This is turning my stomach

............They don't know how to fill out the registration paperwork and always flunk their background check because they eat campers & backpackers & berries.

:-)

The current National Guard goes through much more training than anybody had in the militia of our revolution. It is not a close match. But I am sure they would fall into that category, as well as other groups falling into the same category.

Maybe there is no risk of anarchy because we all bear weapons? Just a thought. Would it be a less deadly society if we limited the availability of guns? I don't think so, ask the Canadians, the majority of Canadians bear arms and don't have the degree of violence that we have here.

Handguns were designed to kill humans. And that is what I need for self defense. Sorry, I won't go down that slippery slope of what weapon is used for what type of activity....Hell, I can kill a squirrel with a wrist rocket, does that mean any type of gun shouldn't be used to kill a squirrel?

There is no study that can prove the amount of guns per capita effects the number of violent acts. Simply compare the UK to Canada.

And no, the rest of the world doesn't come to your "sensible conclusion"

I can argue your per death capita thing with one word.....CANADA.

I should have the right to have anything in my home to stop an unwanted intruder. No doubt. If you don't agree, step into my house at 2am and I will show you the business end of a .357. Sometimes a shotgun is too wieldy in tight quarters. I consider my S&W a hand held shotgun. And yes, any weapon should be treated with respect to small children. Just because some adults aren't responsible enough to keep hot pots away from children doesn't mean that we should outlaw pots, or even hot water in a bathtub. Some adults don't buckle their children up in cars.....should we outlaw cars?

Majority... it's more like 22%... I know of a few people that have duck hunting shot guns... or they have a .22 'cause they're on a ranch and want to control varmints... But hunting is not very popular anymore so most have no gun at all now or they rarely use it.

But handguns? Good luck finding someone with one... I'd say THIS point is the greatest distinction between the US and the rest of the world... % of the population with some sort of handgun.

According a 1994 Department of Justice survey, about 35% of American households own a total of 192 million firearms. Some other estimates are slightly higher. Handguns account for about 35% of this total.

To own or buy rifles and shotguns, Canadians are required to take the Canadian Firearms Safety Course. Owning or buying handguns, requires completion of the Canadian Restricted Firearms Safety Course.

Canada limits possession of handguns to collectors, target shooters and those who can demonstrate a need of guns to protect their lives.

All Canadian citizens applying for a firearms license are required to have their present and past spouse or common-law partner sign the application. Refusal of the spouse, for any reason, to sign the application will trigger further investigation by law enforcement officers.

In addition, the Canadian government has set up a "spousal notification" toll-free information line (1-800-731-4000) through which spouses can report crimes or express concerns about a person's qualifications to posses firearms.

Here's some data right from the Can. government web site:

Jim I agree with most of your assumptions on the 2nd amendment and applaud you using John Ashcroft's statements on the second amendment since that seems to be the only amendment that he has any reasonable grasp of. He is one nutty SOB when it comes to most of the other rights to individuals and to enforce or not enforce or ignore them as god tells him. I like all the freedoms we were to have and the idea that the supreme court had over a hundred years ago when it said " any regulation, tax or fee on any of the gurantees in the bill of rights is certainly unconstitutional."

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The national guard and reserves are not the militia. They are part of the regular armed forces and therefore part of the government. A citizen malitia is regular citizens, like you and me, that would protect all citizens from a government gone corrupt. Actually a simple concept in theory, but difficult in practice. For an "example" the "citizen army" that fight the machine government in the Terminator series. YCAMV.

-- the Grokdoc Tom Malmevik all that groks is god

Not entirely OT for this thread:

AS OF 9/14/04, WE CAN OFFER THE HI-CAP MAGAZINES AGAIN. AS SOON AS WE GET THESE FROM GLOCK, WE WILL PUT IT ON THE INTERNET FOR $25 EACH.

WOOT WOOT!!!!!!!!! Stock up while there's still time!!!!! :-D

Seems to have worked well over in Sudan... no wait, it hasn't! ;-(

...............You just hit the nail on the head Anonymous. Who's going to protect the average person from these armed groups of "regular citizens"? I'd rather rely upon the courts and police. Mob rule and armed groups of angry 'constitutionalists' are hardly the kind of freedom that would be a comfort to most people. An armed group of vigilantes can only be seen as a perversion of what a free society should stand for. The lynching of black people that occured many years ago was an example of what can come with independent groups of armed militias who don't have to answer for their actions.

On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 00:11:47 -0400, "Tim Rogers" scribbled this interesting note:

While this discussion is interesting from a political science point of view, and there are lots of theories on stages of development of economies, cultures and societies, is topic really germane to this group?

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)