reply to post by Thebudweiserstuntman
Yes. There is responsible gun ownership. People that posess legal firearms, who hope to never have to use them in the protection of self, family.
It's been my experience that most of my friends/family that own firearms -- even those that carry them legally -- recognize that they have a higher
level of the necessity of responsibility. If a criminal does a B&E at their homes, they hope to not kill the perp, but have the mindset to do so if
the perp is also armed. Likewise, most -- if not all -- of them, recognize the legal ramifications of discharging a firearm and know that it must
be in self-defense.
Put simpler: If a person breaks into your home, armed, they are the agressor, and have opted into a situation which the victim did not incite. If
the homeowner, having perceived the threat, shoots and mortally wounds the criminal, then that is a justified kill. It's not what anyone who owns a
gun wants to do. Removing the guns from the law-abiding citizen just makes them more vulnerable.
My opinion....... and the opinion of a person who was previously carried a weapon concealed in the U.S. Now, I live in a country in which I am not
allowed a firearm. When -- not if -- the criminal world splashes upon this sleepy little island, we will have to protect ourselves -- at a
disatvantage -- with hand weapons. We will most likely loose. Many will shake their heads and mourn our passing. The criminal will take what he
or she wants from our homes while stepping over our cooling bodies. That is the reality.
I don't like it any more than you do.
[edit on 10-10-2008 by argentus]