Given the total number of MG's in the country, vs. to two crimes I don't see a need for the 86' NFA. That ban did nothing but drive up the price of MG's.

In 1995 there were over 240,000 machine guns registered with the BATF. (Zawitz, Marianne,Bureau of Justice Statistics, Guns Used in Crime [PDF].) About half are owned by civilians and the other half by police departments and other governmental agencies (Gary Kleck, Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control, Walter de Gruyter, Inc., New York, 1997.)

Since 1934, there appear to have been at least two homicides committed with legally owned automatic weapons. One was a murder committed by a law enforcement officer (as opposed to a civilian). On September 15th, 1988, a 13-year veteran of the Dayton, Ohio police department, Patrolman Roger Waller, then 32, used his fully automatic MAC-11 .380 caliber submachine gun to kill a police informant, 52-year-old Lawrence Hileman. Patrolman Waller pleaded guilty in 1990, and he and an accomplice were sentenced to 18 years in prison. The 1986 'ban' on sales of new machine guns does not apply to purchases by law enforcement or government agencies.

http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcfullau.html

Why is it that so many Americans speak of access to firearms as if it were some sort of extension of a 'natural' right...I dont see all these freaks breaking loose to buy a shovel or a spade, that they might dig a garden and grow a crop... (of course, that would be work, wouldnt it, and it doesnt go bang or kill anything...)

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"A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened."

Self-defence is a natural right.

And are guns a prerequisite to self-defense?

__________________
It's the difference between suicide and slow capitulation... - Jim Morrison

Yes, just about any weapon is.

I have had to defend myself several times and never once used a weapon of any kind. And I am far from the only one...

__________________
It's the difference between suicide and slow capitulation... - Jim Morrison

I will agree that self-defense is a natural right, but there is a point where making weapons available to people does more bad than good.

We appreciate Wolverine repeating that there have only been two murders with "legally owned" machine guns. But crime extents beyond just "legally owned" machine guns and we should not be blinded by his attempt to marginalize gun crime.

In the US there 800 burglaries for every 100,000 people per year. If there are 120,000 civilians with machine guns in their homes, then the potential exists for 960 machine guns being stolen. Most thiefs would be interested in obtaining a machine gun, its fascinating to see some Americans make them available in their homes. And I highly doubt a stolen machine gun will be used in some peaceful and pointless activity like the Knob Creek shoot.

In Canada there is a handgun ban and machine gun ban and I have never heard a complaint about someone feeling less safe because they can't carry one around or have one in their home.

Criminals would love to see the handgun or machine gun ban lifted. As a result criminals would beable to borrow handguns or machine guns from their friends or steal them out of homes and cars. Next thing you know murders, assualts and gang activity will skyrocket to levels as seen in the US.

The US also has created a large black market for various guns. Since criminals seem to beable to acquire any gun as desired in the US, they often send them off the other countries such as Canada for use in criminal activity.

I think we can all agree the US approach to gun control is a complete disgrace and that a change is needed. In Canada, we have a few gun murders over the summer and gun control is an election issue. In the US, there are more gun murders in some cities than there are in all of Canada and gun control not a focus. Begs the question of whether Americans have a grasp on reality.

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"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. " — John Stuart Mill

...occurred from a National Guard Armory.

According to typical do-gooder pretzel logic, I guess we'd need to disarm the military.

It's a non-issue. As I've said before, it's like wanting to ban certain high-end exotic cars that go 200mph+... because ONE might be stolen and used to street race and kill someone. Now that actually happens from time to time. But you'd stand a better chance of stealing a collection of diamonds than securing an actual machine gun from a private collection. The thief that has enough skill to break into a gun safe wouldn't want to be caught with a machine gun... or any gun, for that matter. It's not their market. The average crackhead couldn't figure out how to turn the knob or punch the keycode on most safes.

Again, this is a lot of whining from the uninformed.

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"Tweeter was a Boyscout before she went to Vietnam and found out the hard way... nobody gives a d@mn."

And I doubt that everyone has the opprotunity to defend themselves without a weapon.

WildBore
Do you have anything to back this up with?
Guns and Crime Prevention
http://www.gunfacts.info/pdfs/gun-fa...4-0-Screen.pdf

Point is, two deaths since 1934 isn't a reason to ban them via the 86 NFA.

More people die from drowning than have been killed with a legal MG.

[i]Potential[/i[ being the key word, it hasn't happened yet. Who knows, maybe it is because an MG owner won't leave $10,000 gun on the dinning room table.
"Assult weapons" are far more common than MG's, it would seem that crminals would get those if buying an illegal MG was too expensive. But hey, they don't.
Myth: Assault weapons are favored by criminals
Fact: Only 8% of criminals use anything that is classified (even incorrectly) as an
assault weapon13, though fewer than 1% claimed to use these firearms when
committing crimes.14
Fact: Criminals are as likely to carry single shot (derringer) handguns than they are to
carry assault weapons.15

Assault Weapons
http://www.gunfacts.info/pdfs/gun-fa...4-0-Screen.pdf
So whats the stats for stealing MG's Wild Bore?

You doubt, you assume, but you are unable to present any facts whet so ever to speak of.

http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/shared...sNav=nr&id=570

Yeah right, they have no problem getting guns now.
http://www.nraila.org/Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?ID=117

Weird how ScottLand is one of the most violent countries in the world isn't it?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4257966.stm

Oh yes, blame the Yanks for your mistakes.

Ever read the Constitution? Did you know that gun control is uncostitutional?

It begs the question whether or not Canadians are willing to give up thier rights to self-defnece for a false sense of security.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_ass_percap
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur_percap
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/...wit_fir_percap
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_dru_off
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_adu_pro_percap

__________________
It's the difference between suicide and slow capitulation... - Jim Morrison