http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/493636.html 

As Permits to carry concealed weapons go up crime goes down. I choose to protect myself and my family. It is not the job of the police to protect me but to uphold the law.

I can name a few places with no weapons concealed or otherwise with virtually no crime at all. Perhaps it's not the guns that are the problem, but our own ease in using them.

Rather than everyone carrying a gun, why don't we attempt to solve the social problems that cause the crime. I hear it again and again...."guns don't kill people, people kill people." Well, what are we doing to stop the killing? More guns?

In Singapore you can't find a gun if you search day and night. You can also walk down the street at 2:00 am and not worry about getting raped, robbed, or murdered. The society simply doesn't act violently against each other....I wonder why. Of course, there are the occaisional ones that do, but within a week they are hanging from a rope.

There were no guns at Tiananmen square either.

"Well, what are we doing to stop the killing? More guns? "

Nope. Just more gun laws and hey ya know what. Thats not working either

"In Singapore you can't find a gun if you search day and night. You can also walk down the street at 2:00 am and not worry about getting raped, robbed, or murdered. The society simply doesn't act violently against each other....I wonder why."

Could it be that criminals are executed?

Yeah... and I can cite a study done in a Florida county where they gave CCW's to anyone who wanted them as long as they qualified (no felonies or DV).

Crime rates PLUMMETTED.

I can also cite a survey done in a prison of felons who committed crimes with guns, where they were asked if they would target a home that they knew had guns... almost all of them said - hell no.

By the way... I ain't ever going to change my mind on this.

F**CKED UP PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE, NOT GUNS.

GUNS ARE A TOOL.

LAWS ONLY AFFECT PEOPLE WHO OBEY THE LAW.

NEWSFLASH - CRIMINALS DO NOT OBEY THE LAW, THAT'S WHY WE CALL THEM CRIMINALS.

WE NEED TO ENFORCE THE LAWS WE ALREADY HAVE - STRICTLY!

Safety from crime in places like Singapore has more to do with the fact that punishment is both HARSH and PUBLIC than it does with the absence of firearms.

People are going to kill (and rape, and kidnap, and rob) each other for all kinds of reasons and they will use any weapon available UNLESS there is an effective deterrent.

PUBLIC punishment for crime usually makes people think twice about doing it. The USA has always had plenty of guns and people with criminal impulses. We're a nation founded by rebels and populated by people willing to take big risks to earn big rewards. Public hanging and flogging of criminals was usually enough to keep people's impulses in check.

....thank you camper, you understand my point I see.

It's not the guns I'm concerned about, but rather the lack of punishment and responsibility that we Americans show when given this right to own them.

I get bold-faced comments about how nobody wants to give up their guns and blah blah blah, but what I'm asking for is not the removal of them, but rather some accountability of the ones that own them.

Adroomi,

Last time I was in Singapore, there were guns all over the place - Singaporean troops with SAR-80s. Up and down main avenues and on the MTS. Kinda alarming when the govt has all the firearms.

I also saw a Muslim attack a Buddist with Balisong kriss on Scott Rd. The Buddist knew his business. He used a piece of cardboard to disarm and subdue his attacker. Over in seconds. Strange how that sticks in my mind over everything else that beautiful city offered. LOL!

"The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to posses arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by doing so." -Adolph Hitler 1938

"For the first time a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient. The world will follow our lead." --- ADOLPH HITLER - 1935. Sound familiar?!?

Fact: when 'gun control' experts call for disarmament of the citizenry, they only mean the citizenry. They do not wish to disarm everybody, just law abiding citizens. The government will have to enforce this with.......you guessed it, an armed police force.

"I can protect my home with a rifle or shotgun just as easily as with a pistol......maybe pistols should be outlawed? Somebody is going to come up and say "well, then only the bad guys would have them." Yes, for a time that would be true, but eventually they would phase out, once we started hanging people for getting caught with one." -Adroomi

Yes Adroomi, but after the outlaws ran out of handguns, they would start cutting down shotguns and rifles to make them more concealable, and then the same liberals who took away the handguns "for our own protection" would take away the source of the cut downs, and ban the shotguns and rifles!

Here's an idea! Why not hang the sumbitches who kill the father of five for the fifty dollars in his wallet, and bypass the whole gun banning issue? We could just ban CRIME! hanging has a very low recidivism rate, and the cost of a rope would be much less than keeping them locked up for ten or fifteen years and turning them loose to do it again!

last murder in Baltimore County was in a parking garage of a mall.

A teacher going to his car was gunned down by robbers with a SHOTGUN.... hummmm I guess they couldn't get a handgun permit and in this state neither could their victim

The tool doesn't deter the crime. If there are no guns around and there is criminal intent...a car, a baseball bat, a knife, slingshot, poison etc...will work just fine.

.....yes, you're right, I was wrong. The teacher should've had a licensed, concealed Tec 9 in his jacket. That would've saved his life. I think all teachers should keep concealed weapons while on the job. That will make it easier to shoot unruly students and/or get their gun stolen so the kids can just kill each other. We need more dead kids, and guns in school.

The problem is social and the problem is a complete disregard for human life. There is no fear of punishment in America, and no values system that criticizes publicly those that break the law. There is not enough money spent on protection and enforcement of the law either.

We spend 1 Billion dollars a week...I'll say that again, ONE BILLION DOLLARS a week giving people who don't want our democracy democracy. I would kiss GWB's feet if he were to spend that money on our own social issues at home. I really mean that. Raise my taxes (oops, I don't pay any), but let my children and family feel safe at home from the real terrorists, the ones that are the biggest danger.

Oooops, you don't live here and you seem to like it that way. Why would you care? It's obviously not YOUR tax dollars they're spending.

We need to enforce, STRICTLY, the laws we have. It seems we at least agree on THAT point.

it should be real simple here,

if you are not a citizen, or don't vote or dont pay taxes

YOU DONT GET TO BITCH !

ALL THE LEFT LEANING LIBERAL MUMBO-JUMBO YOU CAN SPOUT ABOUT GUNS STILL DOES NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

if more people carried them legally you would see the crime rate plummet even further, because every criminal would be afraid to accost anyone for fear of dying. yes dying you ninny.

that is the biggest motivator for the criminal to change his line of work.

Stogie,

explain to me how asking for more money spent on law enforcement and the education of folks to the tune of "crime is wrong, and you will be punished" is liberal mumbo jumbo. I see you avoided my 1 Billion a week question. You read my statement, it appeared to be anti-gun, so you spouted off in all caps without even addressing a single point I made. You then pointed a finger at me, called me liberal, and attempted to lessen my rights because of where I live and work.

Fear of dying? show me a 14 year old wannabe gang member that is afraid of dying.....just show me one. You are limiting your criminal population in your statement to middle-class, white, bandits and thieves. Gang members in the inner city ALL carry guns, yet they walk up to each other and shoot each other with no fear at all. Visit the inner city.....I best most of those folks are all carrying steel, and crime is pretty low for this, right? Oh, that's right, their carrying them "illegally" so therefore they don't count.

The issue, if you care enough delve a little deeper is not one of criminals committing crimes, it's one of criminals killing people. This is why I stress my points of no concern for the loss of human life. You will always find crime wherever you go. You can't get away from it. There are pickpockets and muggers in every corner of the world.......they just don't shoot you in the process for the sake of doing it. They steal your money and leave you there standing (instead of stealing your money and then shooting you).

You say that crime will go down with more people carrying guns. Okay, so let's say it does.......

I'm not too sure that I want to walk around in a society where the only way I can feel safe is knowing that every man, woman, and child around me is toting a pistol in their back pocket. Do I want to live and work in a society where all 30 people in my office have a gun in their desk drawer....for their own protection! Is this the only way that we can learn to be civilized? Through fear?

Guns are cool....I like them. I just don't understand why we, the greatest and most educated and powerful nation in the world use them to slowly kill each other off more than any other 3rd world war-torn nation on the planet. And the only solution I can get is..."let's all get more guns and carry them!"

By the way, I am a citizen, I do vote, and I don't pay US taxes because of my location.

i'll say it again,

you dont pay taxes you dont get to bitch about how it is spent.

it is liberal mumbo jumbo as most of your posts are clearly anti bush.

and i will type in all caps to be heard , or to make a point! DUDE!!!

As i am leaving for work, i shall limit my reply to your posts with this, you said gang members dont fear dying.

wrong, shoot one and he instantly becomes afraid of dying. the false bravado of being a gang banger makes him think he doesnt fear death. i still stand by my post, you are a ninny.

you say you like guns but want to get rid of them?

that dog dont hunt.

the first time i started reading your posts my bull**** detector went off and it still does every time i read your left leaning liberal bleeding heart drivel.