"Whatever right the Second Amendment guarantees, it does not require the district to stand by while its citizens die," the city wrote in its petition to the Supreme Court last year.

To gun rights advocates, the numbers prove a different point: Violence continues unchecked despite the ban. And while criminals seem to be able to get guns with ease, law-abiding people are being denied the means to protect themselves, they say.

"I should be able to live in the district and protect myself," said Shelly Parker, who said she was harassed and threatened in her former Capitol Hill home by a drug dealer who once tried to break down her door. Parker was a plaintiff in the original case against the city.

Originally posted by StoneGarden

We here in the Great White have one of the lowest crime rates, one of the lowest homicide rates... and it's all because we have sensible gun control laws...

i disagree, i think its a difference in culture. every Canadian i've ever met have been alot more easy going than Americans. Canadians have a more "take it easy eh" attitude while americans have a "wanna fight" attitude.
the reason why i disagree with your assuming that "its all because we have sensible gun control laws" is the fact that just below the canadian border in vermont they have the least restrictive gun control laws in the US and guess what, they rank 49th in violence and 47th in murder. and places like D.C and maryland have extremely restrctive gun laws and their crime rates are worse than all the surrounding areas. (sometimes with higher populations)

But that's what I was born into... I am used to it, If I found it necessary, I would go and purchase a gun/license. But that's just it... I don't find it necessary...

i wish it were the same here, but since i have no control over what criminals do, i choose to carry a weapon.

Gun control doesn't mean "No Guns"... it just means, enforcement with the regulations that come with owning that gun... ie. Registration and licensing are tightly controlled... America does have "Gun Control" in place already, don't you? There are weapons that a person can't have, and you have to register the ones you do have, correct?

depends on the state, some are much worse than others.
also registration and licensing only work for folks buying guns legally, who incedentally are law abiding and are willing to jump through the hoops of gun ownership. On the other hand, a convicted felon gangbanger could cruise downtown and pickup a handgun for a 100 bucks and be on his way without a "waiting period" or licensing or registration. i know its a cliche by now but its true, gun laws only effect law abiding citizens.

I don't agree however, with the point that gun laws don't work. I'm sorry, but if every person carried a gun just because they could, violence will continue to increase.

unfortunatly that has been proven wrong every time i can think of, for example, UK cracked down on guns and crime blew up

A new study suggests the use of handguns in crime rose by 40% in the two years after the weapons were banned.

Though lawmakers responsible for passing the ban promised a safer country, the nation's crime statistics tell a different story:


Countrywide, homicides are up 3.2 percent;

Assaults are up 8.6 percent;

Amazingly, armed robberies have climbed nearly 45 percent;

In the Australian state of Victoria, gun homicides have climbed 300 percent;

In the 25 years before the gun bans, crime in Australia had been dropping steadily;

There has been a reported "dramatic increase" in home burglaries and assaults on the elderly

n 1987, when Florida enacted such legislation,(to carry a weapon) critics warned that the "Sunshine State" would become the "Gunshine State." Contrary to their predictions, homicide rates dropped faster than the national average.
...

John Lott and David Mustard, in connection with the University of Chicago Law School, examining crime statistics from 1977 to 1992 for all U.S. counties, concluded that the thirty-one states allowing their residents to carry concealed, had significant reductions in violent crime

Every man and woman are issued a sig/ steyr assault rifle with 50rounds of munitions.

Right to bear arms at height of Court Case

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For the first time in 70 years, the U.S. Supreme Court will take on the question of whether individual Americans have the right to keep and bear arms or whether it a collective right of the people for service in a state militia.

That question is at the heart of a long, impassioned debate about how much power the government has to keep people from owning guns and it could soon be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case about one of the nation's strictest gun control laws.

Set for arguments on March 18 and with a decision expected by late June, the nation's highest court could resolve once and for all the much-disputed meaning of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Written 219 years ago, the amendment says, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

Full Story:
www.reuters.com...

Originally posted by Swordbeast
reply to post by 44soulslayer

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Well said, a star for you. But I'd like to chime in on one or two small issues:

Every man and woman are issued a sig/ steyr assault rifle with 50rounds of munitions.

No Steyrs, either the SG550, which isn't really made by SIG but rather by SAN Swiss Arms or the Sauer&Sohn P220 pistol. And in regard to some recent incidents, the issuing of the rifles/pistols is under some heavy scrutiny.
Additionally, as of this year, the 50 rounds of ammo are not given home after service anymore, thanks to the whining of some of our goody-goody politicians with nothing but our best interests at heart.

This is a classical case of "Whats the opposite of well? -Well meant!"

Until recently, I was living under the impression that Switzerland was one of the last truly free countries in Europe because the state trusted us with our personal weapons at home. I now realize that I was dead wrong and our pretty well balanced gun laws are now in severe danger by EU laws and the anti-gun lobby.
I predict that we will have to give up our issued rifles in 5 years at the latest and that we will need them about a year later.

heres a little fuel to the fire..

Since September, 20 Chicago Public Schools students have been killed, 18 by gunfire. Last school year, 24 of the more than 30 students killed were shot to death, compared with between 10 and 15 fatal shootings in the years before.

"The loss of life that we've seen among our young people is ... devastating," said school district spokesman Michael Vaughn. "This gun nonsense has reached a crisis level."

Illinois has some of the most restrictive firearm laws in the country.

To possess or purchase firearms or ammunition, Illinois residents must have a Firearm Owner's Identification (FOID) card, which is issued by the state police. Generally an FOID will be granted unless the applicant has been convicted of a felony or an act of domestic violence, has been convicted of assault or battery or been a patient in a mental institution within the last five years, or is the subject of an order of protection. There are additional requirements for applicants under the age of 21
...
Illinois is one of two remaining states that have no provision for the concealed carry of firearms by citizens. Open carry is also illegal