I am a "survivor" of gun violence, sort of.  My son-in-law shot and killed my daughter, my two preschool grandchildren and himself fifteen years ago.  He wasn't supposed to have a gun.  He had been convicted of aggravated assault and the police should have confiscated all his firearms.  Because he was a hunter, they let him keep his 12 gauge shotgun. It turns out you can do more than hunt with a 12 gauge.  If the law had been strictly enforced, the tragedy might not have happened.  However, if we had paid more attention to his mental health, it might not have happened either.  Just something to consider in the midst of all this discussion.
Posted by cherrique

In Response to Re: guns are banned in Australia : As a gun owner and law-citizen, I am appalled at the lack of knowledge by non-gun owners about firearms.  For instance, LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS cannot just go into a gun store and purchase an assault weapon. The definition of an assault weapon "a rapid-fire magazine-fed AUTOMATIC weaspon designed for infantry use." The much misaligned AR-15 is being called just that due to its design not its function. The problem  today is the current laws are NOT being enforced. Putting restrictions on our constitutional right to bear arms (which is illegal, by the way), will NOT fix the problem. I will not register my guns. Registration is the first step toward confiscation. The NRA, and law abiding citizens like myself, know this. If you think that removing guns from people like me is going to make you safe, you're couldn't be more wrong. Criminals do not obey the laws and will still get guns. Look at what is going on in Chicago. Chicago (Obama's home city, by the way) has the highest instance of gun crime in the country. Chicago also has the strictest gun laws. Even Joe Biden said that the current laws cannot be enforced. So, Janmb, what makes you t hink that taking my handguns and rifles away from me will make you safer?  How long does it take police to respond to a call where you live?  Is it a matter of a few minutes or more like half an hour? Do you live in the city or the country? If you live in the country where most likely your police protection is a state police barracks in another town, you're looking at a minimum of 30 - 40 minute response time and that's only if the officer isn't on another call.  Oh, you probably ought to know that now in Australia and Great Britan, where private gun ownership was banned and guns confiscated, they're now experiencing something new called "Home Invasions." The only fear mongering is being done by Diane Frankenfeinstein and NY's Mayor Bloomberg along with another bunch of politicians who are marching to the beat of their own agenda (CT's Gov. Dannell Malloy is a doozy, too). When I saw her holding a rifle incorrectly, violating a minimum of 3 laws of safe firearms handling, I cringed. Here's someone who's pushing her own personal agenda without a care what happens to others. Bloomberg did one with one of his recent videos with a guy sitting on the tailgate of a truck (stereotyping going on here?) holding a shotgun with HIS FINGER ON THE TRIGGER while children are playing in the backgrounds as he drones on about background checks. We're supposed to listen and believe someone who doesn't know what they're doing???? This is what scares me. They want to disarm us while they have their armed to the teeth bodyguards protecting them night and day. Who's going to protect the rest of us, then?  Can you answer that? Don't say the police because the police, who still experience cutbacks due to lack of funding, will be busy enough as it is. Don't say the US Military - the US Military is prevented from taking action against its own citizens by the Possee Comitatus Act of 1878. The 2nd Amendment guarantees our constitution right to keep and bear arms and protect not only our homes, property, and families but also to guard against a tyrannical government. Let me share with you some quotes from our founding fathers: Thomas Jefferson: "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms..,,.disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes...Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." Thomas Jefferson also said: "The beauty of the 2nd Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it." James Madison: "Disarm the people - that is the best and most effective way to enslave them." And, my overall favorite by Noah Webster: "Before a standing army can rule, a people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; becaase the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States." If you still believe that disarming a population and turning them into sheeple like you is all for the best, I feel sorry for you.
Posted by carolmw