PeterZ wrote:Because felons have proven they will not support the law. They have violated the social contract between citizens. Why trust them with weapons and allow them to more thoroughly violate our social contract?
Hold it! Hold it!
When did logic enter into this highly-emotional argument?
After all, everyone knows that when logic and emotion go head to head, logic loses even if it's proven right later.
Okay, approaching this seriously now. As an Englishman, I'm almost naturally in favor of strict firearm registration and certification. On the other hand, I fully understand that there are many areas in America where predators prowl, looking for a meal and as such, firearms are almost a survival necessity in those places.
Furthermore, the tendency towards individualism in America combined with their recent civil war (they had theirs in 1861 whereas we English got ours out of the way by 1651, over two centuries prior) mean that many adults in America probably remember their grandparents telling them about how their pappy only lived because his gun was nearby when those damn Unionists/Confeds attacked without warning etc etc. This generational storytelling impresses on young children the need to have guns and as most people admit, it is the lessons learned in childhood that dictate how the person acts as an adult.
Raise a child with stories of how a gun saved their ancestors life, the child will see guns as good and a solution to problems.As the branch is twisted, so shall it grow.
Raise a child who saw a relative killed by a gunman, the child will see guns as bad.
As yet, no children orphaned by firearms have (as far as we know) dressed up as a flying mammal to fight crime, despite instructions in the media as to how it's done.
This is an issue that is truly a multi-generational one.
It will not be easily solved, but education is probably a good start. Teach kids to think things through and they're less likely to reach for the gun as the first resort when they reach adulthood.
