To jump in here, personally, I agree that it's kind of weird that handguns are just left out and about-
I think there's been a bit of crossed wires here - it's the idea that anybody (subject to security checks) can walk into a shop and buy a handgun is what gives me the shivers. The concept of civilian handgun ownership simply doesn't exist here. (Hi, welcome to Europe!) The only people who would possess handguns, apart from certain special police branches (normally, police are unarmed), would be those connected with organised crime, or UDA/IRA paramilitaries.
Which, to a certain extent, explains the differences in reaction between ourselves. It's rather easy to declare guns = bad when muggers are armed with knives and syringes, not revolvers. My personal reaction, though, is that I can't see a way to reduce gun crime (and so a need for self protection) without greater restriction on personal rights to bear firearms - a vicious circle.
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Re: Probably coming down to the left of where you intended...
Date: 2010-03-16 03:16 am (UTC)I think there's been a bit of crossed wires here - it's the idea that anybody (subject to security checks) can walk into a shop and buy a handgun is what gives me the shivers. The concept of civilian handgun ownership simply doesn't exist here. (Hi, welcome to Europe!) The only people who would possess handguns, apart from certain special police branches (normally, police are unarmed), would be those connected with organised crime, or UDA/IRA paramilitaries.
Which, to a certain extent, explains the differences in reaction between ourselves. It's rather easy to declare guns = bad when muggers are armed with knives and syringes, not revolvers. My personal reaction, though, is that I can't see a way to reduce gun crime (and so a need for self protection) without greater restriction on personal rights to bear firearms - a vicious circle.