[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by worth

Well, the thing is someone who carrys a weapon legally isn't affecting anyones safety.

Speculative, but this was not what I said. I specifically said that the presence of concealed handguns is an infringement upon my right to feel safe in public. If I have no idea where the immanent danger is, my right to safety is erased, and my need to carry a concealed weapon escalates through a perception that mortal danger exists where it once did not.

Originally Posted by worth

They are only authorized to use that weapon in a life or death situation.

Who determines what constitutes a "life or death situation"?

Originally Posted by worth

If someone is going to pull out their concealed weapon and just start shooting random people, I don't think thats the carry law. As stated before, people who do those sorts of things are going to do them one way or another.

Ironically, these are not the people I am afraid of. I am more afraid of being shot accidently, caught in a firefight, a ricochet, or in any one of the hundreds of scenarios through which the very presence of a concealed handgun in a public place can cause collateral harm.

Originally Posted by worth

In britain, as I showed earlier, it is very difficult to get a gun. Much harder than canada. Semi automatic guns are not allowed. Pistols are non existant. Yet crime is sky high. If someone doesn't have a gun, their just going to use the next best thing. If someone is going to kill another person, their going to do it whether they have a gun knife bat or anything else.

I never suggested that tough gunlaws reduce crime, but "crime" is a pretty broad designation for a wide spectrum of offenses ranging from petty theft to mass murder. I would argue that the presence of concealed handguns will certainly increase death. This is sufficient enough of a reason for my vociferous opposition.

Originally Posted by worth

I personally believe it is the right of every sane individual to be allowed to possess weapons in their own home.

What constitutes "sane"? What were the results of your last psychoanalytic evaluation?

Originally Posted by worth

It is the responsibility of each individual to appropriatley defend themselves if they have to.

Who determines what constitutes an "appropriate" measure of defense? As someone who has never once felt the need to defend himself with a handgun (you should know that I have travelled widely through the US, the UK, and have spent time in Israel, which is one damn, scary place), I feel that I can adequately defend myself from harm without the need of a handgun. Furthermore, I feel that in the absence of concealed weapons, I am in significantly less danger. I feel much safer in the UK and in Canada than in the US; why would that be, do you suppose?

Originally Posted by worth

Sometimes, people can't wait 7 minutes for the police to show up. If people took it upon themselves to educate themselves and use that knowledge, then maybe crime would decrease.

Too often, someone is accidently killed by a handgun. Furthermore, I would argue that if public venues were suddenly littered with concealed weapons, death would increase.

Originally Posted by worth

I think this is a matter of general freedoms. I served in the military, I have never been arrested, and I have no reason for anyone to suspect anything bad about me. So why should a perfectly law abiding citizen like myself be told what I can and cannot purchase.

But this is not the issue. You can buy whatever the hell you want for all I care. What I have a problem with is you concealing a weapon in a public place that could kill me at a distance of more than 100 feet. I am not opposed to gun ownership, but this is fundamentally different that the right to conceal a lethal weapon.

Originally Posted by worth

I realize there are safety issues with guns, but ther real issue here is illegal guns.

Then how does you right to conceal a weapon help to solve the problem of "illegal guns"? How, exactly, will your right to conceal a weapon aide in reducing crime committed with "illegal handguns"?