Jim,

> The LARGE problem I see is insufficient GUN TRAINING and the
> inherent RESPECT that it fosters for firearms ... as a sidenote
> I usually listen several Police Departments in the area and
> hear *no* (and ours is a 'Conceal and Carry State!) reports
> of gun battles in the streets!

Fine.  So how come the NRA doesn't lobby in Washington to mandate or
proof of training for all firearms purchases?  All they ever do is say
that we're going to have a police state if we require trigger guards or
a cooling off period.

> Didn't you (or was it the Aussies) just ban them all - with
> SURPRISING (<sarcasm>) good results?

Yes, they did have good results.  Australia had a mass shooting in 1996
that prompted the paid recall
of firearms.  Here is some info I found about crime after 1996 on the
Australian governments own website:

1 - A knife was the most common type of weapon used in attempted murder
(33%), murder (29%) and robbery (23%).

2 - The proportion of robberies where a weapon was used in 2001 (42%) is
similar to the 1993 figure, when this series commenced.

3 - The use of firearms has declined as a proportion of all robberies
(down from 16% to 6%). In 3.5% of cases, a syringe was used.

So yes, they had SUPRISING <no sarcasm> good results.  The number of
guns used in a crime has gone down.  Gee, I guess that is a bad thing,
huh?

    Thanks,
    PeterM

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