RW> safer?  The British example is just the 'final
 RW> solution' to the safety question.  If people can't have
 RW> handguns (or other types of guns) then they can't hurt
 RW> anyone therefore we are all safe.
DS> The ban in Britain was on handguns only. 
Really?  You mean you can own magazine feed
semiautomatic rifles, such as the AR15, in Britain?  Or
shotguns that will hold more then five rounds?  Hum, my
information must be wrong, I'll have to check it out.
But you missed the point.  The British ban started out
as nothing more then registration to make it easier for
the government to trace the weapons used in crimes back
to their owners.  It went from there to the ban. 
Look at what has happened in Canada and tell me that
you don't see the same thing happening.  I predict in
less then 10 years, more likely less then 5, you will
have to turn in your handguns just like all the British
subject that followed all the rules.
 RW> That is until the criminals realize that they have a
 RW> wide open field (e.g. Washington, DC).
DS> As if the prohibition in DC is enforceable with free and
DS> open borders.  
And you think the borders of any free country are?  If
so then how do you explain how large amounts of illegal
drugs enter?  I'd think it'd be much easier to smuggle
firearms because I don't think a dog can tell the
difference from the metal in a firearm from the metal
in hand tools.
 RW> foreign government decides to attack and they don't
 RW> have enough small arms to supply the necessary number
 RW> of people nor the industrial base to make said small
 RW> arms (e.g. Briton during the early years of WWII).
DS> That's an interesting example, but inappropriate. It
DS> predates the current ban, though handguns were never popular
No, quite appropriate.  In the early days of the war
the British were sending people here to buy any and all
weapons possible from private citizens; rifles,
shotguns and handguns.
DS> there. According to the information I have, England was not
DS> invaded. The Battle of Britain was an air assault on the
DS> nation that was held of by the RAF. When I wasted my time in
Never said invaded I said attacked.  Also the only
reason England wasn't invaded was because of tactical
error on Hitler's part.
1) He allowed the British to evacuate Dunkirk.  At that
time he had total air superiority and yet did not order
the beaches nor ships attacked by air.
2) He order the Luftwaffe to bomb English cities
instead of the air fields and radar sites.
3) He thought the British were through and did
something he said he never would, he started a fighting
a two front war.
Most military historians agree if Hitler had crossed
the channel just after Dunkirk England would have fell.
No matter what Churchill said.
DS> this discussion in the past, I suggested that handguns are
DS> next to useless as a defense weapon against a heavily armed
DS> aggressor. Pistols don't hold off aircraft and armour.
You are wrong there.  Armor and aircraft can not hold
ground.  You have to have troops on the ground. 
As for handguns being useless as a defensive weapon
against a heavily armed aggressor I point out to you
times where small arms have caused a much larger and
better armed force to commit large number of troops;
France (WWII), Finland (WWII), Vietnam, Angola,
Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Afghanistan.
Also if the handgun is useless why were thousands air
dropped to the French during WWII?  Because a handgun
can be used to obtain a better weapon and to hit
unarmed supporters.
 
 RW> Or the government collapses and its every man, woman and
 RW> child for himself (e.g. the former Yugoslavia).
DS> Now there is a great example of arming the populace. A
DS> variety of different interest groups arm themselves and set
DS> off to push their own agenda through violence.
Wrong again.  The populace was not and is not armed.
Only the people the leaders want are armed.  A private
citizen caught with a weapon winds up dead.  You can't
round up several dozen (hundred?) people and shoot them
down if they are armed.
                      Remember:  Freedom isn't Free!
--- timEd-B11
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