I hate weapons.

Post Reply New Topic

Self defense is all right, but is not a good reason to sleep with a gun under your pillow, least you know you are chased by some killer.

Generally a distinction should be made between different instincts wired in our brain and, of course in the brain of animals. Aggressive drives are there in order to gain space (territory) for mating and feeding on the existing resources, They concern mainly member of the same species and they are characterized by communication, threats, displaying a big body (like cats who inflate their fur meeting a rival).
Then there is predation, normally for animals of different species, where deception, not communication is the rule. The predator hides, tries to be invisible to his pray.
There is one more thing: play. All little animals (and toddlers) have an instinct to play. Cats can chase little balls, but also mice. The fun is in chasing, not in eating, if they are already nourished. Mice have no fun in that of course.

As for the relationship between weapons and liberty, in the whole of Europe there is no freedom to buy and go around with weapons if you are not a soldier or a guard or go hunting. I wouldn’t say that in Europe there is less liberty for that. The right to bear arms in the US is tied to a historical situation in the War of Independence.

Anyone interested in a very readable book on the subject may get "Aggression" by Konrad Lorenz, whose original title in German is “The so called Evil” to mean that aggression is not evil, is part of life.
As far as I am concerned I lack this. It’s also called courage.

I remember last semester my professor saying something about like every citizen in Switzerland being required to own a gun, whose bullets are regularly counted. And they have one of the lowest crime rates in the world, apparantly.

Well, I just read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_policy_in_Switzerland and it confirms that military personell are required to keep guns at home, and most Swiss men are recruited into the military.

Swiss people are obliged to keep at home their war weapons (machine guns) in order to take part in war games of the army, to which they belong most of their life. This has nothing to do with private use, or buying the arms freely. No one could use these weapons even in selfdefense.

"Every soldier equipped with the Sig 550 assault rifle is issued 50 rounds of ammunition in a sealed box, to be opened only upon alert. The ammunition is then loaded into the rifle magazine for use by the militiaman should any needs arise while he is en route to join his unit. Any other use than this, or even unsealing is strictly forbidden." From Wikipedia

Well, according to that article, it's also relatively easy for a Swiss person to purchase a gun for private use, (seems comparable to the laws of Colorado, actually). It does say that this is unique in Europe though.

edit: Scratch that, apparantly to get a weapons permit you have to supply a compelling reason to need one, like if you work in security. I don't think that's the case out here. But guns purchased non commerically don't require a permit.

dud rate

OK, I don't see why you would find them repulsive for that, but allrighty then.

Children play with these duds and end up deads or amputees.

Depleted uranium is also abominable.
(see: http://freeweb.supereva.com/ienapiangen ... ioiraq.ppt )

FV

I'd like to see the rates of this happening, compared to, say, landmines. However, I'd agree about DU, horrible stuff.

I love weapons.
Unfortunately it is illegal to buy or own any kind of firearm where i live
I do however own a ww2 machine-pistol that doesn't work anymore.
I love that thing.
But i can only dream of what it is like to fire a real firearm.

I'm not for killing people with it though obviously.
When it comes to hunting i only think it's right if your actually going to eat the meat.
Than it's no different from buying it in a supermarket.

There's a massive difference between hunting for meat and buying from supermarkets.

I don't eat meat, but i can respect farmers and rural families who kill their animals for food. This is really just nature, the animals are cared for and made good use of.
(edit: when i say 'farmers', i do not include those who farm large numbers of cattle for mass-production and slaughter. I mean in an old-fashioned sense of those who are self-sufficient, 'live off their own land'.)

Purchasing a pork-chop from a supermarket is entirely different. There is no dignity or respect for the animal flesh on sale.

I was obessed with weapons as a kid till about 23. Firearms from 18-23. I had a lot of guns. I sold most before I went to college. Now I rarely think about them.

Any left?

1 Handgun and 1 rifle

How do you have this ---> "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed." (Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) <--- if you don't have ---> weapons? The beginning of hatred for weapons is the beginning of hatred for a free State. The State of our Country (USA) is already getting bad enough as it is, without the need for it to get worse by taking away the rights of its citizens to protect themselves.

Weapons aren't the problem. Corruption in mankind is.

I've never understood the "Gun Lobby" and their arguments. Living in England, I probably don't see a gun from one year to the next, and off-hand, I don't think I know anyone who owns one.

Personally, I've fired live rounds from a selection of weapons - mostly rifles. I'm actually quite unusual there, as the majority have never even touched a gun.

In an alternative vein, put me in a darkened room with a guy with a handgun, and I can confidently say I will walk out of the room and he won't. With the lights on, I might not walk out.

Back to the Constitution above, so far as I'm given to understand, the quoted section is talking about the existence of a "militia", on the one hand, and the right of the people to bear arms, on the other. In Britain, IIRC, there's one day a year when I have the right to drive sheep over Westminster Bridge. Do I exercise that right? You guessed it, no.

In the US, having the right to bear arms seems to have become reinterpreted as encouragement for every last man, woman and child in the country to maintain a large gun collection.

I've visited the States a couple of times, and European countries where the police carry arms. I find it unsettling. It certainly makes me feel, when I am there, that I am NOT in a free state.

On the odd couple of occasions/situations where I've seen the British police armed (yes, they really aren't armed, still, most of the time) I've found that uncomfortable too.

And, just in case no one else has said it while I've been typing this, I totally concur with:


Oh! And where does that "hate guns, hate freedom" rubbish come from?

And how about a clear idea of what the citizens of the US are protecting themselves against? I suspect you'll find that's the gun-toting citizens of the US, according the statistics of gun crime in the US versus elsewhere.

Sorry for the rant. I don't feel very corrupt. Can I go boil my head now? (Or maybe set fire to it.)

What type?