Texas A&M Study Says Castle-Doctrine Laws Increase Homicides, Don't Deter Crime

[gejohnston]

81. you missed the point.

I would rather the DUer would not carry the gun.

A body builder or average gang banger vs a middle aged fat guy or a smaller woman is also disparity of force. If one chooses to be a predator for what ever reason, I fail to see why the intended victim should care morally or legally about such force.

I've lived a pretty long life and never carried a gun or needed to carry a gun.

So have I. I only carry backpacking to scare off coyotes and fire grilled rabbit tastes good. That is a choice I make. If I land up wrong place wrong time and regret that decision, until the cops hopefully show up, that was still my choice. Telling some else what they should or should not do without knowing their situation, anything about those issues just to satisfy my ideology is wrong.

If I lived out in the boondocks with the bears, wolves and other predator animals, maybe I would need a gun. If I wanted to hunt deer (and I love venison), I would want to carry a gun for hunting.

Black Bears and wolves attacking humans are non existent. Grizzles or Kodiak on the other hand... I would be more concerned with mt. lions.

But only the police and citizens with permits should carry guns on Los Angeles' city streets, and the permits should be handed out very carefully.

In LA county, only rich people have permits. Like NYC, rich people with no valid need get them, while the rest of us regardless of clean record or need do not. If you look at CA's shall issue, I seriously doubt very many minorities are approved. Permits should be shall issue or no issue, giving the an agency arbitrary authority has no place in a liberal democracy.

There have been a couple of gang shootings within a few blocks of my house recently. If only gang members carry guns, then you know if there is a shooting, chances are very great that a gang member did it. Makes solving the murder much easier.

How so? A permit holder would call the cops on himself if it is self defense.

If "good guys" carry guns on the streets of a city like LA, it makes the work of the police much tougher.

How so? See above. How can LA or Chicago be much worse?

My perspective is definitely colored by the proximity of gang activity to my house. People who live in the country do not understand what it is like to live in a city like L.A.

I never understood why it is harder to get a permit where you would actually need them than in places like Vermont which requires no permit and is safer than Europe.

When more guns are legal, more guns are on the streets, and more criminals have them.

Not really logical.

The Republicans are criticizing A.G. Holder for the guns that were shipped to Mexico and ended up in the hands of criminals who used them to kill a lot of people.

No shit, and we should be too. If ATF was still under Treasury, Timmy G would be on the hot seat. Wide Receiver was half baked, then they took out what did make sense and created FF. The ATF agents responsible were not disciplined, fired etc. That is before you get back to ATF's other problems dating back when it was part of the IRS. From the 1930s until 1972, that is where the IRS sent their undesirables with EEOC violations and dim wits. When ATF became a separate agency, that was the initial cadre and management. They still are a collection of racists, sexists, and idiots.

But Republicans don't connect the dots.

Actually they kind of do for the wrong reason. If it were DEA, Issa wouldn't give a shit. It works like this, Republicans hate ATF, Dems hate DEA. But, if ATF commits crimes violates rights, Republicans are all over it but Dems ignore and have no problem with it. If it is DEA, Dems are all over it, and Republicans are cool with their crimes and civil rights violations.

The same principle that applied in Mexico applies here. The more guns you have in private hands, the more likely they will land, whether intentionally or not, in the hands of murderers, of criminals.

but the gangs are not getting their machine guns and rocket launchers from here. So, that is absurd. Private gun ownership is almost almost, legally, non existent in Mexico. Also, UK has more machine gun crimes than we do.

I support ownership of guns for sport and hunting but not for carrying to your local bar or on the streets in my neighborhood.

I support for whatever purpose one needs.