Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm quite glad we don't have the same gun culture as the USA though. Take a look at this list of countries and their rate of gun deaths per 100,000 people. The ratio of US to UK is 41:1.

Of course, if a policeman has a gun, he can indeed shoot a criminal instead of having to wrestle with him like this. However, in a society where gun ownership is so common, and so easy, that means a lot of idiots and lunatics with guns. It means that many situations which would have merely been a bit dangerous suddenly have the potential to be fatal. So, rather than just being knocked unconscious with a baseball bat, you're shot and killed?

Even with the situation here in the UK a few years ago when a lunatic went on a rampage with a gun, people were saying things like, "Any member of the public with a gun would have been able to take him out". The problem with that approach is that it's easy to make a mistake, to shoot the wrong guy. And if you are a good guy with a gun trying to take out a bad guy with a gun, what if another good guy with a gun mistakes you for a BAD guy with a gun and shoots you, then someone shoots him, and suddenly everyone's shooting each other. Where does it end? If your method of deciding who's the bad guy is "man shooting people = bad man", then it's easy for anyone, in the heat of the moment, to mistake a good guy for a bad guy, because the good guys are shooting people too. So how do you decide who are the bad guys? The ones with moustaches? The ones wearing red T-shirts? The ones that are swearing?

Really, the logic just doesn't hold up. It's basically saying that the solution to getting rid of murder is the capacity to murder the murderers. The way towards peace is war? Nonsense. It's like saying the way to get rid of rapists is to rape them. More rapists means fewer rapists? How does that work?

Or if you're in South Africa, the solution to girlfriends who hide in bathrooms is to shoot them 4 times to make absolutely ...

Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm quite glad we don't have the same gun culture as the USA though. Take a look at this list of countries and their rate of gun deaths per 100,000 people. The ratio of US to UK is 41:1.

Of course, if a policeman has a gun, he can indeed shoot a criminal instead of having to wrestle with him like this. However, in a society where gun ownership is so common, and so easy, that means a lot of idiots and lunatics with guns. It means that many situations which would have merely been a bit dangerous suddenly have the potential to be fatal. So, rather than just being knocked unconscious with a baseball bat, you're shot and killed?

Even with the situation here in the UK a few years ago when a lunatic went on a rampage with a gun, people were saying things like, "Any member of the public with a gun would have been able to take him out". The problem with that approach is that it's easy to make a mistake, to shoot the wrong guy. And if you are a good guy with a gun trying to take out a bad guy with a gun, what if another good guy with a gun mistakes you for a BAD guy with a gun and shoots you, then someone shoots him, and suddenly everyone's shooting each other. Where does it end? If your method of deciding who's the bad guy is "man shooting people = bad man", then it's easy for anyone, in the heat of the moment, to mistake a good guy for a bad guy, because the good guys are shooting people too. So how do you decide who are the bad guys? The ones with moustaches? The ones wearing red T-shirts? The ones that are swearing?

Really, the logic just doesn't hold up. It's basically saying that the solution to getting rid of murder is the capacity to murder the murderers. The way towards peace is war? Nonsense. It's like saying the way to get rid of rapists is to rape them. More rapists means fewer rapists? How does that work?

Or if you're in South Africa, the solution to girlfriends who hide in bathrooms is to shoot them 4 times to make absolutely sure they are dead. It serves them right for hiding in there pretending to be a burglar, doesn't it? Surely it's her own fault isn't it? (hint: yes I am being sarcastic) Of course, if he hadn't had a gun, maybe he would have stabbed or strangled her anyway, so what the hell do I know...