>Houston
>
>>>Which bit of the following is confusing you "so that the incidence is reduced (since it is impossible to guarantee that it will never happen again)".<<
>
>I don't agree with your assumption that reducing options for all of us will somehow "reduce incidence". It just shifts the mechanism to things like fire or poisoning for people who want to cause harm. You need to alter human nature if you really want to reduce incidence IMHO.
>
>JR

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Are you saying that the removal of weapons per se from society will not "reduce incidence" at all i.e. absolute zero? Or are you saying that the reduction (if any) would be too small to measure? If the latter, then I guess we will only have to wait another few years (I'm guessing three at most) for the answer. In the U.K. we have had only two gun related atrocities in the fifteen years (where atrocity means multiple killings of people totally unrelated to the killer - and not a couple of deaths caused by drug gangs fighting over turf). These were Dunblane in 96 (link to Lord Cullens report) and Hungerford in 87 (link to a condensed report by the Chief Constable of the Thames Valley Police Force). These were both individuals who legally held licensed guns. You seem to be arguing that the removal of these legally held guns would have made no difference - perhaps your understanding of "cause and effect" is far superior to mine, on the other hand, perhaps you are insane.

To argue that the removal of guns will not have any impact because the modus operandi will move to other methods (e.g. poison or fire) is almost farcical - even a sword wielding maniac is likely to do considerably less damage than an individual shooting a gun. If you had to choose between being attacked by someone carrying a gun, knife, poison, or a box of matches, which do you choose?

Some people appear to have become desperate in their attempt to build statistics that support their opinions. One Pro Gun enthusiast is using air powered weapon incidents and accidents to support their arguments. E.g.:
Jan 8 2000 - A man has died after being shot accidentally whilst game shooting in Essex
Jan 18 2000 - Upto 8 people are believed to have been injured during a series of shootings by air weapons from a car. Follow the link "Take a look at the numbers of shootings and killings on our streets today".