OT: Americans love their guns

[Al Kirke]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Skip Montanaro" <skip at pobox.com>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.python
To: "Al Kirke" <alkirke1 at comcast.net>
Cc: <python-list at python.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2003 8:07 AM
Subject: Re: OT: Americans love their guns


>
>     >> Counter-test: Imagine your seven-year-old son finding your gun and
>     >> shooting and killing your five-year-old daughter while you're
working
>     >> in your study.
>
>     Al> Impossible.  The son had been taught safe gun handling on the
pistol
>     Al> range w/ a .22 starting at aged five, and would come and tell you
>     Al> that firearm had not been safely stored.
>
> This sort of thing still happens (it hits the news whenever such a
shooting
> occurs),

You're correct in that this sort of thing hits the news. What doesn't
hit the news are the instances when handguns are used for personal
defense.  John Lott wrote a whole book about liberal news bias
aganst those instances.

http://www.wmsa.net/people/john_lott/030822_bias_star.htm

> so clearly all seven-year-olds who live in houses with guns are not
> being trained to handle and respect firearms.

MY children were taught to handle firearms safely beginning age 5.
Are yours?  My son got his mini-size .22 bolt-action atage 9.  The
son and one daughter expect to apply for a Texas CHL when
they reach their twenty first birthdays.

But the biggest difference that household firearms make in
society is in the hot burglary statistics.   A "hot" burglary is one
that occurs when the family is home. . In England more than
half of the burglaries are "hot". In the U.S. that statistic is
about 13 percent.   The U.S. burglars tell that they go to
great pains to avoid householders, not because the police
will be summoned, but because of the risk of getting shot.
English buglars don't care much whether you're home or not.

http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/1/17/105209

A current judicial move concerns the 2nd Amendment. 5th
Circuit in New Orleans says its an individual right to keep
and bear arms, 9th Circuit in San Francisco (where else?)
says the right belongs to the national guard.  This conflict
will reach the SCOTUS in the next year or so.

Cheers,

Al