h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Guns - History, Culture and Politics in the USA - A872778
Author: GTBacchus - SubEd, Guru, Procrastinator, Keeper, etc. - U166086

Hello!

I've never been in CWW before, so I'm not entirely sure how it works. I've brought this entry because I'd like to make sure that it's well-balanced. Being a sticky political issue, that can be difficult.

I'm pretty interested in writing the 'Beyond Gun Crime' section - I just haven't done it yet. Anything else is certainly up for grabs, and criticisms on what I've written so far are definitely welcome.

A few people have already volunteered in a thread attached to the entry, but I want to get as wide a variety of views involved as possible.

I won't be including any claims that one side or the other is right or wrong, so if you just want to argue for your side, I'll listen, but I probably won't include your copy. The reason I want people with different views involved is to *prevent* it from leaning in either direction.



GTB

If I comment on this entry any way I'm just gonna get all heated and silly, so instead I thought I'd give a few links and stuff.
First, the EG entry on Gun safety -> A771473
Recommended entry on Machine Guns -> A891100
Also, have you seen Bowling for Columbine? It's a anti-gun film just released in UK, might be worth a mention in the "Gun rights" section. IMDB link to Bowling for Columbine -> http://uk.imdb.com/Title?0310793
There. Didn't say anything controversial
Oberon2001

Hi Oberon, thanks for the links.

Yes, I have seen 'Bowling For Columbine'. I liked it. I'm not sure if I'd mention it in the gun rights section, since its argument leans more to the gun control side, but it's definitely worth mentioning, wherever.


GTB

Hi GTB,

I also find it difficult to contribute to this entry as I find it very hard to understand the US attitude to gun ownership.

I used to be a member of a shooting club. But I could never ever countenance owning a gun for the purposes of self-defence. If I ever owned a gun (which would be unlikely these days), it would only be used on a shooting range. At home it would be kept locked away in an inaccessible place so that I would never be tempted (or able) to use it under ANY other circumstances.

I would be very interested if you could find a good argument for the self-defence thing. I haven't heard one, apart from the "well what would you do if a mad-eyed, trigger-happy junkie burst into your house and threatened to kill your children?". I don't consider this a good argument for owning a gun.

There was a famous case over here recently (well, in the last couple of years) when a Norfolk farmer called Tony Martin shot a 16-year-old unarmed burglar in his home. The boy died. In the subsequent trial, Tony Martin got life.

The judge said:

"The law is that every citizen is entitled to use reasonable force to prevent crime. Burglary is a crime and a householder in his own home may think he is being reasonable but he may not be reasonable and that can have tragic consequences."

I think this is a very pertinent point made by the judge: if you are in an 'emotional' situation, i.e. somebody invading your own home, you cannot necessarily trust yourself to be objective and rational and you may not be able to control your actions. Say you've been woken up in the middle of the night, it's dark, you're not sure what's going on - how equipped are you to make life or death judgements?

I think the point I am making is that your reason for owning a gun is very important, not just the fact of ownership. There is no problem in the UK owning a gun because shooting (on a range) is your hobby. This is a highly controlled situation, where generally you are alert and concentrating on what you are doing.

But in the US the very Constitution seems to encourage people to own guns in what are likely to be uncontrolled situations.

Gubernatrix