JFerio Wrote:Do I believe guns should be easily available? No. While a gun can be used responsibly, it is a dangerous tool overall, especially in the hands of someone who does not respect it as what it is. ...In addition to the points you made here, I'd add the matter of training. We do not let people purchase and operate a motor vehicle without first ensuring they have been trained it its correct use. In some cases, that includes training them when not to use a vehicle. In Canada, there's similar training required before one is allowed to purchase and use a firearm - is that the case in the USA?
We also don't let people drive drunk, or stoned, or otherwise under the effects of mood-altering substances (not that this stops some people, granted). Should we make "drinking and shooting" as distasteful socially as "drinking and driving" is, perhaps? Would it make any difference in this sort of case?
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Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012