To: American Spirit who wrote (474626 ) 10/11/2003 12:23:44 AM From: Wayners Respond to Thats what the numbers say. Most violent crimes ARE drug related. That is exactly right. I have you on the correct path. Guns are not just used for personal protection. They are used for hunting, target shooting, and collecting, even as an investment. They are a last ditch, doomsday scenario weapon as well. You may not need it, but who knows. When your home is invaded its too late to get a gun and defend yourself at that point. I enjoy target shooting and collecting. I'm not a felon. I'm in the inactive reserves and would like to keep my firearms skills up. I'm also between the ages of 17 and 45 and am considered by Federal law, 10 USC 311 to be a member of the unorganized militia. The police are non-felons, have similar training and yet are trusted with handguns, rifles, shotguns and machine guns. A blue cotton uniform doesn't make you a superhuman. John Lotts study, not NRA says between 2 and 2.5 million times a year guns are used to defend businesses and homes. Thats a lot of potential carnage without those guns. Accidental killing amount to about 1500 and total deaths about 10,000. Take the guns away and the numbers will flip flop just like in Britain where they are currently learning the hard way. 300 guns in a vault or safe or even on a wall or in a cabinet (where most of the 80M guns are anyways) are safer than a police officer walking down the street with a handgun in holster. The number of guns don't make them any less safe. Semi-automatic weapons are ideal for target shooting. They are some of the most accurate weapons available. I refuse to call them by the anti-gunners political terminology. They are also ideal as doomsday weapons and are true militia type weapons. If there is no need for semi automatics, then why do the police need them? Why do the police need machine guns? You can even stop the manufacturing of all guns, and just like in England, the criminals start making their own. NRA isn't a racist organization, thats complete nonsense. NRA is anti-felon, anti-criminal which is a color blind test.
