Stuart Gowans – “Anything wielded in anger can be seen as an offensive weapon, regardless of its original purpose.” I which case we are in agreement, because that was the point I was trying to make in response to yours. In the wrong hands there are dozens of implements and tools which can cause serious injury or death.

But that is no argument for banning them.

You need to look at gun ownership as a priviledge rather than a right, because we are all very close to losing our priviledges; cars are made for transport, baseball bats for sport, kitchen knives for preparing food..guns are made to kill.

Unfortunately your comparisons are unhelpful because each of the items you mention, and man y others, has the power to kill in the wrong hands. Guns are made to shoot ammunition. That ammunition might be directed at an inanimate target, a flying piece of clay or an animal for sport. It might also, in the wrong hands, be used to kill another human being, in peacetime. They are not specifically and solely made to kill.

:D:D Thanks – nice to be back.:)

Back to the real world after a wonderful five day break in the hot sun with all the family.

Some say, its sound is based on the noises a Scotsman makes when he is forced to open his wallet…! :D:diablo:

Surely it is the aforementioned haggis wrapped in tartan, with a tube and pipes attached, and forced to f**t.

This thread, indeed any thread on the Israel/Arab relationship makes depressing reading. Deep seated animosity and intransigence on both sides are reflected in some of the posts here. And it has been going on for over 60 years and is probably as intractable as Kashmir.:(

Lord Jim

“Just as high a priority for the axe should be the scores of senior officers who make the Armed Forces so top heavy. Senior Officers retire on a pension equal to their final salary and Senior RAF Officers retain flight pay when they have flown a desk for years.

On the whole the Civil Service is also top heavy, with too much red tape. This is going to be a prime target for cuts but is must be done in a logical manner looking at the whole system, seeing which department can merge, which can be disbanded etc.”

Well put.