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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_yYC5r8xMI

Nope, not cute and cuddly. I want nothing to do with spiders. I can't even bear to see photos of them. For those of you who haven't nearly died from a spider bite, enjoy.

Lil, that purple smoke bomb has become legend. I am sorry to inform everyone that the celebrations on the Fourth have dwindled in scope quite a lot the past two years. For one thing, there aren't many of us left. And we lost another cousin yesterday. We're all getting old. And there has been a serious rift between two of the Bearded Cousins which resulted in a further dwindling of the numbers. I have tried not to take sides, but it is difficult not to when one of them is being seriously ridiculous.

but what about gun racks, the last time in the states hired a pick up and in the back was a gun rack, and a gun safe under the drivers seat (for conciled carry) which i thought was very thoughtful.............. any thought on this

Hunters often have gun racks on their trucks. It is not common otherwise.

That's a shame about the celebrations--especially the rift (can't exactly do much about dwindling numbers)

Tell the quarrelers that they need to reconcile because a bunch of internet weirdos say so

and something else about the last time i was in the states was the small fact that wall mart or (asda as its known in Britain) sold ammo and stuff just like washing powder! i was impressed in a strange way and in one of the states i went too i could buy one legel just with a weeks wait for checks i was not impressed at that bit, because it was a bit scary! to have a sales man, selling hard

There's a town in Colorado where every citizen is REQUIRED to own a gun.

There aren't any actual numbers that I am aware of, but I strongly suspect that mine is one of the few households in Little DooDah without a gun of some sort. The gun culture in the US is firmly entrenched. I don't see that changing.

I must disclose that I am a gun owner. I have three guns. I own a family relic, a 1912 Remington .22 long rifle that has been passed down through 4 generations. It fed my father and grandfather's families with squirrel through hard times.

I also own a Thompson Contender, a breach action, single shot pistol that I use for target shooting.

I also own a 12 guage shotgun for home defence. I bought it after a rash of burglaries of our property. However, against the strongly stated advice of some of my more conservative friends, I keep mine armed with "less than lethal" ammunition, specifically a pepper spray shell, followed by a tail stabilized pellet bag. The objections I most often hear are that if I catch a burglar and shoot him, I would be better off killing him than risking a personal injury lawsuit. Yes, that has happened, but it has been greatly exagerated both in frequency and in punitive award totals. And they always omit how most such cases are overturned on appeal. Burglars rarely profit from being shot by homeowners despite the best NRA propaganda. I want to stop or scare a burglar, not end his life. My property is not that dear. I'm not in the majority opinion here in Texas.

here in merry old england the missus has 2 shotguns and a rifle, she says a "girl" (ha) needs to be prepared

Here in Ireland, most police don't carry guns and neither do most criminals. There's probably about one shooting a week in Dublin, a city of 1.5 million people, and that's mainly drug gangs fighting each other. I think that rate would compare favourably with any American city of similar size.

I sure wish there were fewer guns in the US, but I don't see a practical way of making that happen. It is a subject that evokes such strong emotions that actual reason goes out the window. People genuinely believe that asking for a ban on automatic assault rifles means they will lose their rifles and shotguns.

There already is a de-facto ban on automatic assault weapons. No automatic firearm manufactured after 1986 can be transfered to a private individual. This is part of the NFA (National Firearms Act). The market for these weapons is very small and only a handful of collectors can acquire them.

In fact, the only use of automatic weapons in crime that I can think of in the last 20 years was in 1997 in the North Hollywood bank robbery and subsequent shootout. Those firearms were completely illegally acquired or modified for automatic fire. It was a rare event, but widely publicized.

Also, rifles are rarely used in shootings in the US. The vast vast majority of crimes committed with firearms are handguns. Yet the push to ban firearms almost always focuses on rifles that are patterned on military firearms. They aren't by definition assault weapons, rarely used in crimes, and are consistently targeted for bans.

In full disclosure, I am a firearms enthusiast and collector. I own a certain number of rifles, shotguns and handguns. I oppose bans.

me too! if the missus wants a new Barrett .50 Cal semi auto rifle, she'll have to go and buy her own and the ammo too!

Marv, I know you are a collector. I don't worry about sensible folks like you having weapons. And I don't object to shotguns and hunting rifles. Never have. I was raised around hunting weapons, both firearms and bows. My dad taught me how to shoot. All my relatives own firearms. I don't have a gun probably because I was married for 32 years to a man who refused to have one in the house. Since I don't hunt and live in a very safe place, I don't feel the necessity of having one. What bothers me is all these school shootings. It is frightening and frustrating and evokes a knee jerk reaction because We can't seem to get a handle on it. And it bothers me that kids are getting access to weapons, usually belonging to a parent. But trust me, I don't want to take your guns away. I'm just frustrated and don't see the necessity of weapons designed for overkill.

The school shootings have more to do with media glorification and the dismal state of mental healthcare in this country than the availability if guns. There's a clip from Charlie Booker that explains the media problem well. I'd link to it but I'm on my mobile in a pub in Edinburgh and the clip is easy to find. It would take an Australian level of disarmament to curtail the gun violence in this country and we all know that ain't gonna happen.

I just read this article, an introspective look at "good guys with guns". Food for thought.
http://gawker.com/its-really-hard-to-be-a-good-guy-with-a-gun-1588660306

This gives me hope that we can overcome the craziness.