"Jim Yanik" wrote in message
.. .
"Jim Doyle" wrote in
:




Speaking as an ignorant grunt, does it not scare you ****less that a
'citizen' is armed in the first place? It's hardly as if he's fending
away Indians from the homestead.

Yeah,like there aren't any criminals running loose preying on ordinary
decent citizens. (ODC's) A person was shot twice with a small caliber gun
in the building next to mine,in my apartment complex. I heard the
gunshots,saw the crooks driving off,gave a report to the police about
it.There's a lot of people who successfully defend themselves with
firearms
every year(in the US).

Even in the UK,Jill Dando,BBC commentator,was shot and killed on the
London
street,in front of her home.George Harrsion was nearly knifed to death in
his home,even with high security.His wife was also wounded by the burglar.

Do you expect a elderly lady to defend herself against larger,stronger
young thugs unarmed?
Do you believe that police can be everywhere,to protect everyone,24/7/365?
It's not so.

I see your point, and sincerely, it is convincing. I just think of the two
alternatives - granted a defenceless lady has no capacity to fend off a
burglar and there is no way the police can prevent him from breaking and
entering - which is a sorry state of affairs. However, were that lady armed
with a 9mm, any sensible burglar would still go to her home taking a pistol
with him. Which is the safer situation for the lady, neither are pleasant,
but I would argue the former.

Replying to Matt Gunsch, I looked into the details:

In the UK for the year 2001 - 2002, there were 23 firearm deaths. In 2000
(not the same year, but close enough) 66% of the 15,517 murders in America
were caused by firearms - that's about 10,000. Even accounting for the
relative population sizes of the two countries, you're still several orders
of magnitude out - and that does not include the number of accidental deaths
caused by firearms in the same time period.

I see the reasoning behind a free choice to carry a gun in America, and
being a realist I would most likely keep a gun were I to live there. I just
think it a shame that so many are empowered with deadly force that are so
willing to use it.

Jim Doyle

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik-at-kua.net