cool a firewood thread diverged into a firearm discussion =)
I agree that people with ill-intent will find a way to do harm
I also agree that people should have the right protect themselves, which includes firearms for moral prudent sane people; police are a long ways away if you live rurally, and these days in cities also!
However, because dense cities are also dense with conflict and crime, I don't think making it easier for people to possess guns is a good solution, since there's a higher chance of bystanders getting injured in the event of a shootout.
And even gun owners must admit that there is a level of separation (physically and probably psychologically too) between getting up close to someone with a knife to consciously push it into their body, versus holding up a pistol and pulling a finger with a few ounces of force.
Punishing law abiding gun owners doesn't keep guns out of the hands of people who want to acquire them for ill intent. But making guns more abundant probably makes it easier to get ahold of one illegally. To be honest, I don't blame law-abiding gun-owning citizens who would rather NOT have their name and guns registered on a national database.. it makes it much easier for the government to find them if/when it decides to crack down.
I think that most people in cities with criminal intent don't really want to hurt people, even if they have a gun and use it to commit armed robbery. Most are looking for easy targets and stealing for money. If both sides of the 'debate' can understand that the U.S. is more culturally diverse than most other countries, and rural environments are different than dense urban, it makes statistical comparisons less meaningful in my eyes.
To wrap it up, it seems to me there is an agenda (by rich corporate elites) who want to maintain control of the global population and resources, and rural self-reliant communities are going to be some of the most challenging to bring under that rule. A lot of the societal events and changes we are experiencing now seem to be steps towards that end.
Hats off to those who refuse to offer their compliance freely, even if it comes at the cost of enduring a more challenging life.
