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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Montgomery: [QB] I suspect I'm shouting into a gale here, as usual, but... I think you need to distinguish between two aspects of the problem. 1) You have people who get mad enough or insane enough to want to wreak bloody vengeance against any representative of humanity they come across. This is not confined to America; hell I've felt like it on occasion. It merely manifests itself more strongly there because of the nature of your society. Private stresses accumulate on individuals, but the rest of society continues on oblivious, and to the eyes of the person in question, uncaring. In less well off countries the stresses are felt by wider groups; families, or even whole nations if the stresses are economic. Hence there is more of an outlet for frustrated emotion and the consolation of "being in it together". 2) Ability to act on these violent impulses. When they get in a "killing mood" these people will grab whatever weaponry they can and use it until someone stops them forcibly - frequently by killing them, which they may wish to hapen anyway. Given: It is unlikely that in the short-term society will be able to prevent some individuals from becoming so alienated that they are consumed by desires for retribution. Hypothesis: It is logical, therefore, to limit their access to weaponry that will allow them to maximise their violence. Rationale: The argument that [i]everyone[/i] being armed equalises the balance of power is sophistry. The element of surprise will always allow the person to take down at least a few before anyone can intervene. It may indeed provoke him into procuring a superior arsenal to ensure he gets to kill more people. Down this road we have those who stockpile sub-machine guns, mortars and explosives. Should everyone be armed with semtex to deter bombers? By reducing the number of guns in circulation, and limiting their sale by necessity must make it harder for people on the edge to get guns. Yes, they may steal one, or come by one through illegal means. But this would be made progressively more difficult for them as the "gun culture" is reduced and people become less used to seeing them everyday not just on TV, but strapped to the belts of their policemen. If nothing else, restrictions on ownership of guns would prevent all the accidental deaths of kids who blow their heads off because their parents forgot to lock the box they keep the "family gun" in. A final point to levvy against those who seek universal arming. What does it say about a society where its memebrs trust each other so little that they are perpetually on the brink of "drawing" on each other? I hope I have given your brains something to chew upon. [IMG]http://flare.solareclipse.net/smile.gif[/IMG] [/QB][/QUOTE]
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