BG> Keith, at 19:05 on May 29 1996, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

BG> Given that the US mandated some years ago for a reduction in shotgun
BG> magazine capacity from 5 rounds to 3, isn't the drum magazine illegal?

KR> i dont know about shotguns, they certainly legislated about automatic 
KR> pistols. i saw a program on tv about when i was in the us, all new 
KR> magazines have a set maximum capacity, i think 9 rounds. older 15 round 
KR> magazines are legal but they can't sell new ones. 

 BG> Of course, it completely slipped my mind that US gun laws are
 BG> state-based, and vary quite markedly.  For example, I have a friend in
 BG> Florida, where it is (or was) perfectly legal to carry a handgun,
 BG> provided that it is NOT concealed (in an external holster perhaps?). 
 BG> Same with that town in Texas (?) where almost everybody owns or
 BG> carries guns, and they have the lowest crime rate in the entire
 BG> mainland US (can't imagine why).  :)


i think that this is a federal law, its named after some member of the
government that was nearly assassinated (cant remember his name)

KR> for this reason, gun dealers have been offering new pistols to police 
KR> departments at a big discount if they trade their old ones in. this is just 
KR> so they can get the old large capacity magazines. 

 BG> I presume that the coppers' guns are replaced with ones with 14-shot
 BG> mags though, otherwise there'd be no point.

dont know, i dont think that that was spelt out.

KR> amazingly, the program reported that the cops were taking up the offer 
KR> enthusiastically! i'd think that the cops would be the last people to want 
KR> to see the more big magazines out on the streets.

 BG> Hard to say, but the US is weird with its elected Sheriffs and
 BG> deputies, employed city police and State Troopers, then you have the
 BG> FBI as well, all being run completely differently.  And, as has
 BG> clearly been seen in some rather unfortunate video footage, some
 BG> coppers are no better than many crims.

i have always heard it said that the  cops and the crims are basically the
same, they just chose different sides (: all the cops that i met in the
states were really nice, but the eveidence seems to be that they have a lot
of real bastards, and not a few cowboys who would rather shoot than ask.

BG> As far as I'm concerned, it is my basic human right to be able to
BG> protect myself and my family from predators, and if I need a gun for
BG> that, so be it.

KR> statistics seem to show that, if someone is going to bump you off, its most 
KR> likely to be a rellie, or friend, a gun easily to hand facilitates that.

 BG> Sure, no argument with that at all, but in my case, that's simply not
 BG> possible (although that could well change at a later stage).  :)

?

KR> i dont have any problem with people who want to go target or skeet 
KR> shooting, or feral animal hunting having the guns that they need, as long 
KR> as they are securely stored. that would stop one supply of guns, 

 BG> Dunno, I personally think it would just make them harder to steal, and
 BG> if they can knock of a painting from the Louvre, a padlocked gun-safe
 BG> isn't going to stop a determined thief for too long.

its all the percentages, leave your gun on the front lawn and there is a
100% chance that someone will steal it. leave it in the house, and the
chance falls, lock it securely and the chance falls again, keep the bolt
and ammo separately and securely, and the chance of a thief getting a
usefull weapon is pretty small.

KR> it would apear that the tassie loony stole his gun from an insecure gun 
KR> collection. of course, guns stored like that are no good for self defence, 

 BG> Yeah, it's a real Catch-22 situation, I'll admit.

KR> but then the thought of large numbers of probably very nervous citizens 
KR> having guns to hand is a frightening thought, if the senile old bugger next 
KR> door mistakes you for a prowler when you are putting the bin out for 
KR> instance.

 BG> Would you advocate the banning of cars, just because 2,000 people die
 BG> in road accidents each year?  The reality is that accidents will
 BG> always happen (but decent education should reduce them somewhat).

thats the hoary old one from the gun lobby, cars do useful work in the
community, so the level of danger that they pose is offset by their
benefits. outside the rural community, it is difficult to see what benefit
guns are, and some guns would be hard to justify outside the armed forces.

                            keith
@EOT:

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