Yes. Bazooka target shooting would be a lot of fun if done safely. There's nothing evil or "bad" in a mechanical device. ANYTHING can be used for either good or evil. A car, an airplane, a screwdriver, hands, a 2x4, morphine, electicity, fire, trust, water, nuclear fission, sound, sexuality, etc.. To blame an evil on something that can't think, like a gun, I imagine comes from the habit of displacement (to attempt to deny ones own guilt by attempting to project it onto others). But in order to be successeful in that illusion you have to have someone that is willing to accept the guilt, a victim, or in this case, an object
"can we all just get along?...please?" ....................Rodney King ...right after police beat his brains in with those inanimate objects or tools
Surely, you are not implying Cops shouldn't carry those inanimate objects??? I agree with Rigel......in the above case it was Bad Cops doing Bad things,,,not their billy-sticks.....
jbtrader - Japan - It's because the Yakuza don't tolerate all the pea brain criminals and ganstas screwing up their action that are allowed to continue breathing in the US Seriously, there's clearly a cultural difference (not sure it's what you noted as much as a thousand years of isolation still ingrained in their culture even now). However, crime stats in Japan are also not reported the same as in the US and I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock in their being a fully accurate portrayal. Switzerland is an interesting situation - no doubt part of it is long term cultural factors and another part is they don't have revolving doors on their prisons like we do in the US. Might also be worth noting that most of the highest crime zones in the US also have the toughest local gun control laws - could that mean that since only the criminals have guns, they feel confident that their victims are unarmed? Also worth noting that in the heart of the golden triangle, Singapore has virtually no drug issues - they just simply execute anyone involved in drug dealing. Same with anyone caught commiting armed robbery or similar capital crime. Except for the occassional big shot bust, we usually turn the local dealers, gangs, etc. back out in short order to keep dealing. There's a whole lot more to solving the real underlying issues than the sophmoric oversimplification that the crux of all problems is that average citizens are allowed to own guns. But then, the politicians, judges, etc. would have to actually get off their dead butts (typically where they also have their heads) and take meaningful and material actions instead of spouting supercillious slogans (on both sides of the debate) and hoping to do just enough to keep their phony baloney jobs long enough for them to pile up a bunch of kick backs and payola and then retire on their unearned fat retirement checks. Gee, does that sound overly jaded about the crooks and goons in Washington?
Deterence won't solve all crime. If you're a drug addict looking for money to get your weekly fix, are you going to worry about someone having a concealed weapon on them if you try to rob them? Hardly. All you'd care about is your drug money. We need massive change in the criminal justice system, in our sentencing laws, in drug laws, etc to help lower crime.
Now if I as a bad guy, and thought that everyone had a gun, I'd sneak up behind you, blow your brains out, and then take your wallet. Seems to me if everyone was armed it would cause the bad guys to shoot more often...but what do I know, I'm not a bad guy.
I'll tell you how to get rid of about 80% of the crime in this country. Make concealed weapons permits easy to get (not for felons), and make drugs legal. Problem solved. Think about it. Drugs are as cheap as a pack of gum so there's no profit motive. No robberies, burglaries, dealing. The load on the police and the courts would drop by about 50%. Gangs would "mellow out". Women could not be hooked into prostituion by an expensive drug habit. If they wanted some they could just go to the corner store and buy it for $1-$2. Maybe 1 in 30 people on the street would be packing but the law would require they be concealed so there would be no thought about them. Just another item like a wallet or a keychain. The bad guys would never know who had one and who didn't. "Maybe even granny over there has one.". Things generally would get a lot safer and more peaceful IMO. And I imagine people would become a little politer too. Personally, I carried one on and off for about 5 years (evening walks, hiking, etc) and it was no big deal at all.
deterrence, especially legislative deterrence, plays a MASSIVE role in reducing crime. in fact, i'd call it the single most effective tool in lowering crime u can get... of course it's not going to "solve" ALL crime, but who in their right mind would even aim to attempt that...