Americans love their (our) guns.

[dgwinn at family-net.net]

I know absolutely nothing about Python; I joined this list to read, not to post,
in the hope that I might learn faster if I read conversations between experts.

However, at the risk of seeming immodest, I do know quite a bit about guns and
gun control.  I hope I won't be considered too forward if I comment on the
current interesting debate over guns.

Quoting a couple of list members:

>>  I think that /your freedom/ ends where /my freedom/ begins.

On that score, you and I agree absolutely.  Individual freedom can only exist
when individuals either are forced or agree not to infringe upon the rights of
other individuals.  

>>  Until you can guarantee that your weapon will not be used against me by your
family members or the conqueror thereof, your freedoms to shoot what
you want as a hobbyist and to exercise catastrophically lethal force
in home defense are not compelling arguments.

Oops.  Here you've lost me.  I am to be held responsible for what a thief,
descendant, or "conqueror" does with my property after he takes it, preusumably
by force?  Surely not.  If my car is stolen and the thief leads the police on a
car chase, shall I be charged with criminal flight?  What if he kills someone?
Should I be prevented from owning an automobile at all, or perhaps only
dangerous vehicles like large trucks, to prevent such a tragedy?  

>>  Want to defend yourself? Learn a martial art.

False dichotomy.  It's not an either/or (elsif, I guess?) proposition.  I study
Tae Kwon Do and boxing, and it has taught me the value of a firearm.  Have you
ever studied the Gracie family's secret Gracie Jujitsu solution to an opponent
with a knife or broken bottle?
Rorion Gracie says the super-strategy can be summed up in one word:  "RUN."
A gun is not a magic protective talisman, but it's a very effective tool.  My
teacher is a 4th-degree black belt who has studied TKD for almost 30 years and
has owned his own school for 4.  He's also an avid shooter.  Of course, he's in
a wheelchair.
Please don't tell me to run away.  Even if every situation offered the
opportunity to run (and they don't) my wife and two young sons would have to be
at least as fast as I am.  I'm sure not going to be running off and leaving them.
 
>>  Worried about the guns in the Bad Guys' hands? Me too. You can bet that when
you can't walk into a gun show, pay cash, and anonymously carry out lethal
firearms, you're going to see a lot fewer firearms in the hands of thieves.

Actually, I live in Illinois, home of Chicago and Lincoln.  What you describe
has been a felony here for over 20 years.  Illinois gun owners must submit to
background checks, wait a few weeks, then purchase a license called the FOID.
You must present the FOID to buy or sell guns or ammunition from anyone, even
your own grandfather, and both parties have to keep records of the FOIDs
involved for seven years.  We also have "secure storage" laws, and we don't
allow concealed carry by anyone for any reason.  Yet our murder rate is much
higher than any of our neighboring states like Indiana or Kentucky, each of
which make it a lot easier to own guns "off paper," carry a handgun, or even own
a machine gun (not an "assault weapon," a real, live machine gun.)

>>What about my freedom to kill people who inhibit my rise to world
>>domination? At what point on the spectrum does "freedom" stop
>>justifying endangering behavior?

When you are actually and willfully causing harm, you've exceeded your rights. 
Gun ownership simply does not meet that standard.