Assault Weapons Ban- Yea or Nea?

Gambusia

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Nov 26, 2003
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It looks like some folks in Washington will let this ban expire.

I have to be honest I don't like guns but I like that the current ban is expiring.

It was full of loopholes.

The ban granfathered all previously owned guns.

It allowed police departments to give assault guns to their officers after they retire (what for???)

It wrote the definition of assault weapon so narrowly as to not offend hunters. Many gun makers simply removed features from their guns and continued selling them.

And it specifically protects over 600 guns from being banned (supposedly "hunting" guns).


Search the issue deeper to find out what you think.

I think we need a much stronger ban, you may not.

Peace.
 
They are technically not banned. You can still purchase them, you just need NFA permits.


And on the other side of that, guns are no longer your right to own. They are a privelage, like driving.

And there should be no regulations controlling their purchase, a simple 5 second background check to find out wether your a criminal or not is all thats needed.

I see no reason why guns should be banned, as there is no evidence what so ever that resticting firearms reduces crime rates, in fact, there is evidence showing the contrary.
 
Banning dangerous guns only makes law abiding citizens less able to protect themselves. Criminals will still have them.

I'd rather everyone be on the same level of lethality.

It would work just as good as the Prohibition.

Or the War on Drugs.

<sarcasm>That's going really well.</sarcasm>
 
Glad to see the ban expire away. It was passed and did nothing for crime, and drove the price up on certain weapons. I may be able to buy another AK-47 style weapon once the ban expires and the prices of these weapons comes down. They are great fun to shoot.

If you read on what the law banned, it was things like bayonet lugs and other cosmetic things. Zero impact on crime.
 
I see no reason why guns should be banned, as there is no evidence what so ever that resticting firearms reduces crime rates, in fact, there is evidence showing the contrary.

You've never been to Japan, then?

I think we all know (or can guess) my political leanings...
 
Originally posted by kikuchiyo

You've never been to Japan, then?

Can you show me crime rates before and after they banned guns?

Anyways, youd be better comparing the US to england or australia, as our systems of goverment and law are very similar.

And BTW- the fact that japan has a low homicide rate but an extremely high suicide rate are related. ;)
 
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I believe they've banned guns since at least the occupation, if not before. I am loathe to dreg through records of Japanese crime rates, especially when it's not my native language, but the country still has the lowest violent crime rate and lowest number of homocides in the first world, I believe.

Anyways, youd be better comparing the US to england or australia, as our systems of goverment and law are very similar.

Chigau. The Japanese legal and political systems are very similar to other Western ones. After the occupation, the Americans imposed whatever they wanted pretty wily nily (sound familar?).

And BTW- the fact that japan has a low homicide rate but an extremely high suicide rate are related.

Are you explaining this to me, because I'd love some sources. It has much more to do with Shinto/Buddhism where death is seen as a servicable way out (unlike Islam, Christianity, and I assume Judasim, where suicide is a sin) and from the bushido ethic of samurai, which says a samurai should be willing to give his life at a moment's notice. Jansen's Making of Modern Japan has a bit of information on that.

If you're saying that a lot of the suicides are really homocides, then I don't think you understand what's going on over there. School competition/grades and the end of the bubble economy have put a lot of people in bad straits. I'd refer you to the Asahi and Mainichi newspapers. There's actually a lot of work (editorials, essays, films) on the disillusionment of young Japanese in the mid 90s to now because of the collapse of the materalistic ethos of the 80s.
 
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Too bad guncite is down at the moment. But here is why japan's murder rates are lower than ours.

BTW- it has very little if nothing to do with guns. Most homicides in the US are done by knife, not gun.

http://www.scfirearms.org/2ndamend/japan.txt


And Im not saying anything about samurais, Im saying people there often take their own life rather than deal with their legal system because of the fear of both the police and the courts. The burden of proof in japan is on the individual who is charged, not on the state.
 
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Ha ha ha.

This article appeared in the December 1988 issue of The American Rifleman.

Who am I going to trust, scholars of Japan, Japanese newspapers, and my own experience or "The American Rifleman." Anyway, the article smacks of someone cobbling together sterotypes of the Japanese, in my humble opinion.

And Im not saying anything about samurais,

Then you don't know what you're arguing. The samurai ethos is important to most Japanese people, just as "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" are to Americans. That colors their society and their world view. They don't show 47 Ronin 50 times a year because it's a Hollywood blockbuster; it's important culturally and for society.

Im saying people there often take their own life rather than deal with their legal system because of the fear of both the police and the courts. The burden of proof in japan is on the individual who is charged, not on the state.

I disagree. PM Koizumi (whom I don't like) was talking abou this recently. It has far more to do with competition to get into good schools (for children), the Westernizing of Japanese business (where one used to be assured of a job until retirement), and as I mentioned, the collapse fo the bubble economy.
 
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