It is really hard to follow what you are trying to say, B. Your inferences are cryptic and implied. There are some things you should think about however. Home invasions in and around large cities and their suburbs are on the rise. Certainly you yourself may choose to lie down and play dead, if this happens to you, but not everyone else shares your passivity. The UK actually has a higher crime rate than the USA, even though they have very few firearms in the hands of their civilians there. The last time that guns were called upon to ensure freedoms in the USA was the American Civil War. And before that it was the American Revolutionary War. That has not happened in awhile. But it is logically inept to assume that just because something has not happened in awhile it cannot happen again.
Okay - to your first point about the home invasions - yes they are on the rise but crims are LAZY. They will not go breaking into a house with people in it unless there is a reason to do so. A reasonable proportion of "home invasions" turn out to be drug related - not junkies looking for drugs but crims attacking crims looking for the proceeds of crime. And the fewer guns there are the harder it is for the young, inexperienced crim to GET one. We are far less likely to have to face an armed criminal than you are simply because there are fewer guns around That does not mean it does not happen http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-07-03/robbers-run-from-fruit-throwing-shop-owner/890372 The vast majority of armed robberies are commercial premises The vast majority of unarmed robberies are homes At least those are the stats HERE http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/A/4/F/{A4FCDFBC-4C55-43B3-A306-7F911885AC8D}RPP38.pdf page 21 is the graph showing firearms versus other weaponry - and remember that in Australia "armed robbery" includes using a syringe with a needle as a weapon
It's correct. If you want to live in a society that is relatively benign when it comes to crime then Australia is one choice. Yes we've got "restrictive" gun control laws but they're reasonably balanced. No, the average householder would not dream of getting a firearm for self-protection, there's simply no real need. Bower is right on the money with home invasions. They are targeted. Gangs go around at night and sniff the air, they can smell dope and will home in on a house that has a strong smell of marijuana and will plan their raid on it. Growing dope has been outsourced by organised crime and it's good money for a householder with a small risk of apprehension or home invasion and in any case the penalties for first offences, even for commercial cultivation, are not severe. It would be good to have a reasonable discussion which was reality-based about crime in Australia and about our firearms laws. Some of the hyperbole I read here is a bit over the top so I suppose that hope is a bit forlorn.
Again, that is there. I cannot agree more that your reality is much different than ours. What works there will not work here. We are so totally two different cultures. I will not say yours is wrong, because your culture requires total trust of it's subjects. In other words, it is right because it works acceptably with your fellow countrymen. Australia's population is roughly 22 million. America's population is roughly 330 million. The diverse cultures in America are innumerable. Our legal and political systems are rife with corruption. The government has isolated itself from the people they are sworn to serve. The servers have become the self-serving. The police force has become its own institute for justice. Corporations rule America. Although they now appear to be abandoning ship. That might be an indicator. We are so ripe for collapse. So, I have a choice. I can be prepared in the event that social services break down. Provide food and defense or I can be caught with my pants down. If I am wrong, I've lost nothing. If I am right............
