painman66 -> RE: britain wants guns back (1/22/2009 6:40:20 PM)
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Believe me, I speak for the majority in the UK, when I say that Britain really does not want to go back to guns (or, the feudal system, speaking lating, bear bating, or World War One). There seems to be a general (though not universal) spilt in opinions here. The vast majority in the UK have no interest in guns (and indeed do not want them around), and most Americans seem to think everyone should have them. I wonder if the origin of this lies in the type of nations we are. In the UK, we have been here for hundreds of years, and for most of that time have only needed to defend our borders. For that reason we only need weapons pointing outwards at would be invaders, not inwards at each other. The US was a country founded in a battle between the Native Americans and the European Immmigrants. So was born in as a 'frontier', a mentality that perhaps still exists to a degree. One of the main things that puts us of the idea guns in the UK, is seeing what happens in America. Ultimately the British don't want more weapons, anything can be used to cause harm, but a lunatic armed with a fruit knife (range: 18 inches) can do less harm and is easier to overpower than one with a gun (range: yards). The UK will never go back to guns, and the Americans will probably never let go of theirs. Ultimately it's only really important to the parents of the kids killed in the regular classroom massacres in America. If that is the price America wishes to pay for hanging onto guns, then that is their choice. I find it sad, but I don't see this thread (or any other) changing opinions on either side of the Atlantic.
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