On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 at 02:05:34 in message
, Richard Hertz
wrote:
If you were a criminal and wished to perpetrate a crime - would you choose
an area where you were very certain law-abiding citizens had no way to
protect themselves, or an area where you were likely to end up on the
receiving end of justified defense?

As a law-abiding citizen I know where I would like to be.

Also, handgun laws are inneffective (especially here in the US). Criminals
are criminals. They have handguns regardless of the laws.

Indeed. Since all hand guns were banned in the UK only the police and
criminals have them. The latter seem to have no trouble obtaining them.
There are now more gun crimes than ever before. The British police are
not routinely armed but you will see armed police at Heathrow airport on
a regular basis. And armed police are rapidly available. Most UK forces
have ARV (Armed Response Vehicles) out on the streets.
--
David CL Francis