Firearms. Yea or Nay?

[caseysmom]

I disagree. There are lots of ways to kill yourself and these ways take place everyday. I could offer an example of just about every single one from people that i have known. Like my friends uncle who hung himself, or my sisters friend who went home one night and overdosed on pills knowing that no one would find him until it was too late as he lived alone, etc etc. these happen just as often if not more often... but you don't hear about it on the front page of the news because it wasn't with a gun. but it happens all the time unfortunately

I see your point and I am willing to listen to it...another 17 year old boy did hang himself a few years back.

[sparks19]

I see your point and I am willing to listen to it...another 17 year old boy did hang himself a few years back.

UGH... it's so sad to hear about all these young kids that are feeling so hopeless that they end their lives ... no matter the means

[caseysmom]

Both were very tragic. The 17 year old that hung himself was having problems and arguing with his mother and was taking anti depressants. His sister, who is my daughters friend, found him. It was very traumatic for all involved.

The other boy apparantly had asked a girl to homecoming and she said no and he also had a lot of pressure being in an honors program at the school.

[blue]

I guess Im the exception that enjoys the time spent doing target practice. I can hold my own shooting against better rifles, and I take pride in that skill.

Shooting is a skill, shouldnt shooting with a lesser firearm be commended?

[Puckstop31]

I guess Im the exception that enjoys the time spent doing target practice. I can hold my own shooting against better rifles, and I take pride in that skill.

Shooting is a skill, shouldnt shooting with a lesser firearm be commended?

Sure... But are you just learning to compensate for a less accurate rifle? LOL

Like my new deer rifle... Savage 110 in .270 Win. The "book" says use a 130 grain bullet. I am using 150. Why? I want to ensure a clean and instant kill. Bigger bullet increases the chances of that happening. BUT, that means I need to get a better feel for bullet drop over standard ranges. It is going to drop more. After a few hours on the range (and a sore shoulder) I feel I am ready. Sure, I could buy a better scope (I have a flat 3x9) but I also work for living and pay cash ONLY. LOL

This is not to say the savage is not accurate.... I am just using ammo that is not the "book" type.

Errrr, what was my point? LOL Oh yeah, to pick on Dan.

AK's drool.

[sparks19]

Errrr, what was my point? LOL Oh yeah, to pick on Dan.

AK's drool.

LOL I'm starting to second guess the offer to have both of you visiting in the same house LOL.

[Hellow]

I say yes to guns, one county in my state has a law that states that you must own a gun within your household or pay a fine. The crime rate has dropped dramatically there. I say the only use for guns is self defense, you really shouldnt use them for anything else.

[blue]

Errrr, what was my point? LOL Oh yeah, to pick on Dan.

AK's drool.

Next time we make it to the range Ill have to save the paper, my groups with his scoped Bushmaster AR 15 are better then my AK and his groups with his own rifle. Hopefully he can find the same scope he had on his old AR for his new AR.

Alot of moose and bear hunters use larger grain bullets then what is booked for their rifles.

[blue]

For the consideration of the anti gunners.

A MINORITY VIEW

BY WALTER E. WILLIAMS

RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2008, AND THEREAFTER



Control Criminals Not Guns



Every time there's a highly publicized shooting, out go the cries for stricter gun control laws, and it was no different with the recent murder of Philadelphia Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, in a letter to the state congressional delegation demanding reenactment of the federal assault weapon ban, said, "Passing this legislation will go a long way to protecting those who put their lives on the line every day for us. É There is no excuse to do otherwise."



Gun control laws will not protect us from murderers. We need protection from the criminal justice system politicians have created. Let's look at it.



According to former Philly cop Michael P. Tremoglie's article "Who freed the cop-killers?" for the Philadelphia Daily News (5/8/08), all three murder suspects had extensive criminal records. Levon Warner was sentenced in 1997 to seven and a half to 15 years for robbery, one to five years for possessing an instrument of crime and five to 10 for criminal conspiracy. Howard Cain was convicted in 1996 on four counts of robbery and sentenced to five to 10 years on each count. Eric Floyd was sentenced to five to 10 years in 1995 for robbery, rearrested in 1999 for parole violation and later convicted in 2001 for two robberies. If these criminals had not been released from prison, long before they served out their sentences, officer Liczbinski would be alive today. So what's responsible for his death: guns or a prison and parole system that released these three criminals? Tremoglie cites other examples of criminals, with convictions for violent crimes ranging from robbery and assault to murder, who were paroled and later murdered police officers.



A New York Times study (4/28/06) of the city's 1,662 murders in 2003-2005 found that 90 percent of the murderers had criminal records. A Massachusetts study reported that on average, homicide offenders had been arraigned for nine prior offenses. John Lott's book, "More Guns, Less Crime," reports that in 1988 in the 75 largest counties in the U.S., over 89 percent of adult murderers had a criminal record as an adult.



A few days after the murder of Liczbinski, Governor Rendell told a news conference, attended by state elected officials and top law enforcement officials, "The time has come for politicians to decide. You have to decide whether you're on their side -- the men and women who wear blue -- or whether you're on the side of the gun lobby." Instead of saying "whether you're on the side of the gun lobby," Rendell should have said "whether you're on the side of the criminal and the courts, prosecutors, prisons and parole boards that cut soft deals with criminals and release them to prey upon police officers and law-abiding citizens."



If there is one clear basic function of government, it's to protect citizens from criminals. When government failure becomes so apparent, as it is in the murder of a police officer, officials seek scapegoats and very often it's the National Rifle Association and others who seek to protect our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. We hear calls for stricter gun control laws when what is really needed is more control over criminals.



There are many third-party liability laws. I think they ought to be applied to members of parole boards who release criminals who turn around and commit violent crimes. As it stands now, people on parole boards who release criminals bear no cost of their decisions. I bet that if members of parole boards were held liable or forced to serve the balance of the sentence of a parolee who goes out and commits more crime, they would pay more attention to the welfare of the community rather than the welfare of a criminal. You say, "Williams, under those conditions, who'd serve on a parole board?" There's something to be said about that.



Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University.