Originally posted by the Bear:
it'll be heck of a lot harder to murder the fella with a knife you know?

seriously... the type of arguments will go back and forth.. but think about this: isn't it better to CONTROL the availability of firearms and limit their use to sports within a club?
rather than to allow them to be available freely where maniacs and assassins can get at them?
in the US, what is the waiting time and what are the checks? a few years ago, there were lobbyist trying their damnest to remove all checks citing the constitutional right to bear arms...
remove the two extremes... where there are no firearms and where firearms are freely available...
put them in the clubs and control their use and availability... i would think therein, is the answer..
So, by that logic, since sharp-edged instruments like knives are used in a large number of murders in Singapore, we should prevent them from falling into the hands of "maniacs and assassins" and restrict their use to clubs.
But wait! Automobiles are dangerous too. They've been known to mow down innocent pedestrians, even when they aren't being driven by maniacs and assassins. Let's save lives by restricting the use and availability of automobiles to clubs too!
And, and, tall buildings! They're lethal too, since suicidal individuals have willingly plummeted to their deaths from them. Let's ban tall buildings, or at least limit their use to clubs!
Bear, let's put the blame squarely on where it belongs: on the individual wielding the weapon,
not on the inanimate weapon. Remember, the gun did not go bang by itself--someone had to pull the trigger. Limiting firearms to vetted individuals and restricting their use to clubs isn't going to solve gun-related crime in
any country. The nature of the criminal is that he does not observe the law, including firearms laws. You yourself have admitted how difficult it is to prevent firearms from being smuggled into the country, and I completely agree. A determined criminal will find a way to circumvent the laws and bring a firearm into the country. Did the Draconian firearms laws in Singapore prevent the Serangoon murder from occurring? Evidently not.