Hi Peter,

I'm not Wilbur, but...

Peter Hendra wrote:
I know that this is off topic but it is very saddening to hear of yet
another mass killing in America.

I had thought of making a quip about yet another "Christian terrorist"
but the thought of the parents, siblings, grandparents and friends
unconsolable grief at this time would make it too flippant and in poor
taste.

Well, the news this morning is saying that the
shooter was a Korean foreign student. If this is
true, he may or may not have been "Christian", but
he could _not_ legally posses a firearm.

The US Federal Firearms act of 1968 states clearly:

(d) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or
otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to
any person knowing or having reasonable cause to
believe that such person:

(5) who, being an alien:
(A) is illegally or unlawfully in the
United States; or

(B) except as provided in subsection
(y)(2), has been admitted to the United States
under a nonimmigrant visa.

If you would like to take a look at our federal
gun laws, they are he

http://www.nraila.org/federalfirearms.htm#Sec.%20926

Wilbur, and those others of you who support your "constitutional right
to bear arms" consider this as an example of why you should not make
owning hand guns so easy.

It may have been easy, but it was not legal in
this case.

I could have bought any weapon during my 5 day sojourn in Florida
recently. A friendly policeman with whom I was having coffee - real
coffee - Cuban, not that brown dishwater that poses as coffee that
Americans seem to prefer, explained that after three days of making an
application I could walk out of a store with any type of weapon I
desired, even an M-16 which is standard issue to Malaysian Customs.
Why a citizen would want such a weapon is beyond me. They are not a
hunting rifle. They are an offensive, not defensive weapon for killing
people.

The policeman you spoke with was mistaken. As an
alien (non-citizen) on a non-immigrant visa
legally in the USA you are _not_ permitted to
purchase or possess a firearm, and it is illegal
for anyone to sell or give it to you. This would
have been discovered either at the check-out
counter, or during the 3-day waiting period.

Also, you could not have bought an M-16 in 5 days
even if you had been a US citizen. The M16 is a
fully automatic firearm, which falls under the
jurisdiction of the National Firearms Act (NFA).
In many states of the US, fully automatic weapons
are completely outlawed, and no one but the police
and miltary may possess them. In the few states
where it is legal to possess them, you must obtain
a federal NFA license which requires you to be
fingerprinted and get the head of your local law
enforcement agency to recommend you in writing.
After that there is a thorough background check
similar to getting a "Top Secret" clearance.

In New Zealand, it is illegal and virtually impossible for anyone to
possess a hand gun. The police do not even carry weapons. Most do not
even bother to carry their batons. They have access to them when
required as well as training in their use, but the armed offenders
squads seldom shoot to kill; they usually disable the offender by
shooting the legs. Don't think that we don't have violent crime and
robberies in God's Own, we do. It's just that the criminals generally
don't have access to handguns. If procuring one was as easy as in the
U.S., then no doubt the situation would be diferent. We also have a
law that makes it an imprisonable offence (at the worst) if a citizen
does not go to the aid of a policeman who requests it or who fails to
help if they see a policeman in trouble. Our police are also well
trained in unarmed defence.

In Mexico, on the southern boarder of the US, it
is illegal for anyone except the police and
military to possess firearms or ammunition. Yet,
they have a large amount of gun crime just like
the US. Laws do not keep criminals from doing
what they want to do. It is the criminal mindset
that they do not care what the laws are.

If you think that we could keep guns out by making
them illegal, take a look at our attempts to keep
out illegal drugs like marijuana, cocaine, heroin,
etc. These drugs are highly illegal, with
draconian penaltys just short of execution imposed
on those caught importing or dealing them (40+
year mandatory prison sentences, and confiscation
of all your possessions etc.) yet they are
everywhere, and easily obtainable.

At 16 I acquired a licence to own a rifle which I used to hunt deer,
pigs and goats in our forests. You cannot have an automatic weapon,
there is no need for this in hunting.

Agreed that fully automatic weapons like M-16s are
not needed for hunting.

Handguns are made to kill human beings, not rabbits or other species.

That is why they are good for self-protection.
Hunting is not the only, or even the primary
lawful use of firearms. There is also target
shooting, self-protection, lawful protection of
property, law enforcement, international
competition, etc.

The Virginia Tech. killer used two pistols, one a 9mm automatic. I
have one of these as part of my uniform. It usually is kept locked in
a desk drawer. My belt holster is a good place for cigarettes. After
the initial cocking, each pull of the trigger will fire a bullet and
with 15 bullets to a clip, you can shoot them all in about 15 seconds.

Why would a private citizen need a weapon like that?

In case they were caught up in a shoot-out with a
deranged criminal. (Or even a sane one ;-)

I'll not go into it here, but similar instances
have been prevented because a member of the public
was armed and shot the would-be mass murderer.
The college in question (Virginia Tech) had made
the decision to prohibit anyone except law
enforcement officers from carrying firearms on
campus. Consequently, no one but the shooter was
armed.

In Malaysia it is a capital offence to possess an unlicenced firearm.
Robbers must therefore resort to knives.

Yes, and in Japan, which also does not allow
citizens to posses handguns, most of the murders
are committed with knives or swords.

I am a loss to understand how you can be so strident in defence of
your "constituational right" to carry a firearm when you didn't even
raise a murmur at the Patriot Act which removes more of your rights
and freedoms.

That is because you don't understand our history,
and how the USA became a nation. The British
crown had imposed stringent control of all weapons
including swords, armor, and firearms before the
revolutionary struggle that led to the foundation
of the US. After the war, our founders said
"never again".

Also, there is a lot of opposition to the "patriot
act", and it will eventually overturned. Remember
that the recent 9/11 attacks were unprecedented in
this country's history. More people were killed
that day than when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
It was less than six years ago.

Frankly, I would be afraid to live in a country where any psycopath or
inadequate person could pull out a gun and "get even" with me over
some minor imagined slight, but then I have issues with those wanabe
Rambos who aim paintball guns at other humans.

Actually, Peter, you do live in such a country no
matter where you live. Just because guns are
illegal, does not mean they are not around, and
the USA does not have a monopoly on psychopaths.

Also, as far as the living in the USA, no one is
asking you to come live here. From what I've seen
there are already _too many_ people from all over
the world that want to come live here.

Besides, I've lived here for 49 years now, and I
am not afraid. I've not personally witnessed
_any_ shooting incidents where anyone was shot, or
purposely shot at. Nada, zip, none. I also do
not know anyone personally who has been wounded or
killed by any violent method including guns,
knives, beating, strangulation, etc. I've also
never been robbed at gun or knifepoint, although I
do know of a couple of friends who were robbed at
gunpoint at an ATM many years ago.

I know that this is off-topic but I wanted to express my saddness.

I'm also saddened by this event, but I see it
differently. By preventing the law abiding
students and faculty from carrying weapons
legally, Virginia Tech ensured that there would be
no one in a position to stop the shooter before
the tragedy was finished. The police only arrived
in time to help clean up the mess.

For those who think we can outlaw guns to stop
this sort of thing I'll just make three points:

1) The shooter was already doing several illegal
things anyway. What makes you think they would
not have procured a black market gun?

2) Cocaine, Methamphetamines, and Cannibis are
illegal, but they are readily available everywhere
to those who break the law.

3) By removing weapons from the general populace,
you ensure that no one but the police have the
weapons needed to stop an armed murderer. The
police cannot be everywhere, and they usually show
up only after the action is over.

Now back to boating...

Don W.