I won't go into the pro or anti things, but I do want to address one of Omega's point. The one that actually made me have togo and change trousers:

"Besides, what happens after you outlaw guns? I'd get a knife, and learn how to throw it. You can do a lot of damage at a long range. There's a kung-fu class not to far from here. Do you have any idea how many people a good martial artist can kill with the proper training? There's no way to prevent people from being killed violently. The only thing you can do is give them the best chance to defend themselves they can have."

Okay, two points. Are you REALLY saying that if guns were banned, everyone would suddenly take up Karate? Then the US should ban gus immedietly, if for no other reason that it might help it's growing obesity problem.

Part of First's arguments is that guns can prevent crime without ever being fired, just by their physical presence. Hell, they got rid of the Type 1 phaser on TNG becaus it couldn't be seen, and so had no dramatic impact.
People rob stores carrying guns. Staff fear for their own lives. They hand ovber money.
People rob stores wearing white pjamas, and standing like Bruce Lee. Store Clerks fall over laughing.

Also, people are LAZY. You live in the US for christ's sake, a country that could win the Olympic Lazy event if it existed. People are not going to spend several hours learning how to take the head of aman at 30 metres with a knife. Nore are they going to spend hours learning how to kick really hard.

Oh, and the best way to defend yourself would be to walk around in bullet-proof armour, carrying a thermonuclear device. Or get bit by a radioactive spider. I can see that happening.

And another point:

"'I live in Holland, guns are illegal here and I feel safe nevertheless.'

If I'm not mistaken, there was a shooting in one of your schools a few months back. Apparently, even in a country as small as yours, outlawing guns can't eliminate crime with guns.

Jeez, there was a conclusion you could have lept to there, but for some reason you jumped right over it, and landed firmly in "crap-argument city".

There was a shooting a few months back. Big deal. There was a shooting in an English school at one point in the 90s.
Now, how many shootings have their been in Holland over the past decade? How many have their been in the UK? Right, now how many have their been in the US? (Allowing fo rthe freater population, obviously).

You talk about outlawing guns in Holland in the present tense. That's the problem. It's past tense. guns ARE illegal in Holland and in the UK. You can go an entire day without meeting people who are packing heat. You know that the odds are no-one in your street has a gun. And most criminals don't too. Guns have't entered every pore of our society. Which brings me onto my final point.

"Just think what would happen if we tried it in a country THIS size, and with 250 million guns already in circulation. "

250 million guns. 250,000,000. Owned by both the criminals, and the innocent members of the public.
Quite frankly, you've dug yourself into a hell of a hole there. And I don't see you climbing out of it anytime soon.

Anyway, I recently read an statistical article in a psychological journal (I told you, I read EVERYTHING) that compared the crime rate, population factors such as total population and population density of certain countries, and it said that, all things being equal, given the current rate of "school shootings" (that's what this USED to be about, remember?) in the US, a country like, say, Sweeden could expect a similar incident about every fifteen years or so. I assume the same holds true for Holland.

I'm still awating concrete confirmation or denial of the London statistics. I don't get to talk to the British police often, so I'm pretty much stuck here.

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"Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi

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"Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi

"More people steel cars in Scotland than in France, but if we take into account the bigger crime-rate in Scotland, then it's actually equal."

What's the population of the US? What's the population of the UK? How many school shootings are there a year in the US?