Yeah, I think something as simple as ending the private sale loophole would go a long way. You buy or sell a gun. Both of you are liable for the transacition being reginstered. You already own a gun that due some legal loophole is not registered? You have one year to register it. Also, if you sell a gun, it is your responsiblity to check out that that the person is not a felon or otherwise ineligible to own a gun. No you can't whine that there is no database that lets you find in 15 minutes. It takes however long it takes to check that. (And I would put some sort of proof that you know basic gun safety, maintenance and can aim well enough not to be a menace to people you don't intend to shoot.)

Beyond that, leave to states and municipalities. With no private sale loophole maybe those would become enforcable.

I would totally like to learn to shoot. That said, I don't really feel a need to own a gun--I wouldn't feel comfy having it out, but having it locked up wouldn't seem to be the point of "ooh, there's a robber", so....no need to own.

That said, there is a freakish part of me that is all "but someday when the apocalypse comes and I have to fight off the hordes and/or the Evil Government..." But then the logical part of me says that (a) that day is unlikely and (b) even if it comes I'll probably die right away anyway, and/or lose my glasses and be pathetically helpless.

There is rumor of evidence that a reason Hitler didn't invade USA was because so many folks had a gun, that the insurgence factor was too high.

Just on this point, I'm curious to know who thinks Hitler could ever have invaded the US in the first place, given he couldn't even invade Britain. Wasn't the fear of insurgency keeping him away, methinks.

the hunter types are all fanatical about proper gun safety and storage and education

These are the people I grew up around, my dad included. He has quite a few shotguns and used to hunt regularly when he was physically able. He hunted birds: geese, quail, duck, pheasant. I grew up eating a lot of that kind of game.

I have no problems with the hunters I know because they are very fanatical about gun safety. I eat meat and have no problems with hunting in general. I, personally, prefer to buy my meat in packages at the grocery store, however.

As an extreme example: you wouldn't lock up your aluminum tent poles but many people have electrocuted themselves by accidentally or purposely touching a tent pole to a power line.

My childhood brush with death, coming almost as near to it as javachik, ironically enough was with a tent pole. So I do advise at least putting them away, if not actually locking them up. But yeah, I'm probably the only kid who ever thought it would be a good idea to pole vault over the sprinkler with one, so they definitely aren't as disastrous as guns.

Deena, how have you been feeling?

Achy and tired. I can't wait for the heat to subside. I'm hoping that's the cause, anyway, since I can see an end to it.

Hil, wishing you reduced pain. (Yup, progesterone not so good with hypermobility. I can't take the pill because of joints falling out of their sockets all over the place.)

Shir, good luck with the paper. And we knew you were good. (Did I mention my result for the paper you gave me advice on? A good distinction. Highest mark I've ever had. So, thanks - and *please* study sociology at a higher level, for you are awesome at it.)

I'm in the UK, where guns are anathema, so I won't try to contribute to the gun debate. But it's interesting to read!

In terms of the healthcare debate, we have right-wing politicians currently arguing for a US-style healthcare system, saying that the NHS has failed. Every time they say this, I shout at the TV about how I'd probably be dead without the NHS, along with many other people with chronic illness I know, who all get pretty good treatment regardless of their ability to pay (it's not a perfect system, but at least we're all, well, not dead). And I point out to them, in this ineffectual shouting-at-the-TV manner, that current popular support for the NHS is really high because of politicians saying things like this about it. Idiots...

If they do disband the NHS, I'm moving to somewhere in Scandanavia. Pronto.

I have a screwdriver

Yeah, but is it sonic?

{{Hil}} {{Deena}} {{Barb}} {{sj}} and I hope I didn't leave anyone. Between mothers and pains, this is... my ~ma to you, ladies.

Now, the gun thing.

You all know where I'm from, and it's not the most peaceful country in the history of ever. However, a very low percent of Israelis have a gun of their own. We also enjoy relatively low crime percent. When I shot M-16 in the army, I didn't think "oh, that's cool, I want one!". I don't feel much towards guns. If not for hunting or army/police, I don't even understand why to have them in first place. I think it's because you can't rely on your state to protect you: just look how we moved from the health care topic to the gun topic: I can't help but thinking that there's this thread that's connecting them, and that thread is that you can't trust your country to protect you so much. Strange to me that more people choose to become gun owners and not, say, doctors.

And oh, Seska - I'm really glad I could help there, but given that my advice was so small, I'm sure you're responsible to much of the awesomeness of it, and hence, the grade.

The thing I'm excited about in my paper, is that if it will work the way I think it will - it's gonna show why any photograph that's attached to an article in the newspaper, or just being used in the public sphere will never ever "prove" us something we didn't "know" is there to begin with. Never. Ever. Not even tabloids. And I'm gonna show why, in 12 pages or less, and why the Victorians are the ones to blame (I have a meter of books piling on my bed, floor and desk, from rationality studies to modernity studies and philosophy of photography and the making of public space to support me. I hope) - and I think it can be a huge deal. At least, for me. I hope I didn't just jinx it - I'm pretty much working on this theory for the past 9 months, and I'm kind of sure there are bazillion ways to say "you have a mistake here and there and there and there" - because I'm no expert on any of the fields I'm combining to my argument. They all just seem somehow connected, almost perfectly.

And I'm gonna show why, in 12 pages or less, and why the Victorians are the ones to blame

Speaking as a Victorian myself, may I say, hey!

Speaking as a Victorian myself, may I say, hey!

19th century Victorians, mostly in Europe. You just keep taking pictures of Ryan and let none of my theories affect you, OK?