chuckakers

Nice to see some honesty on the forum. I'm anxious to hear what you decide. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Quote>And in the process, took out a ruthless dictator who ran rape rooms, torture >chambers . . . . . . and reopened them. Underwear on the head!! Ooooh, Ouch, OUCH!! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! yer funny Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

And what happened to "we're facing the worst economic crisis since the great depression". Seemed for a while that's all B.O. could say on the economy. Was he wrong then or is he wrong now? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

And in the process, took out a ruthless dictator who ran rape rooms, torture chambers, and killed hundreds of thousands of his own citizens with WMD's. Not a bad trade off if you ask me. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

The fact that throwing a shoe at someone is considered assault - crazy Go throw your shoes at any public official and see how fast you are charged with assault. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

OR . . . a society that requires people to attend boot camp knows not to talk back to authority. You can spin this several ways. Indeed it can. A society that REQUIRES boot camp attendance is a thread all by itself. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

No, kind of like a dittohead among dittoheads. Wendy W. If you knew the origin and meaning of "dittohead", you would realize the joke is on the user of the term as used above. Not that I care - just thought you might want to know. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

And pro-gun folks like to skip the part about them undergoing military training and having the guns and ammo registered. Actually, I've never heard pro-gun folks say anything about gun ownership in Switzerland at all...until now. Then you haven't been paying attention. The NRA and JR bring it up on a fairly regular basis. Do a search of JR's postings. I said pro-gun, meaning in ideology, not specifically enthusiasts or advocacy groups. But you're right. I don't typically pay attention. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

US rate of ownership of guns (estimates range from 83 to 97 per 100 people) is higher than the gun ownership rate in Switzerland (average estimate of 48 per 100 people). The estimate for Iraq in 2007 was 38 per 100 people and Yemen was 61 guns per 100 people. See, e.g., graphic attached to [1969912]’s post from Dec07 here, which is derived from primary data here. Relative rankings on crime, e.g., burglaries, in which Switzerland (#13) has a higher burglary rate than the US (#17) (overall incidence, those with guns not specified). The UK (#7), according to the data, has an even higher rate of burglaries (& ~5 1/2 guns per person). Finland is #5 in buglaries, with a higher per capita rate of gun ownership (56 per 100 people) than Switzerland (46 per 100 people), although less than the US (90 per 100 people). Looking at homicides via firearms: US is #8 w/3.6 firearm associated homicides per 100,000 people. Between Mexico (#7), altho' that may be slightly dated, and Belarus (#9). Switzerland isn't in the top 32. If one compares that with firearms per 100 people (a less than perfect measure of availability), I don’t see any correlation. Variables that have been found to correlate to high levels of gun ownership are (1) wealthy countries or (2) countries with recent, intense violent conflicts. The former is the case for US & western Europe; the latter reflects the situations in places like Angola and Columbia. See page 21 of the report noted above for a graph showing the range of GDPs and correlation with per capita civilian gun ownership. The authors discuss where that model breaks down, which it does. Where does gun ownership intersect with gun violence? My hypothesis is that there will not be a direct dependency found. Marg Uh, ok. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Oh, you mean socialism. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Most school districts have cut driver training due to budget constraints. While guns in untrained hands are bad, cars are more common. I don't think you could reasonably pass mandatory weapons training if you can't afford driver's ed. Huh? Let's see, driving a car for 500 or so miles takes (at 20 miles per gallon) about $50 in gas, and let's say another $100 in wear and tear on the car (at 20 cents per mile), and insurance (probably expensive for drivers ed kids) is likely another $50 per kid. That's $200. I think I could train a kid to properly use a gun with 200 rounds of ammo and an afternoon of shooting cans on the back forty. Then there's hunting clubs, shooting clubs, youth outdoorsman clubs, etc., etc., etc., that don't rely on government money to teach gun safety. An armed society is a polite society. Just ask the Swiss!! Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

I think this country would be far safer if EVERY high school freshman was required to take firearms training as a class. Everyone should know how to respect weapons and learn their proper use. Letting kids learn about weapons from first person shooter games is NUTZ I agree with your first statement. As for your second, I don't think people are "letting" kids learn about guns from video games. It's just happening that way. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

And pro-gun folks like to skip the part about them undergoing military training and having the guns and ammo registered. Actually, I've never heard pro-gun folks say anything about gun ownership in Switzerland at all...until now. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

It's true but only PART of the story. Your quoted article makes it sound as if they are only required to own a weapon. That's misleading. Here's the missing part; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Switzerland#Army_issued_arms They are REQUIRED to be part of a government trained and regulated militia and as part of that they are required to keep their weapon and maintain it. This includes mandatory re-currency training. Obviously all participants are registered. The US has voluntary military service so the comparison between the two countries is not a good one. I wasn't making a comparison to the varying types of military service. I just found it interesting that there must be many, many automatic weapons being kept in closets in Switzerland, yet they have one of the lowest gun crime stats in the world. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

clicky 3 years for throwing a shoe would be crazy. 3 years for assaulting the president of a country (any country) - not so crazy. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Is this true? From Wiki: Switzerland requires every male over the age of 20 to own an assault rifle (specifically SIG 550 in 5.56 cal.). In one study by David Kopel of seven countries, including the United States and Japan, Switzerland is found to be one of the safest countries in the study.[26] In recent times political opposition has expressed a desire for tighter gun regulations.[26] Switzerland practices universal conscription, which requires that all able-bodied male citizens keep fully-automatic firearms at home in case of a call-up. Every male between the ages of 20 and 42 is considered a candidate for conscription into the military, and following a brief period of active duty will commonly be enrolled in the militia until age or an inability to serve ends his service obligation.[27] During their enrollment in the armed forces, these men are required to keep their government-issued selective fire combat rifles and semi-automatic handguns in their homes.[28] Up until September 2007, soldiers also received 20 rounds of government-issued ammunition in a sealed box for storage at home.[29] In addition to these official weapons, Swiss citizens are allowed to purchase surplus-to-inventory combat rifles, and shooting is a popular sport in all the Swiss cantons. (edited to add): I find it interesting (if the wiki info is accurate) that a country that requires gun possession is one of the statisitically safest countries in the world. I'm also interested to hear from the anti-gun folks on this one. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Acid? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Which will in turn lead to companies leaving California. If there's any left there. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Jeez, those aliens! It's written "Deutschland". Jawoll. I quit trying once I learned to spell Texas. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

You want to arm all the schoolkids, too? I didn't say I wanted to arm anyone. I was just making a point. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

The majority of the dead are high school aged kids. Are you in favour of letting high school kids carry to school? And what other kinds of people were in that school? Adults! Satisfied? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Did YOU keep any personalweapons on base when you were active duty???? This is a college student that lives off-campus, not a troop quartered on base. Did you have a point to this, or did you not read the article? Did YOU keep any personal weapons on base when you were active duty???? Whether I stored weapons on base or not is immaterial to the discussion. I say again - did you have a point to your question? I think the question is quite germane. I wonder if any of you former military men will actually answer it? I knew several guys with personal weapons when I was in the military. The guys that lived in the barracks kept theirs in the arms room. The guys that lived off-post kept them at home. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Nice to see gun control is working well in Duetchland. And in Alabama too. See today's news. Yep, saw it. Let's not forget, if someone who chooses to go postal wants a gun, they will get one whether they are outlawed or not. With that as a starting point, any one of the people he killed might not be dead had they been in possision of a firearm themselves. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Nice to see gun control is working well in Duetchland. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Or maybe just a freak that freaked out. Doesn't make him a freak brother, though. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX