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From: brian@sequent.UUCP (Brian Godfrey)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Firearms ownership (in the UK)
Message-ID: <1990@sequent.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 24-Jul-86 13:46:40 EDT
Article-I.D.: sequent.1990
Posted: Thu Jul 24 13:46:40 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 27-Jul-86 01:53:17 EDT
Reply-To: brian@sequent.UUCP (Brian Godfrey)
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems Inc, Portland, OR
Lines: 34

>Personally speaking, if I ever find myself having to confront
>a burglar, I'd rather that neither of us were armed. Even if I
>came off worse, I think I'd regard my property of being of less
>importance than my life.

   I certainly wouldn't want to shoot a burglar in my house. Think of the mess!
Blood and such splattered all over everything and soaked into the carpet. Just
cleaning up after it would probably cost more than anything they could steal
from me. But the rub lies not in what value the stolen goods have, but rather
in that NOBODY violates my space. Home = castle and all that rot. 
   So how to you stop him without shooting him? Greet him with a gun whose
barrel is bigger around than his eyeballs can get when he sees it. We're
talking .44 magnum or 12 gauge shotgun here. He'll probably be very 
co-operative and sit quietly waiting for the sheriff to arrive. 
   Neither of those guns is a "weapon" in the sense that they were designed
for killing humans. Both were designed as hunting arms. The .44 is totally
impractical as a self defense weapon (Dirty Harry to the contrary) as it is
big, unwieldy, kicks *hard* and only shoots one shot at a time. But it has
a big hole in the barrel and I think that would impress someone standing in
front of it. The 12 gauge is even bigger (a lot bigger) and, as everyone
knows, is mainly intended for shooting birds. Mine has never killed anything
that wasn't made out of clay. 
   These are the kind of guns that most of us "armed" Americans possess. 
Sporting guns, not self defense guns. Shooting can actually be an enjoyable 
sport without killing - or even thinking about killing - anything. I suppose 
that is difficult for Europeans to understand due to their high population 
density, but here in North America there is plenty of room for legitimate 
shooting sports. Few Americans really select a gun for its self defense 
potential. Never-the-less when you hear someone breaking into your house, 
you grab what you've got. And what I've got is big. 
   
--Brian

(PS - the .44 is for sale, incl reloading gear.)