X-Ftn-To: Bert Hyman 

"Bert Hyman"  wrote:
>> That is, unfortunately, highly unlikely. However, I am confident
>> that a country without guns available to the general population
>> would be a much safer place. 
>
>Safer for whom?

Have you ever seen a European city? 
People don't need guns because nobody else uses them. Even the
criminals often don't need them, because if you are a small thief,
you're less likely to get shot by the police if you're caught. So, the
shootouts between criminals and the police are very, very rare.
There's a very, very relaxed atmosphere. In Zagreb, there was a huge
panic when recently a mafia boss was shot in the center of the city,
and then the assassin was also shot by the bodyguard (fortunately
nobody else was hurt). There was a huge scandal because this usually
_never_ happens. People just don't shoot each other on the streets,
and the only problem are the small skinhead gangs of troublemakers,
but so far there were no major incidents because not even they carry
guns. Actually, it's a very safe place, but it became less safe here
since the war, because people got weapons, and the greatest number of
deaths was by accidental self-injury.
The American phenomenon of gangs shooting it out on the streets with
Uzis is totally unheard of in Europe. Our gangs usually just destroy
football stadiums when they go on a rampage, and this is not a small
problem, but the police manages to control them quite nicely.
But, my friend from Vancouver told me that she was completely
terrified when she visited her friend in the USA - gangs are literally
shooting each other on the streets and often the innocent bystanders
get killed. This just doesn't happen in the civilized countries,
because the weapons aren't easily accessible.

And don't you tell me that those countries are especially safe if
you're a thief with a gun, because those countries have extremely
effective SWAT teams and the season is always open on armed criminals.
If a guy has a gun, he's not safe at all, actually he's the endangered
species soon to be extinct. This is the reason why criminals in those
countries almost never carry firearms. That would put them into
unacceptable risk. So, a criminal _could_ buy a gun, it wouldn't be as
easy as in the States but can be done, at a very high price. However,
only the organized crime would actually do that, not the ordinary
street scum.

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