The_Lizard

Have you heard this story over on your side of the pond? Since late last summer, someone has been shooting at vehicles on the south side of Columbus, and now farther south along Interstate highway 71. By now there have been some 25+ such incidents. One person has been killed.

In today's news, there are reports that two more vehicles were shot, about 1 mile and 10 minutes apart. But this time some witnesses saw a man standing on an overpass, next to a small dark car. The investigators say this is a kajor break in the case.

I'll keep you informed if this is solved, or if anything else develops. Meanwhile, God bless our right to bear firearms as free and responsible citizens....

Brendan Hughes

So you're saying that (no doubt due to your warmongering right-wing, Christian Fundamentalist administration) you have terrorists operating weapons of mass destruction (+25 cases) interfering with citizens' freedom?

Sure you don't want us to invade you to change the regime, I mean, find these terrorists, erm, weapons?


Silence here, though us Brits tend to assume that Yank internal population culls are normal behaviour (combination of news fatigue and Darwin). More seriously, I should pretend to be concerned, as wifey was in Athens OH for 2 yrs and still has a few friends nearby.

Good luck over there.

The_Lizard

No, probably more accurate to say that over here, any fool can own a gun.

Dracoro

What sort of country allows fools to own guns?

The_Lizard

The second amendment to the US Bill of Rights reads as follows:

Sounds simple enough at first. But in fact the right to keep and bear arms is very much infringed; I can't walk down the street with a machine gun on my shoulder.

And just what is a well-regulated militia? A few folks who meet in the red barn on weekends to complain about the government?

And how are armed citizens going to benefit the security of a free State? Or to put it differently, what foe is there to threaten this security, who could be controlled by armed citizens?

The answers you get depends on whom you ask. For every extremist who thinks he needs his guns to be able to fend off agents of a corrupt government, there is another extremist who thinks no citizen should have a gun, not even for hunting.

Meanwhile, we keep our powder dry, so to speak. It's a safe bet that any rural home will have at least one firearm, sometimes a case full of them. It is possible to go to a large gun market and buy an assault rifle. And once in a while, someone will go over the edge and start using some of these guns against other citizens. Consider the Washington DC snipers, the crazy kids at Columbine, etc. And here in Columbus we have out own little nutter squeezing off rounds randomly at vehicles traveling on the roads (some bullets from the same gun have been recovered from houses that have been shot, too).

As for myself, I've "inherited" a .357 revolver that my partner took away from her juvenile son a few years ago - Lord knows where he got it. It is certainly powerful enough to be considered a deadly weapon. I've never obtained ammunition for it, or fired it. If I ever do, I'll probably start by obtaining a cleaning kit for it. Maybe someday I'll take it to one of the firing ranges around here and try it out.

Brendan Hughes

If you've a good arm, you could always throw it at the intruder. Do quite some damage (if it connects).

Nevetas

I do not see a problem with our gun laws.

It took me 3 months and an interview to get my firearms cert, and I had to have a gun cabinet installed. All very straight forward.

I now have every gun I could have a use for, including fun stuff like a AR-15 & Spas 12.

OK I can't have pistols, and I do miss them, but it's not a MAJOR problem.

If you get on with the UK system, you can get around it, and I feel safe knowing not every fool can have a gun

Just a few of them!

http://www.country-breeze.co.uk