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From: preece@uicsl.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: RE: Handguns for Criminals ONLY! - (nf)
Message-ID: <2928@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 21-Sep-83 23:49:10 EDT
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.2928
Posted: Wed Sep 21 23:49:10 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 24-Sep-83 01:16:29 EDT
Lines: 55

#R:ihuxm:-56300:uicsl:4300069:000:2524
uicsl!preece    Sep 21 08:00:00 1983

	Are you two for real?     Don't even think of asking me for my guns 
	before you can assure me that no criminals have any.   Why would you
	feel safer if people guilty of murder, rape, robbery, or assault had
	guns and I did not?   If people break into my house they had better
	fear for their lives - because I would have the same fear because of
	them!
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If only criminals had guns they wouldn't haven't any particular reason to
use them, would they. They would then be less likely to carry guns when
committing crimes. They would be far less likely to shoot first.

If you shoot a housebreaker you'd better be damn sure, whether you kill
him or not, that he is at least armed. Deadly force is not legal, in most
places, unless you've got reason to believe your life is endangered. The
simple presence of a stranger in your house is not enough, in general.
I would guess (just a guess; anyone have numbers?) that most housebreakers
aren't armed.
----------
					... it sounds like you think it is
	my fault if someone breaks into my home or assaults me on the street
	and then shoots me because I fight back.
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Obviously it isn't your fault if someone assaults you. But a gun leads to
escalation of the incident. You turn a minor problem into a kill-or-be-killed
battle. If the criminal has a gun and is ready to use it, he or she has a
clear advantage in that battle. If you're in a position to get your gun
out and use it, you probably didn't need to.
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		VICTIMS DON'T COMMIT CRIMES - CRIMINALS DO.
----------
But most criminals don't have any desire to kill or harm you. They're in
in for the money. If they wanted to kill you they wouldn't give you enough
warning to let you respond. When you bring out a gun you threaten give them
a powerful reason to use whatever means they have available to protect
themselves.
----------
	I feel that anyone who enters my home without my invitation has given
	up ALL RIGHTS and FREEDOMS - our judicial system has yet to take away
	the right for a person to take whatever measures necessary to stop an
	intruder.
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Fortunately the system has in fact put very sharp limits on the actions you
can take to protect yourself and your home, mostly based on requiring you to
show that an actual threat exists, not just an intrusion.
----------
	PS.  It is "defense", as in "self-defense", while "defence" is
	something "de cat" sits on in "de alley".
----------
Actually, Webster's permits either spelling.

scott preece
pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece