69% of the UK public support more gun regulations

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Then they wonder why we don't take them that seriously.

[Associate Justice PiT]

I love how the answer to every problem is always more laws.

You have an alternative solution? Let me hear it.

While I'm not really in favour of any new and restrictive law, I do admit it is probably the best option for the government to take with the hysteria, lack of rationality in public discourse (and in government), etc. I mean what are the alternatives? (First person to say "Had any of those victims had guns they wouldn't have been victims and crime would be averted" or something similiar and equally cliche... loses and has his/her clock set down to minus one million points).

     It does seem that this the fault lies with the citizenry for pushing the government to act in an irrational manner. I suppose there's not much to do other than educate the citizenry about the fact that, while tragic, gun crime is simply not much of a threat. Take this from someone who has lived in an increasingly gang-ridden neighbourhood for years & can remember maybe one non-police-perpetrated shooting.

[Associate Justice PiT]

I'm quite annoyed at the idea of making the granting of rights subject to proving a "need" to have said rights.

But no one here thinks that owning a gun is a right or has anything to do with rights. As I've argued (endlessly, I'll admit) before, gun issues are cultural issues in the clearest way that anything can be a cultural issue.

     Doesn't that underscore the sheer pointlessness of gun control? The lack of gun culture in the UK means that gun violence would be rare even without all of the laws that are put into place. On the other hand, the existence of a gun culture in the US means that gun control would have essentially no impact on the incidence of gun crime, & in fact strict control would probably lead to a surge in terrorism perpetrated by right-wing extremists.

[Associate Justice PiT]

in fact strict control would probably lead to a surge in terrorism perpetrated by right-wing extremists.

It wouldn't be "terrorism" at that point. Sorry, try again. If the government tries to remove ones God given rights it is the right of the people to do whatever necessary to sustain said right.

     I suppose the word terrorism was a poor choice, since these persons might decide to pursue more tactical goals in their operations. That said, I dislike the negative connotations of the word terrorism, since inducing fear in the enemy is a perfectly valid aspect of warfare (provided that you aren't committing war crimes in the process of doing so). Still, I suspect that you will also take issue with my use of the word "extremists".