Gun law is a very touchy subject in the US and many a politician has risen or fallen based on his or her stance on it.

During our brief stay in Florida, a law was passed which allowed you to shoot any person (on your property) whom you PERCEIVED to be a threat, with no consequences, no possibility of prosecution, and no questions asked. On the very first day after the law was passed, a Black motorist left his disabled car and walked up to a nearby house in a predominately White neighborhood, to ask if he could use a phone to call AAA (as reported by his passenger/wife). The homeowner came to the door with a shotgun and shot him dead before he could even speak one word. He later claimed he perceived the man as a threat (although the man was well groomed and in a suit and tie) and was never charged.

Here in Georgia, a new extension of the gun law that would allow guns to be carried openly in bars, churches, college campuses, and even up to the boarding areas at airports, has already passed the house and is expected to become law in the next few days. Guns in bars? Gosh, what could go wrong there. Better wrap that Tyros in some Kevlar. You never know when one of those nursing home residents will whip out a muzzle-loader and open up if they don't like what you're playing . A few of you need to be extra careful . JMO.

chas

Danny - sorry about your neighbor, and I understand your fears ...

That FL gun law is ridiculous, and chas your story is so tragic, I could only WISH that it didn't happen that way ... the reverse to that is situations where if a person is on your property for the intent of burglarizing your home, and they get injured stepping into a deep hole or something, they can sue YOU for not taking care of a potentially dangerous condition ...

Our home was burglarized, and based on the circumstances and the condition of the house when we walked in, we think they were still in the house when we arrived home ...
I can tell you it is a very bad feeling when it happens ... the feeling of having been violated and the fear of it happening again ... of course the alarm system was put in the following week ... and put into the current house as it was being built ...
But alarms aren't always the answer either ... our next door neighbor has an alarm ... they were away for a while and apparently what happened was the thieves parked a service van on the street blocking the view of the telephone/electrical power box and disconnected the phone lines to the house which disabled the alarm ...

I don't think guns are the answer either ... there have been too many tragic stories about little children getting hold of the weapon and injuring or even killing themselves ...
I only wish I had the answer ...

t.

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 03-27-2010).]

The most effective alarm systems I've seen are those that not only dial the telephone, but in addition, they turn on house lights and sound a loud audible alarm, both indoors and outdoors. The only drawback with these is if they go off inadvertently and there's no one at home to shut it down, it will drive the neighbors crazy until you come home and turn it off using the keypad code.

As for the guns, I've lived in towns where everyone had one, and their crime rate was lower than any city that does not allow them. Washington, DC is a good example--no guns allowed, murder rate off the charts, one of the highest crime rates in the nation.

Cheers,

Gary

For what its worth, a gun is not the answer unless you want to be on this following chart.

It is best to deter and not having to resort in guns to resolve a situation like this.

No matter what your target practice scores are, when andrenaline pumps through your veins, your aim will be sh#t. So a gun is not a solution.

That gun law that was mentioned, IMHO reflects the complete absense of grey matter for both the legislator and the people who voted "yes" for him.

Here in Norway there's now a lot of burglary, robbery and stealing
done by people coming into this country from i.e. Romania.
They're everywhere, begging on the streets, stealing in shops, in
private houses, at the local marinas around stealing outboard motors
and so on.
They even stop cars on the road when fake engine trouble or empty fuel
tanks, and when somebody stop to help, they does robbery and steal the
cars.
And if that's not enough, they try tell people they're from Poland,
and that way try to make us think it's our hard working guest workers
that mostly does a great work who are to blame.
Guns is not enough, cut off the heads where the hips begin, and feed
the sharks with the dead meat!
Nope, not a chanche in this country, this is a paradise for criminals
swindlers and thiefs.
If we harm a buglar, we're the ones going to jail and have to pay big
compensation because we scared the poor devil!
Shame on us!


Sorry, not arranger topic, but I had to let it out.....

GJ

I once worked with a man 40 plus years ago, his thoughts on killing were interesting. "We all have the ability to kill another very easily." He went on to say " we have to be angry enough and have a weapon ( he was referring to a gun). Given that situation where the 2 factors come together it could easily happen to any of us despite the fact we here are NOT killers at heart. Guns do not scare me, but I don't want to own one in part because of the above reason.

Not sure Tony Mads remembers the story of local Coventry RI resident who shot to death his estranged wife and then turned the gun on himself. He was a long time friend who was at one time just a regular guy who worked hard, made a lot of money in real estate then cheated on his wife with the wrong woman, then married her. It was the second marriage that was a mistake. Bad went to worse, this guy got leukemia she divorced him and he flipped out. Problem was he owned guns and he decided to use them. In 1974 when I met this guy who became my tennis partner and close friend I would have bet he would be the last person in the world to have committed such a reprehensible act.


Gunar, then you have the scum bags that your country is dealing with. It's unfortunate that the innocent citizens are paying a price.




[This message has been edited by Stephenm52 (edited 03-27-2010).]

Gary ... our alarm doesn't turn on the lights, but otherwise works that way... when it goes off it dials the central office of the alarm company, and they try to contact us ... if they can't get us or one of our family members they dispatch the police ... once the police get to the house the central office can turn off the alarm ... the alarm has gone off on a couple of occasions and the police response time has been great ...

Steve ... if I'm not mistaken that happened around the time I was playing at Barbara's Restaurant in Coventry ...

t.



[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 03-27-2010).]

Take a look at that gun chart again. Forget third world countries. Look at the figures for the USA, and then look at the UK figures. Are the English really THAT nice? I don't remember it being that way!

But the USA has virtually FORTY times the murder rate. And England has exactly the same problems vis a vis drugs, a permanent underclass, high immigration (legal and otherwise), economic collapse and permanent poverty of a portion of the people there.

How come THEY can settle their differences without a gun?

Oh yeah, that's right... we are all stiff upper lips, jolly good show, anyone for tennis types aren't we?

Bollocks we are, mate...

Oh... and that's an interesting comparison between the Wiki figures and the UNODC figures, isn't it?

Either there's a LOT of 'unintentional' murders going on in the States, or those are some pretty half baked assumptions by the Wiki site!

Let's see... if I HATE Tony, because of the Audya fixation and hijacking of SZ, and go there and shoot and kill him, them that's INTENTIONAL. But if I just break into his house randomly, and he gets in the way and I shoot and kill him, that's UNINTENTIONAL?

That's about the only way THOSE figures make any sense whatsoever...