I didn't have some kind of "poor people take revenge on the rich by assaulting them" idea in mind, which is what you seem to have assumed.

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Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles I didn't have some kind of "poor people take revenge on the rich by assaulting them" idea in mind, which is what you seem to have assumed.

I guess that's just what I assumed since you cited "inequality" as the primary cause.

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Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov You would agree that "anti-gun" laws restrict the selling of guns, and don't magically take away any guns sold in previous years, yes? Taking snapshots of the year immediately following the passage of a gun law isn't going to show much of anything - that's why I gave you two points in time. There were 149 murders in DC last year. That is the lowest figure since 1966. In any case, using DC as your case is kind of ridiculous. I live in the District and it is literally a ten minute walk to the closest gun shop in Maryland. In addition, Virginia has among the most lax gun laws in the entire US. Treating DC as a separate entity for the purpose of this discussion is misleading on both sides.

Correct, however what you did was post two points in time showing a large decrease in murder rates in Washington DC. What I was doing is showing how those numbers were misleading. I agree that when a gun law is passed it does not magically remove all guns from the street. However, despite having some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country (no handguns at all, all guns and ammunition must be registered) DC had a steadily rising number of murders each year between 1976 and 1994 at the same time the population was also steadily decreasing. That is 18 years of increasing murders between 1976 and 1994, certainly if the gun laws were responsible for the decreasing murders it wouldn't have taken 18 years for them to have an impact. What in fact happened is that for 18 years the per capita number of murders increased until 1994 when the crack wars ended and the country as a whole went into a period of declining crime. In fact, last year New Orleans was by far the murder capital of the US with 207 murders, which is less than half the numbers that DC had in the mid 90s when it held the murder capital title.

The reality is that passing harsh laws do not deter criminals. If guns were completely banned in the entire country criminals would find a way to get them illegally or would use knives, bats, pipes, or whatever other kind of weapons they can find in order to rob and kill. The problem with passing laws in order to restrict criminals is that criminals by definition don't follow laws to begin with.

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Originally posted by Krypton I'm thinkin about gettin me one of these...

watch where you point that thing. laugh @ boys & their guns

my favorite gun

Ain't she a beaut:



and my other baby:



God bless 2nd amendment!

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Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

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Originally posted by XaNaX California's assult weapons law is an absolute masterpiece of stupid and useless legislation created by politicians who want to look like they are doing something to reduce crime rather than actually doing something that will reduce crime. Not to mention that all laws banning firearms of any kind are flawed and doomed to be a failure because by definition criminals do not obey laws. You have to be an idiot of the worst kind to think that someone who steals, robs, rapes, kills, etc is going to obey a law banning the possession of firearms. Gun laws do one thing and one thing only and that is take weapons out of the hands of people who obey laws when those are exactly the people who should have them.

i forget the statistic, but something like 7/8 guns used in violent crimes in NYC come from the south. That means gun laws that intend to make it difficult to get weapons actually work. if there was a uniform set of strict gun regulations throughout the US the good old days of stabbings would return.

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Originally posted by XaNaX In theory that all makes sense but in practice it doesn't work. It has been proven time and time again that gun control does not prevent gun violence. Criminals will still find ways to get their hands on weapons, gun control takes guns out of the hands of the people that should have them (people who obey laws). Fuck if all of the sudden you snapped your fingers and there was no longer any such thing as guns you think that would stop all crime and there would no longer be any murders? Look at areas like Washington DC, they have some of the strictest gun laws in the country and what is the crime rate there? Extra credit assignment for all the people who think "assult" weapons are so dangerous. Do some research and find me actual cases where a law abiding citizen with a legally purchased military style weapon used that gun to commit a crime and kill someone (self defense does not count, it has to be a crime). Good luck, it won't be easy. Then find the total number of murders in the US and divide the number of assult weapon murders by the total number of murders and look at the percentage and then tell me again why it is an issue for law abiding people to own military style weapons?

that's because there isn't a uniform set of gun control laws in the US. if you can't get a gun in NY, you can get it in virginia. if there was an uniform set of laws across the country you would surely see a greater effect.

as for constitutional rights, we will see what the supreme court says in the beginning of the summer. i suspect they will punt on whether a state has the right to control guns, however, i'm pretty sure the conservative court will rule that DC (an extension of the federal government) has only a limited right to control guns. However, 10 of the 12 circuits have ruled against your individual rights theory. with respect to forefather intent, do you think black people are worth 3/5 of a free man and shouldn't have the right to vote? That was also your forefathers intent.

Last edited by jerZ07002 on May-04-2008 at 05:44

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Originally posted by pinkbubblegum watch where you point that thing. laugh @ boys & their guns

Nothin better than unloading some stress at the shooting range...

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Originally posted by Krypton Nothin better than unloading some stress at the shooting range...

fallasy... wanking off, gettin bj, or eatin the poon is much better, imho.

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Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

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Originally posted by aNYthing fallasy... wanking off, gettin bj, or eatin the poon is much better, imho.

See, that's sexual stress. I'm talking about anger/work stress.

Unleash the alpha male inside. Every guy has it. Every guy should embrace their alpha male...

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Originally posted by Krypton See, that's sexual stress. I'm talking about anger/work stress. Unleash the alpha male inside. Every guy has it. Every guy should embrace their alpha male...

not every guy can be an alpha male. some males have to be the alpha male's bitch. the alpha male has to push someone around, hence, computer geeks.