guns. Countries with stringent laws against guns also happen to see the least gun violence. This is fact, not opinion.

Unfortunately, the constitutional supporting side of me states that guns should stay, albiet I see the need for regulation (including registry). I also realize that there are so many guns in this country that a complete removal wouldn't work, and would leave the weapon balance in the hands of the criminal.

The latest figures obtained by the FBI, violent crime offenses in the United States have been falling since 2007. The five year trend clearly shows that, despite there being an ongoing national debate about gun violence in America, violent crime itself is actually becoming less of a problem.

070113graph1.JPG

The graph I uploaded from the Department of Justice also highlights the fact that over the last 40 years, the amount of guns in America per 1000 people has increased, whereas serious violent crimes have decreased.

070113graph2.JPG

In addition, despite the media drumbeat that murders involving guns represent the number one safety threat to American citizens, the reality is completely the opposite.

070113graph4.JPG

Amongst the “top ten killers” in the United States, homicide by firearms is at the bottom of the list, according to figures from the CDC and the FBI. Almost 20 times more people die in the United States from medical errors than they do from firearm homicides, but there is no outcry to slap draconian regulations on the medical industry.

All of these figures indicate that rising gun ownership does not cause a rise in violent crime.

[markam]

The logic side of me says do away with guns compeltely. Do not feed me the bullshit about how citizens would become enslaved, etc.. The fact of the matter is this country has more guns, and in turn, more gun-related violence. We are the number one country for homicides involving guns. Countries with stringent laws against guns also happen to see the least gun violence. This is fact, not opinion.

X2

[markam]

Most police aren't even armed in the U.K.

Much less gun crime, also.

[Freepressright]

X2

You live in Britain, right? Which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the developed world.

Given that one of the most vocal advocates for gun control in the aftermath of Sandy Hook has been a British citizen – Piers Morgan – who has used his platform on CNN to attack the second amendment, the contrast is illuminating.

Despite the fact that it is virtually impossible for an average citizen to obtain a gun through legal channels in Britain, the rate of violent crime in the UK is higher per capita than the US and the highest in the world amongst “rich” countries aside from Australia, which also instituted a draconian gun ban in the 1990′s.

Violent crime worse in Britain than in US | Mail Online

Preventing law-abiding people from owning guns clearly has no impact on violent crime, and if anything causes it to rise because the criminals know their victims will not be able to defend themselves.

In addition, you are more than twice as likely to be a victim of knife crime in the UK than you are a victim of gun crime in the United States, but there is no media debate about banning kitchen knives.

Chad Perrin: SOB Statistics 101: US Gun Crime vs. UK Knife Crime

Despite virtually all handguns being outlawed in 1996 following the Dunblane school massacre in Scotland, with law-abiding people people rushing to turn in their firearms, over the next decade gun crime in the UK more than doubled. This proves that while law-abiding citizens willingly disarmed themselves, criminals were unfazed by the new laws and continued to use guns illegally. Therefore gun control only disarms innocent people since criminals do not follow the law.

Firearms offences more than double since Dunblane - Telegraph

As the Wall Street Journal recently noted, “Strict gun laws in Great Britain and Australia haven’t made their people noticeably safer, nor have they prevented massacres.”

Joyce Lee Malcolm: Two Cautionary Tales of Gun Control - WSJ.com

In summary, despite a widespread ban on gun ownership in the United Kingdom, it is the most dangerous place to live in terms of violent crime in the entire western world.

[longBallLima]

You live in Britain, right? Which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the developed world.

Given that one of the most vocal advocates for gun control in the aftermath of Sandy Hook has been a British citizen – Piers Morgan – who has used his platform on CNN to attack the second amendment, the contrast is illuminating.

Despite the fact that it is virtually impossible for an average citizen to obtain a gun through legal channels in Britain, the rate of violent crime in the UK is higher per capita than the US and the highest in the world amongst “rich” countries aside from Australia, which also instituted a draconian gun ban in the 1990′s.

Violent crime worse in Britain than in US | Mail Online

Preventing law-abiding people from owning guns clearly has no impact on violent crime, and if anything causes it to rise because the criminals know their victims will not be able to defend themselves.

In addition, you are more than twice as likely to be a victim of knife crime in the UK than you are a victim of gun crime in the United States, but there is no media debate about banning kitchen knives.

Chad Perrin: SOB Statistics 101: US Gun Crime vs. UK Knife Crime

Despite virtually all handguns being outlawed in 1996 following the Dunblane school massacre in Scotland, with law-abiding people people rushing to turn in their firearms, over the next decade gun crime in the UK more than doubled. This proves that while law-abiding citizens willingly disarmed themselves, criminals were unfazed by the new laws and continued to use guns illegally. Therefore gun control only disarms innocent people since criminals do not follow the law.

Firearms offences more than double since Dunblane - Telegraph

As the Wall Street Journal recently noted, “Strict gun laws in Great Britain and Australia haven’t made their people noticeably safer, nor have they prevented massacres.”

Joyce Lee Malcolm: Two Cautionary Tales of Gun Control - WSJ.com

In summary, despite a widespread ban on gun ownership in the United Kingdom, it is the most dangerous place to live in terms of violent crime in the entire western world.

Homicide rate in the UK: 1.2
Homicide rate in the US: 4.8


I'll take robbery and hooliganism over child murder any day.

[markam]

You live in Britain, right? Which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the developed world.

Given that one of the most vocal advocates for gun control in the aftermath of Sandy Hook has been a British citizen – Piers Morgan – who has used his platform on CNN to attack the second amendment, the contrast is illuminating.

Despite the fact that it is virtually impossible for an average citizen to obtain a gun through legal channels in Britain, the rate of violent crime in the UK is higher per capita than the US and the highest in the world amongst “rich” countries aside from Australia, which also instituted a draconian gun ban in the 1990′s.

Violent crime worse in Britain than in US | Mail Online

Preventing law-abiding people from owning guns clearly has no impact on violent crime, and if anything causes it to rise because the criminals know their victims will not be able to defend themselves.

In addition, you are more than twice as likely to be a victim of knife crime in the UK than you are a victim of gun crime in the United States, but there is no media debate about banning kitchen knives.

Chad Perrin: SOB Statistics 101: US Gun Crime vs. UK Knife Crime

Despite virtually all handguns being outlawed in 1996 following the Dunblane school massacre in Scotland, with law-abiding people people rushing to turn in their firearms, over the next decade gun crime in the UK more than doubled. This proves that while law-abiding citizens willingly disarmed themselves, criminals were unfazed by the new laws and continued to use guns illegally. Therefore gun control only disarms innocent people since criminals do not follow the law.

Firearms offences more than double since Dunblane - Telegraph

As the Wall Street Journal recently noted, “Strict gun laws in Great Britain and Australia haven’t made their people noticeably safer, nor have they prevented massacres.”

Joyce Lee Malcolm: Two Cautionary Tales of Gun Control - WSJ.com

In summary, despite a widespread ban on gun ownership in the United Kingdom, it is the most dangerous place to live in terms of violent crime in the entire western world.

Apologies for not replying yesterday, but I had posted just before leaving for work.

Firstly, I'd disregard what the papers say, especially the sensationalist Mail. I will just talk about my own experience of the matter.

Anyway, I live in London and I have never even seen any gun or even knife crime for that matter. I'm sure if I were to frequent notorious crime areas I probably would have. This is just my experience of living in London and I should mention that I'm out gigging five nights a week so I'm hardly living a 'quiet life'. Where I live you get burglary and petty theft, but often that is usually due to someone's carelessness with their own security.