[geeks] [rescue] Guns - what are they good for? - was Re: TME and Apple II and other Drive emulator questions.

[Mike Meredith]

On Tue, 20 May 2014 15:35:31 -0400, Phil Stracchino wrote:
> However, you have to compare the correct numbers - "persons per
> 100,000 who possess firearms", not "number of firearms possessed per
> 100,000 population", which is not the same thing at all.  (Many US

I was merely pointing out that a Swiss militia member can effectively
count as a "gun owner" given that possession is 9/10ths of the law
(actually it isn't). Switzerland also has a "problem" with illegal
firearms ... under the Schengen agreement, they've agreed to enforce
laws against illegal firearms. Probably half-heartedly.

>From what I can tell, the Swiss government _likes_ having an armed
population and encourages it.

> I'm hazier about which nations were claimed to have the highest
> firearms ownership rates, but I vaguely recall both Switzerland and
> Finland being claimed to have a higher proportion of firearms owners

I'm not sure it matters that much. The key point is that the Swiss have
a high enough number of firearms available to the general population
that if they were as violent as the more violent people in the US, the
blood from the cantons would be flowing down the mountains.

> Exactly.  The US does not have a *gun* problem.  It has a *social*

I would argue that there is a problem with violence that social
problems tends to bring out.

Actually (and I've not thought this one all the way through), perhaps
the US has a problem with _individual_ violence. Europeans react to
social problems by grouping together and having a riot; whereas in the
US it's more likely to be individual actions?

> problem.  And major elements of that social problem are huge levels of
> wealth inequality and pervasive, deeply-ingrained racism, both of
> which lead to high levels of violence.

You make it sound just like Europe :)

--
Mike Meredith (http://zonky.org/)
Needless to say, this is not a good idea.
   -- The US National Hurricane Centre in part of their response to the
      suggestion that we could nuke hurricanes to stop them.