No. It still looks fast!

Seriously, that's the level of argument. :mad:

we all must drive GEO Metros now so we won't hurt ourselves or others.

How qualified are you to assess threat levels? I have had a little training. Isa, as it happens, has had a lot! Personally I prefer to have the option to carry.

Qualified? Not in the slightest.

So does this mean I should pick up some hardware from Isa when I come to Rome next May? Will I be diving to the pavement in a hailstorm of bullets in Modica? Are bulletproof vests de rigueur in Palermo now? And I thought the only thing I'd be dodging was the odd baby thrown by the thieving gypsies around the Vatican . . .

Ian

Why would you want to? you've said the only place you felt the need for a gun was Guyana. I no longer routinely carry a pistol, but I certainly want the option.

Well, I might remind you of New Orleans/Katrina.

Or how about being a shop owner during the Rodney King riots (note, the rioters frequently didn't have firearms, but broke into whatever they could to take or destroy). Or even Mr Denny himself....

Anytime that the system goes to H*ll, the thin veneer of civilization comes off.

Progressing from the movie image of the wild west, might be a shame. Think of Clint Eastwood in Bronco Billy. His belief system was certainly more honourable and honest than many we see today.
The fact that YOU don't perceive a threat does not mean it is not there. The fact that I perceive a potential threat does not mean it will manifest. If I am armed and if a threat goes live, of the two of us I am the one better equipped to deal with it, I have at least one more option than you. It's like carrying an umbrella even if it's not raining, however, once you've been in a situation when you needed to be armed and weren't, you understand and you understand how much and how little police protection is in reality worth.

The level of threat would depend if you are planning to hang out in bars frequented by drugdealers and hookers or with little old ladies in the English tea rooms. I can advise on the best protection for both if you like;)

There is a case in the news here now about a girl from Philly that went to Italy, met some guy, they lured some girl back to their room, then the guy held her down while the philly girl stabbed her in the throat. Apparently it was some sick sexual thing...the trial is going on now.

Murder can come and snag you anywhere guys. At any time, and without warning.

Isa

Both options scare me equally. :eek:

sniper

True. But as we all know you are more likely to get killed in a car accident or hit by a bus . . .

So I guess I will keep blundering around the world . . . unprotected . . . at great risk to myself . . . without a gun. And when I see an English tea room, I will run screaming in the other direction.

Ian

You are certainly more likely to die in a car wreck, but you can also still be murdered by some nut(maybe with a car, lol). The two are not mutually exclusive.

I guess it's just a choice of spoons? ;)

One of today's headlines:

3 dead, 10 wounded in Belgium day care stabbings

DENDERMONDE, Belgium – A man went on a rampage at a Belgium day care center Friday, stabbing two young children and a female worker to death and slashing 10 other children all over their bodies, officials said.

Sobbing parents rushed to the scene and to hospitals, and medical workers in the town sprung into action, performing 10 operations to save the badly wounded children.

The attack caused widespread panic in the day care center, which serves up to 30 children on a residential street in this town 20 miles (30 kilometers) northwest of Brussels.

"An act of great brutality has happened here against our weakest citizens," said mayor Buyse Piet. "The whole city is united in support for the parents who are in deep grief."

Christian Du Four, a local prosecutor, and witnesses said the man rode his bike to the Fabeltjesland day care center, entered about 10 a.m. and immediately began slashing a knife around. The dead included two children — ranging in age up to 3 — and a woman working in the day care center.

Du Four said in the mayhem that ensued the attacker simply walked out and got back on his bicycle before being arrested in a nearby supermarket shortly after the attack.

Dr. Ignace Demeyer, director of the local hospital, said 10 children arrived at his hospital with very serious stab wounds, all required surgery, and all were now in stable condition.

He said the attack was very violent and the children had multiple stab wounds all over their bodies.

Demeyer also said 21 children were at the daycare at the time of the attack, and nine were unharmed.

Du Four did not immediately identify the suspect, who was injured as police detained him and taken to a nearby hospital. Local residents told The Associated Press the suspect had a history of mental illness.

Du Four said police showed shaken parents digital photographs of the youngsters who had been taken to the hospital, asking them to identify their children.

"People are totally in shock," said Leene Du Bois, a spokeswoman for the regional government of Flanders. "Nobody would have imagined anyone could do so much harm. There is much grief."

She said the perpetrator had no connection to the day care center.

The city opened up a nearby community center to provide psychological counseling to victims and witnesses of the stabbings.

Veerle Heeren, the social welfare minister for the regional Flemish government, said she would be investigating security measures at the center.

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Safety is an illusion. Too bad one of the teachers didn't have a magnum. :-/

Really? Tripped and fell at the top of the steps again?

What a shame to hear that

OK, what do the hookers do with the spoons:)

The man is obviously insane. Throwing him off the roof might help cure him.

I'd challenge the source of that information. I haven't noticed any difference... and I do work in the field of enforcement. But knife crime among teenagers is certainly on the rise.

Personally I'm still happy to be living in a country that generally does not have a 'gun dependence'. But I guess it's all relative - it might be different if I lived in parts of Africa.

Maybe it will never happen in Australia, but England has seen an influx of immigrants who have no reservations about illegally importing firearms and who see the unarmed populace at large as easy targets.

Hi Chris,

We do have gun crime - no question. And there is the point that criminals will always get their hands on a gun if they really want one... I've seen some remarkably well made "home engineered" firearms.

I was just suggesting that I don't think gun crime per se has risen in Australia as result of strict ownership/possession conditions.

Basically the 'average' Australian doesn't own a gun, and doesn't feel insecure about being out in the big world without one. But that's a comment I can make as an Australian from here in my own country - I wouldn't presume to know how it is in other countries. I'll note that when I holidayed in the US and Britiain, I was still comfortable without a firearm.