Thoughts On "Bowling For Columbine"

The state of Vermont has virtually no gun control laws. Any law abiding citizen who wishes to carry a gun is free to. No permit required. The result? Lowest crime rate in the country. Criminals fear armed citizens more than the police.

Thedautch,

I appreciated your response but I really had all that figured out before. It's my understanding also that most of the guns are brought into D.C. from some neighboring states. My question is this: Given your familiarity with the situation there, the volume of weapons in individual posession, states rights, the illegal gun trade which criminals partake in and all other aspects, what is the answer? My heart goes out to the unfortunate citizens in D.C. that live that nightmare since, no matter how many bad guys there are, most of the people are just trying to get by and aren't part of THAT problem. Are the innocents better off unarmed?

Ben Campbell...I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news; but the recent steady increase in violent gun use in the UK you mention has been shown to have started; and be correlated to the new stricter gun laws in the UK. The crooks in your country can now use there guns more freely, because the honest citizen has been disarmed. Sad but true.

Also note that the strictness of a country's gun laws is inversely correlated to the freedoms its citizens have. Countries that totally ban all gun ownership are the worst (Cuba, North Korea, etc, etc...)

Thanks to all for the thoughtful responses. I started this post because I think "Bowling for Columbine" is an interesting and worthwhile film for everybody in the U.S. to see. What is so refreshing about the movie is that it actually dares to address a serious social issue. So few films today even try.

All I can tell you, Lugnut, is that most people I know, i.e., professionals who live in Northwest or the suburbs, would be *extremely* uncomfortable carrying a weapon. Most of them just don't come from a gun-oriented background. I, myself, have far too severe a temper to carry a gun. I can almost guarantee that if someone pushed me too far at the wrong time, I'd pull out the piece. I believe, and most people I know (those with whom I've had this discussion), is to just stay away from known "trouble areas", and try to keep yourself in as safe a situation as you can. Does that make us ultimately safe? Of course not. Could we still be shot in the most posh store in Georgetown? Absolutely.

But in Washington, I really think most of us feel far more threatened by weapons other than guns. If polled, most people (including me), would probably say that they would die a violent death at the hands of (in order of likelihood):

(1) Terrorist attack
(2) Bomb
(3) Gun

That's just life in Washington. We don't talk about it much, but we all (and I mean ALL) secertly believe that we could die by either of the first two means at any time, especially (1). It genuinely doesn't occur to us to worry about (3).