I can understand shooting ranges and the fun of target practice. However that situation, the weapons are stored at the range under some serious lock and key security and control.
Otherwise there is absolutely no need to have the right to bear arms in the UK. The US is a different issue with different people and different laws and so on.
In the US, the constitution is used to batter the nay sayers down. In reality what is an untrained citizen with a gun going to do in a situation? Become a statistic after they create many more trying to interfere. How many massacres have been stopped by people whose right it is to carry guns?
With regards the US stopping us from speaking German. We are not speaking German now because we set the stage in the Battle of Britain before the US entered the war. There was a platform to invade the continent at that point in time.
I think we are far too sensible to see gun ownership as a good thing.There are a few instances when having a shotgun makes sense- farmers and game keepers, but why would anyone else want one .Of course we have some gun crime now but giving the general population the right to own guns will only increase that. Anyone that wants a gun should have a very good reason for that and they should be tightly controlled as to the use and storage.
"Who , in the right mind , would want to even touch a firearm?"
Me, and I'm neither British nor American; I'm Canadian.
Wild game is one helluva lot healthier than any supermarket mystery meat raised on god knows what and processed in germ-ridden meat packing plants.
And far less expensive to come by, too.
One moose = meat for a year that's better tasting than the finest cut of beef you've ever had.
So next time you're picking up a packet of crisps and pound of pork chops at your local Asda, remember that on the other side oft the Atlantic there's a Canadian living like a king feasting on grouse, pheasant, venison, elk, moose and more.
And that it's costing him less money per year for that than it costs you for store-bought food packed full of chemical preservatives and other nastiness.
No, I don't see that happening.
We, as citizens of the UK, have the right to blow up parliament.
If they are a useless & oppressive government but come the day when we all walk around with guns in handbags or strapped to an ankle, I seriously doubt it.
@Rusty
Quoted your comments.
“God given freedoms”: What and who's god are we talking about here ?
“Protect our freedoms”: The result of gun freedom was the slaying of innocent children. Can this be called a freedom? and who is this freedom for? Why should gun-freedom overshadow the freedom to live?
“The founding fathers”: The founding fathers all came from Europa and yes a lot of them spoke German and English is a Germanic language.
“Lead to a dictatorship”: Japan has the most restrictive weapon laws in the world, they are not a dictatorship, in fact they are more democratic than the States.
“liberties and freedoms”: What kind of liberties-freedoms are procured form looking down the barrel of a gun? It all sounds a bit one-sided.
@ Austin
“Well bad guys have guns”: Well take the guns away from the bad guys.
“If there was an invasion I'd like to be able to shoot at some foreign soldiers”:
Who the hell in going to invade the States?
“Shoot at some foreign soldiers”:
Sounds like a desire, a wish, Blacks and foreign soldiers: watch your backs.
“Shoot the crooks right there”:
Gun-law judge and executor. As you judge so will you be judged.
“Just two days ago a loon shot up an elementary school. The day after that another killed some people inside a hospital. There's plenty of reason to have guns.”:
Sounds like there's plenty of reasons for not having guns,or a good argument for tough gun-controls. No guns no shooters.
No, it will never happen here. Just like the Americans will never give up their right to bear arms.
No we shouldn't have the right to bear arms in the UK. We have a completely diverging view on gun ownership here in the UK. For example : According to the "Independent on Sunday" 39 people were killed through the use of firearms in one year in England and Wales. The number of people killed in the US was 9,484. Likewise, the number of people shot so far this year in the US stands at 94,388, with 158 shot yesterday (Sunday). This is what the right to bear arms brings. We don't need it here.
I do think America needs to change this law. I think every country has laws dating back hundreds of years, when a particular law made more sense - as with the 'right to bear arms'. However, times change and I think some laws need to be changed also. I would hate the UK to be like America where it would seem that anybody and their granny can have a gun or two.
Yes
Amendment 2 of the American Constitution , drawn up as far back as 1792 , giving all of it's citizens the right to bear arms seems not to be a free society but a paranoid one. Over here in the United Kingdom , no-one has the right to even buy one unless they are given a complete phychological test before they are given a licence , even then there are extremely tight rules on how to store them. Who , in the right mind , would want to even touch a firearm? The American situation IS completely alien to British people.
Yes
Well bad guys have guns, and in order for good people to protect themselves they deserve to have guns too. Also helps with pest control in rural areas, hunting, hobbies, collectors, if there was an invasion I'd like to be able to shoot at some foreign soldiers than to let them take my home and land by force without resistance. Think of it this way- you live in America and some black gangster and his cronies break into your home. Would you rather wait ten minutes for police to get there to rescue you or shoot the crooks right there and guarantee your safety? Just two days ago a loon shot up an elementary school. The day after that another killed some people inside a hospital. There's plenty of reason to have guns. Plus, it's much better to have a shotgun for protection than a crossbow or baseball bat :D
I think it was drafted in an era of the wild west where there was regular shootouts,however as you say its difficult to know its need ?
But surely America must have some restrictions on some people ?
no, it will never happen, and the americans are too stupid/cowardly to help themselves, not to mention all the people employed in making guns/ ammunition,they dont want change.
screw the 2nd amendment and stop the slaughter.
The UK is civilised, so there is no need.
No way! We would then be known as "Little America".
