"Jim Yanik" wrote in message
.. .
"Paul J. Adam" wrote in
:
Prevent, no. Seriously reduce the odds, yes. (And many of those 'guns'
are replicas, blank firers, air pistols or dodgy conversions - they
all count as "firearms" in the crime statistics. One guy tried to rob
a post office using two pieces of gas pipe taped together: that was a
'firearm crime')

But you CAN be killed by a converted blank gun,or a homemade gun,or
zipgun,

Elsewhere you're claiming that uncertainty of outcome is a good thing - why
the change of mind?

and who know's the difference in what the criminal is pointing at
you.Even if it were an unloaded gun,who know's that?

Even the imitations don't turn up in burglaries.

Fact is;guns ARE available to criminals in the UK.

Of course, and always have been, but they don't get used for burglary.

When you start talking
about "odds" of one having a gun,it really doesn't matter.

Are you carrying elephant repellant, Jim? You *could* be trampled to death
by a herd of rogue elephants at any time, you know. I can sell you, for just
$5,000 cash, a guaranteed anti-elephant formula that will protect you.

Admittedly, you might consider "the odds" of elephant-related death rather
low, but can you afford to take chances with your safety?

And of
course,there are OTHER deadly weapons,some present in your homes,like
kitchen knives.Or weapons of opportunity.But that should NOT restrict an
ODC from having the best weapon available,a firearm.

Thanks, but we like having handguns be rare and unusual. You do it your way,
we'll do it ours.

And being armed would change what, precisely, if you're outnumbered
and surprised?

Quite often,a group will choose to flee rather than risk getting
shot,something life threatening and hard to explain to officials.

Other times, they'll help themselves to your weapon and use it on you.

And being armed still betters YOUR chances against a group,better than any
other item or method.

Not if one or two of the group have guns: outnumbered and outgunned is a bad
place to be.

I think you'll find that you're legally allowed to defend yourself and
to prevent crimes, but shooting people in the back as they flee is not
generally allowed for either private citizens or police officers.

I think you'd find exceptions made for terrorist bombers or serial
killers/rapists.

How many of either have you had in your home lately? For that matter, how
many of the low-lifes who break into houses to steal portable valuables
moonlight as terrorist bomb-carriers?

A few years ago, a Scotsman was working in Texas. He made the mistake
of knocking on someone's door to ask for directions: the homeowner
shot the guy several times through the door and killed him. Was he a
"criminal"?

I don't know all the circumstances of that incident,so I can't say.

How did the presence of firearms protect him, and how would being armed have
helped him? And what crime was prevented by his death?

You fire a weapon in my direction, you are making a deliberate attempt
to kill me, and I *will* take it extremely personally. Firing at
someone is "deadly force" and there's no way to weasel around it.

Sure it's deadly force.So what? It's still not being "judge,jury and
executioner".There's more than a good chance that you will not die.

Thus leaving the ODC open to a lifetime of legal nightmares, apparently.

True here too: just no need for lots of handguns. Someone breaks into
your house, you're allowed to hurt them until they leave, and if they
try to come back you can hurt them some more. Just make sure that most
of the wounds are in their front, not their back.

Well,a handgun is much easier to wield in close quarters than a shotgun,

Where are you keeping it while you're asleep?

and
also can be carried on one's person,concealed.Then they get protection
while outside the home.

Protection from what? It seems you guys live in constant dread.

(And for the endless whines about Jill Dando - she was shot in the
back of the head on her doorstep, caught completely unawares. She
could have had a MAC-10 in each hand and it wouldn't have made the
slightest difference)

That just shows how one CAN get shot in LONDON,in -nice- places,and that
guns(handguns) ARE available in the UK,regardless of the UK gun laws.

And how "being armed" is far from the panacea quoted. Note also that this
incident was five years ago - haven't you had any other examples to cite?

--
Paul J. Adam