Who's into guns?

[tomgallagher]

Geez and I thought it was wild and wooly up here.

[gunngee]

Interesting topic

South Africa has been described as one of the highest murder countries in the world.  Many law abiding citizens own legal firearms for self protection.  I won’t give you the stats of how many murders there are per year as I am a police officer and I may be contravening police regulations by publishing such stats here.  It is not uncommon for one province to experience 5 to 10 murders on a single weekend, never mind the country as a whole.

We have one of the highest violent crime rates in the world, where it is a daily occurrence that armed robberies take place in driveways or inside your home or at businesses.  My son and I were robbed of our cell phones, our motor vehicle and cash in our driveway at gunpoint in front of my wife and daughter in 2008.  In townships, rape on children of 4 - 12 years is not uncommon.  Almost every single person you speak to is in some way a victim of crime here, from a petty theft from your washing line, to muggings, housebreakings or hijackings.

I can go on and on...

I have a service issue Beretta 9mm pistol for the past 28 years as my close companion, which is always ready in my home.  It is a beautiful weapon, one that I can dismantle and re assemble blindfolded.  I will not have the slightest hesitation to lawfully put a bullet in anyone’s head who tries to enter my home and hurt my wife or daughter.

South Africa is an amazing, beautiful country with heaps of potential and many awesome, hospitable inhabitants.  It does not mean that it is a dangerous country for a tourist, as many tourist destinations are well protected and policed. There are many massive threats that stand in the way of significant progress in SA – HIV, and violent crime.

I enjoy guns and fortunately I know how to use them as I was well trained many years ago.  It is not uncommon though for certain “qualified” trained police force members these days, to stand at a shooting range and miss a target 5 meters away, without any repercussions.

But that sad state of affairs is left for another day to elaborate on.

Well written, I have always wanted to see parts of Africa but have been afraid to go because of what you see on the news. There are other places like South America as well that I feel the same way about. I have been raised around firearms as my father has been taking me hunting since I was old enough to go. I know how to handle them safely and have put the odd person in their place when they've been handling a firearm unsafely. Where you are it might be lawful to shoot someone who is an immediate threat to your life or someone you love. Unfortunately I live where it is unlawful to do so and I actually fear that if the situation were to ever arise where someone did break into my house, that I WOULD shoot them and wind up going to jail because of it.

[tomgallagher]

There is an old saying in law enforcement that it's better to be tried by 12 than to be carried by 6. A sentiment that I have always subscribed to.

[Sir Harry]

There is an old saying in law enforcement that it better to be tried by 12 than to be carried by 6. A sentiment that I have always subscribed to.

That was my personal motto during both of my overseas tours....it also applies when I go into certain cities that shall not be named on this forum....

[Mr Jules]

Unfortunately I live where it is unlawful to do so and I actually fear that if the situation were to ever arise where someone did break into my house, that I WOULD shoot them and wind up going to jail because of it.

Here in the UK, we have a complete ban on guns. Even the police do not carry guns, except in special circumstances.

In the UK, last year we had 550 homicides for the whole year, with around 40 involving a firearms.

40 murders with firearms, for a country with a population equal to Texas and California combined.

Indeed, a thread on British forum entitled "who's into guns ?" would probably be banned here in the UK.

[tomgallagher]

I'm afraid that would never happen over here. I would just be happy if we could ban assault rifles.

[JasonR]

I'm afraid that would never happen over here. I would just be happy if we could ban assault rifles.

Say what? Just because the Dark Knight killer used an assault rifle does not mean he wouldn't or couldn't have used a hunting/sporting rifle to do the same amount of damage.

[wonderer]

I have to add here my two cents -i am into air rifles-target shooting here i Croatia to until last month or so all air rifles were legal and now the law has changed all air rifles above 10,5 J they now consider as a firearms and also every air rifle in 5,5 cal crossbows above 400 N are also in that C category of firearms) and now i have three that i can only destroy since i am using SSRI meds i can't have a license for a firearms so i need just to throw them away one Diana 34,Slavia 634 and Norica 5,5-for this law i didn't know until today   no more shooting cans for me  

[tomgallagher]

I'll use an assault rifle and you use a hunting rifle and we'll see who can throw the most rounds down range in a specified amount of time.

[wonderer]

Tom Gallagher -no i meant literally i must give them to police or destroy the rifles -im going to the fishing   

[waine]

In my opinion, SA can not be a "gun free" society. It just won't work. The police need fire power to fight against firepower. Once firearms are out there, it is difficult to police a country without firearms. In other words it has gone too far, the criminals just have too much easy access to firearms. How else would the police fight violent crime?

I find the whole gun debate to be rather interesting, especially in the US.

But from a technical, engineering, sheer "shooting pleasure" point of view, I enjoy "guns". Its like enjoying the beauty of a DE razor, if you know what I mean?

[wonderer]

I am not glad about new laws (how could i bee i need to throw my rifles) but guys check out on youtube my home town Vukovar 1991 in " Requiem for Vukovar "this was my childhood -grenades AK 47 ,barrage of bullets mine shells constantly for months  so many people died 

[tomgallagher]

Assault rifles are meant to kill large amounts of people in a short amount of time. Why would any sane person need one.

[buddha]

I'm afraid that would never happen over here. I would just be happy if we could ban assault rifles.

Say what? Just because the Dark Knight killer used an assault rifle does not mean he wouldn't or couldn't have used a hunting/sporting rifle to do the same amount of damage.

Seriously?? Having been positioned on the business end of both I can tell you fo' sho' that the loss of life/number of wounded would have been significantly reduced had the shooter been using a bolt action .308 or .30-06 rather than what he was using. It probably would have been greater yet except for what I heard about the drum on his AR jamming.

That being said I am totally against an "assault weapons" ban. Although I carried as part of my work for over 20 years and saw the damage that these weapons can do I don't think that the LEGAL availability of these is the root of the problem. I think what needs to be done is to reduce costs to the taxpayer by nullifying the insanity defense in cases like this where the planning was "meticulous", thereby negating the argument that this person was not in control of his thought processes at the time. Give this scumbag one trial, find him guilty, sentence him to death and carry out the sentence immediately. He does not get to kiss his mama goodbye any more than any of his victims did. The gavel drops and he gets the needle within the hour. I'm sick of paying for 3 hots and a cot for fine gentlemen like this so they can watch tv and pump iron and get conjugal visits for the next 50 years.

[tomgallagher]

Assault rifles are meant to kill large amounts of people in a short amount of time. Why would any sane person need one.

I still don't know why any sane person would need one.