Originally posted by vat_man
Okay, since you seem to be unwilling to analyse your hand-picked statistics, here goes:
- the Scottish murder rate is higher because of high murder rates amongst young men involving knives, kicking and beatings (murder rates of women and children at are English/Wales levels, whilst the male murder rate in Scotland is more than double that of England). Imagine what those levels would be if these people had firearms.
- I made no comment on crime rates. You have established no link between crime rates and firearm ownership. The comment is without context and therefore meaningless in this discussion.
- I fail to see the relevance of the comments about Cambodia, the USSR and the Jews in Germany in WW2. Are you suggesting that an armed populace would be better placed to rise up against an oppressive Government? Has the example of Afghanistan taught us nothing. Are you suggesting that the only thing holding the US government back from massacreing its population is gun ownership? Are you suggesting that a dispersing, unorganised populace with high levels of gun ownership is capable of effectively resisting a well armed and training government of oppression?
- my mention of male suicide was used simply to better illustrate my argument, not as a point of contention. Additionally, this carefully selected statistic fails to recognise the ceremonial and spiritual factor that Japanese culture places on suicide - as sharply illustrated by the kamikaze pilots in WWII. The suicide rate of Japanese 5-14 year olds is less than half of the US. I made no assertions about guns and suicide.
Your remaining comments border on the abusive and insulting. Australian citizens enjoy the same freedoms as US citizens. I am not a sheep, nor my government oppressive in the face of a relatively unarmed population.
Your statistically-selective and emotive arguments are not valid.
Guns cool??????
), M203 40mm grenade launcher (tons o' fun!), fragmentation grenades.
