[cpbell0033944]

It's certainly an interesting article.  I am puzzled as to how the writer can claim that some of the worst mass shootings have been European when neither of the examples given killed as many as the Virginia Tech outrage, especially as, if he wanted to prove this, he could also have mentioned Hungerford, which was equally bad.

Yet again, though, a causal relationship between firearm regulation and an increase in gun crime in the UK is being inferred, when the evidence provided by the writer is no more than circumstantial.  Yet again, the "only one gun a month in Virginia" point is used to suggest that the state takes gun crime seriously, when the fact remains that the killer perpetrated such a gross act of violence and evil as he did using what could have been A MERE TWO MONTHS' RATION.  Yet again, the fact that the UK has a higher rate of violent crime not involving firearms is being used to suggest that the disparity in crime levels between UK and US is less notable than it is, although Mr Wilson does concede that the murder rate without firearm involvement is three times higher than the UK.  This even leads Mr Wilson to admit that the US is culturally more violent than Europe.  This is exactly the point that I tried to make earlier in this thread.  I suggested that it may have to do with the way that the modern US was founded, although I'm of course using schoolboy history to take a slightly educated guess. 

Interestingly, of course, 17th-Century England underwent a civil war that was every bit as bloody and divisive as the US civil war two centuries later.  Brother fought brother in a struggle of loyalties between Crown and Parliament, yet, perhaps because the English Civil War is regarded as a tragic aberration of decency and sense, rather than as either a glorious victory or humiliating defeat, as many seem to view the US Civil War (how else to explain the popularity in the southern states of the Confederate banner rather than the Stars and Stripes?), it does not have the same effect that the US Civil War seems to still be having today.  I also wonder if the aforementioned pioneering spirit, combined with the legacy of both the Alamo and Little Bighorn are players in this.  How else can one explain the suggestion that Americans tend to be more violent than Europeans?  Might this history not have helped reinforce the "Self-reliant, self-defending US househoder" attitude that Lingster mentioned when he said that he felt safer knowing that his neighbours were gun owners?

I haven't read the newspaper articles that Mr Wilson mentions.  However, I agree that to call the for banning of mchine guns, IF THIS WAS INDEED THE MEANING OF THE ARTICLE IN QUESTION, is idiotic given that such weapons are already illegal.  Might I suggest that the call may have intended to be for the banning of semi-automatic weapons, and that language barriers or sloppy writing maybe to blame for the misunderstanding?  I also would not claim that US gun crime overall is increasing, even though, at the time, I did not know that it had actually decreased: I did not know the facts, therefore I did not make such a statement.  I do, however, find it extraordinary that Mr Wilson, as a rational, analytical academic, criticises the call to ban semi-automatic weaponry because the Virginia Tech killer did not use one.  It's like saying that a dictatorships shouldn't be called-upon to abolish execution by hanging, drawing and quartering after an entirely innocent citizen is hanged by long-drop method for a crime they demonstrably did not commit; just because hanging, drawing and quartering wasn't used in this hypothetical example does not mean that it is any less barbaric, nor that calls for it's abolition in this fictitious country are any less valid.

[cpbell0033944]

Just curious, but what's the source on that exquisite pic of Kathy Unger you're now using (Today being Friday, 04/20/07) for an avatar?   😮

Thanks!  8)

It's http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do;jsessionid=D533175B1D2C8ADA09A02F9A1DFB77AF.hydra?id=1106099&pageNo=2#bottom, and it was posted by rob000 in the thread on Ms. Unger directly beneath your marvelous contribution. 😉

[cpbell0033944]

Do you really think it's different here in the U.S.?  The homicide rate for black males in the U.S. is almost seven times that of white males, and most of those homicides occur in inner cities.  If you just look at the suburbs and rural areas, there's probably almost no difference between the homicide rates in Europe and the U.S., despite the fact that rural and suburban zones in the U.S. are probably some of the most heavily armed areas on the planet.

I never doubted that it was the same – my point (for those who may have misunderstood) was that things are no different here.

[cpbell0033944]

Wow; this is my 450th post!
Her bum looks great in those sawn-off denim shorts. 😉
I've just found-out at the following address:

http://www.romangladiatorwrestling.net/rhondajorgenson.htm

that she does wrestling, and one of the names that she wrestled in 2006 is a name that we seemed to think had disappeared: Denise Rutkowski!
Also note Mandy Blank and Lisa Bickels.

[cpbell0033944]

Brilliant!

[cpbell0033944]

😮 ;D

[cpbell0033944]

Impressive quads, thanks for posting this.

[cpbell0033944]

Well… artistically, what with colors, tones, textures, et al, it looks faboo, as always.  🙂

But the subject matter?  Uh… not to hurt your feelings, Mikazuki-chan, but… I can't tell really whether Akami's a girl or a guy.  :-[

I see what you mean, but I personally felt that the V-taper with such as narrow waist gave it away.

[cpbell0033944]

Jeniffer Reice maybe?

Yes, does look like her.

[cpbell0033944]

Thanks for the name, smithy18us!

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