Issodhos writes:
> Martin wrote:
> > For public safety. But I wouldn't place the emphasis on limiting the
> > number. Rather, I would place the emphasis on strict requirements for
> > secure storage and inspection. There should be some threshold number
> > of guns that determines when a person has an "armory". He can own as
> > many guns above that number as he desires, but they must be stored in
> > an armory either managed by the military directly, or by a gun club or
> > private business that meets military standards and is subject to
> > military and/or police inspection.
>
> Rather than advance deeper into the police state you seemingly
> advocate, might I suggest that since the vast majority of firearms
> related deaths involves firearms owned by the governments of the
> world, and since the vast majority of privately owned firearms are
> never used to kill anything, if it is a reduction in firearms
> related killing and increased public safety you want, it would make
> more sense to disarm all governments and re-arm the world's
> citizenry.:-) Yours, Issodhos
No, that's not a good idea because you can't disarm all the
governments. Governments are sovereigns. The only way to disarm them
is to make them not sovereign anymore, which implies creating a world
government that would then be the *only* sovereign. I'm in favor of
that, because there can't be sustained world peace without a world
governmentt, a single sovereign. But I'm not holding my breath
waiting for it.
I don't see why strict gun control implies a police state. I'd like
to hear your argument. In any case, I don't advocate a police state.
What do you mean by police state? A state that has police? If that
is what you mean, then I certainly would not advocate a state with no
police, since police *are* necessary and always will be necessary in a
social democracy.
In Norway, a variant of the system you call a police state has been in
place for a long time. It works just fine. Norway has a vanishingly
small number of criminal shootings. The police are not armed. Norway
also has a high per capita gun ownership, since hunting and target
shooting are both very popular here, and since many men are members of
the national guard and are required to maintain a weapon. If you mean
Norway is a police state, then, yes, I think there should be more of
them.
martin
Martin Smith Email: [log in to unmask]
P.O. Box 1034 Bekkajordet Tel. : +47 330 35700
N-3194 HORTEN, Norway Fax. : +47 330 35701
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