Daryl wrote:Lord Skimper, it appears that Canada is virtually identical to Australia from your description. As I have mentioned earlier in this topic I was initially annoyed about having to surrender some of my guns (well compensated financially), but now accept that an inadequate 18 year old loser will find it harder to get a gun to kill me and mine, so ok. I regret that my descendants won't be able to have teenage years like mine riding a horse while hunting with a rifle and pistol, but they have other interests now anyway. My pickup had a gun rack and was left unlocked when I went into the nearest town.
In the event of a home invasion your guns are now useless, as by the time you unlock your cupboard then the ammo box they are in control. One of my many hobbies is making display swords that are hung off hooks in each bedroom. I don't like fakes so they are hi carbon steel and well ground. I believe that I could be excused for grabbing what was handy to defend myself, particularly as they would be found with my cheapest kitchen knife in their hand.
The real issue is what have you gained from surrendering your guns?
Theoretically; you do not have to worry about the 18 year old druggy shooting you, but the homicide statistics for Australia document that the risk in Australia was very low even before you imposed draconian gun regulations. The only murders that you MIGHT be preventing are themass muddlers. However; the only weapons used in the biggest mass murder in the US
committed by a single perpetrator were a match and a pop bottle full of gasoline. Google "happy land social club fire."
As I have pointed out repeatedly, the demographic information on the perpetrators of homicide establish that the problem in the US is not guns. Aside from US police becoming so inept at solving crimes that most of them should be arrested for loitering, we have an explosion of out of wedlock births that result in an extremely high rate of homicides of young children and other assaults on them. These fatherless young boys to often grow up to become feral teenagers with no prospects of becoming husbands and fathers to restrain their aggression. Unless the US addresses these problems, all the gun control in the world will not help us.