Gun Control

[JoseDominguez]

He had both, legal and illegal and I am sure of that.
As for the tight controls? Did you ever have any contact with registered hand-guns and shooting clubs when they were legal? I did, and I can happily inform you that I have ridden alongside a friends dad who thought it was "cool" to carry his target shooting pistol in a shoulder holster. Yes, the controls were tight, but relied on the individuals being well balanced and responsible. All it took was a convincing act, or someone who hadn't actually committed a crime yet, and there you go. Oh, I forgot about the locked cabinet, that would stop all gun-crimes, 'cos obviously if you are going to shoot someone, you can't work a padlock.

 

[Richard Kirke (DUPS Rocket) UK]

Only Friends

Never actually been to a gun club. This does not suprise me there are to$$**s in every sport, that does not make them the representaive (although it only takes one nutter...). I think you'll find that there is far more danger associated with illegal fire-arms than their was from those used for pistol shootings, after all how many deaths occured from mis-use of pistol shooting guns compared to the number associated with illegal fire-arms?

Richard

 

[JoseDominguez]

That's the point, the illegal guns were once legal, If a burglar broke into an enthusiasts house, he'd come away armed to the teeth, a one stop shop, firearms could be imported legally, and then enter the black market, now they are illegal all the way.
By the way, Thomas Hamilton had:
(from HMSO)

"From the above it may be noted that

of the 4 handguns which Thomas Hamilton had with him at the school on 13 March 1996, he acquired the two 9 mm Browning pistols on 7 November 1984 and 11 September 1995; and the two Smith & Wesson revolvers on 4 December 1979 and 23 January 1996.

the 1,216 rounds of 9 mm ammunition held by him on 13 March 1996 can be compared with an authority to hold 1,500 rounds; and the 522 rounds of .357 ammunition may be compared with authority to hold 1,500. It should also be noted that .38 special ammunition could also be used in the revolvers, so that in effect he had authority to hold 3,000 rounds suitable for use with them.

Thomas Hamilton had not used the authority to acquire a 7.62 rifle (as from 30 January 1986); and a .22 rifle (as from 31 March 1987). However, since 1986 he had held 100 rounds of 7.62 ammunition."

All legal, all obtained under "authority" in fact, he even had permission to buy some more, the fact that he shouldn't have gotten authority is irrelevant, mistakes happen, but not when you can't buy one at all.
And yes, all sports have t**pots, but with pistol shooting, one nutcase can ruin a room full of lives in thirty seconds. Can you really justify even one death with "but if you ban it, what will I do on Weekends?"

 

[John Molloy]

Originally posted by JoseDominguez
That's the point, the illegal guns were once legal, If a burglar broke into an enthusiasts house, he'd come away armed to the teeth, a one stop shop, firearms could be imported legally, and then enter the black market, now they are illegal all the way.
By the way, Thomas Hamilton had:
(from HMSO)

"From the above it may be noted that

of the 4 handguns which Thomas Hamilton had with him at the school on 13 March 1996, he acquired the two 9 mm Browning pistols on 7 November 1984 and 11 September 1995; and the two Smith & Wesson revolvers on 4 December 1979 and 23 January 1996.

the 1,216 rounds of 9 mm ammunition held by him on 13 March 1996 can be compared with an authority to hold 1,500 rounds; and the 522 rounds of .357 ammunition may be compared with authority to hold 1,500. It should also be noted that .38 special ammunition could also be used in the revolvers, so that in effect he had authority to hold 3,000 rounds suitable for use with them.

Thomas Hamilton had not used the authority to acquire a 7.62 rifle (as from 30 January 1986); and a .22 rifle (as from 31 March 1987). However, since 1986 he had held 100 rounds of 7.62 ammunition."

All legal, all obtained under "authority" in fact, he even had permission to buy some more, the fact that he shouldn't have gotten authority is irrelevant, mistakes happen, but not when you can't buy one at all.
And yes, all sports have t**pots, but with pistol shooting, one nutcase can ruin a room full of lives in thirty seconds. Can you really justify even one death with "but if you ban it, what will I do on Weekends?"

might as well ban cars as well as they cause thousands of deaths each year.

 

[}{y8ri|)]

Right after all that all i can say is ppl will aways kill or injure other ppl with some sort of weapon so thats that!!!

But if they ban paintball well that just shows what a ****e world we live in i can understand trying to get rid of firearms, but i DONT think a paintball marker should be classed as a firearm i mean its the only gun you aint really botherd about getting shot BY!
O unless you are in a tournament

Any_way i dont know what iam on about so CYA!

CHEERS BATTY

 

[JoseDominguez]

posted by John Molloy
might as well ban cars as well as they cause thousands of deaths each year.

Yeah Ok, here we go with that one again. Ban them then, I don't drive.
Someone always comes along with this argument and it's irrelevant, without cars, most peoples lives would be affected, without guns a few peoples weekends are spoiled. You might as well say "why immunise against smallpox, if we can't cure cancer" it's just as irrelevant. For gods sake, cars and guns are two different things, mutually exclusive.

And yes, nutters will always hurt people, but they'l hurt more people with fire-arms, and don't forget the one of blow-out when someone loses it, without a gun they break some furniture, maybe punch someone and then cool off, if you lose it with a gun then it's too late to take anything back.

 

[John Molloy]

They are the same in that a person has to use them incorrectly to kill wheras small pox and Cancer are a bit out of our control.
Drivers who kill whilst under the influance are just as much murderers as the ******* who pulls the trigger. Accidents happen with cars, agreed that situation is differant but not nearly as much as you think.

 

[JoseDominguez]

Well, no, not really. My point is, that guns and cars are two different things, ban either and you save some lives don't you. Rather than saying "oh, we can't stop that one, so we have to leave the other one alone too". It's not much of an argument. Tell the next gun-shot victime "it's ok, you could have been run over" that, I'm sure they'll perk right up.

Look at it this way:
Ban motor vehicles
Pro: less people killed in road accidents.
Cons: Difficult to travel, impossible to continue big-business, response to crime/accident down as the police/paramedics have to walk etc... etc... etc...You can argue this one forever.

Ban guns
Pro: Reduction in number of people shot and killed(and one is too many)..
Cons: A few people are a bit bored until they find another hobby. I can't really think of anymore for the UK, unless you are particularly bothered by foxes in your henhouse, are you?

 

[JohnJ]

Theres currently another thread going on concerning the use of paintball markers for riot control and the point that leaps out is that it is classed as 'non lethal force'.

Hand guns, bows, hunting knives etc can all be used to kill (and have been).

We have a strong governing body here in the UK who have good contacts within the UK government.

Positive steps have and are being taken to ensure this continues, for example I don't know of any other industry that has approached the Health and safety executive with its own code of practice PRIOR to having cause to.

We are seen as a responsible sport and the paranoia currently being displayed from some areas, even when the head of our governing body is giving his assurances, is baffling,

JJ

Richard,
got to agree with your point on the war front but we seem to have a habit into poking our noses in Iraqs affairs, right back to the 20's. Its not a happy position to be in.

Smally85,
Everybody voted under the same system and would you, as part of the government, change a system that got you such a huge number of seats Got to agree with you on the other point - No vote=No say

 

[JoseDominguez]

We aren't being paranoid, we're just having a discussion, that's what discussion groups are for.
As I said earlier, in the UK any pastime is one news-story away from banning, we just haven't had ours yet, I just think that the more we distance ourselves from guns the better. I love paintball, I can't stand real guns (and I've said it before I am no pacifist, I like computer games and action films) the more the public see this attitude, the better of we will be, I don't consider my marker a gun (although I may sometimes call it that) it's just a piece of equipment, I use it to knock out members of the other team and improve my teams position. I don't see it as combat, any more than I do in a game of baseball or cricket (strike/catch out the other team).

This thread started out about gun-control, what we need is to get to a point where there is no question of us using guns. After all you can't run around a field throwing spears in the UK, but javelin is is accepted as a sport without question.