Should we provide guns to all over the counter ?

[Subal das]

if some one holding a gun, he is a prime target, and he will be killed first. as Jonah rightly pointed, people will never waving a pistol if they know that others armed too. what a advantage to have a pistol if everybody else having it too.

it is amazing how people easy sliding to say bad things about their own people and their own country. there is no other country in the whole world where human life valued that much as in India. before saying that, you shell visit few other places, so to able to compare. Africa, Central America, Caribbean would be good places to start.

[shadow]

it is amazing how people easy sliding to say bad things about their own people and their own country. there is no other country in the whole world where human life valued that much as in India. before saying that, you shell visit few other places, so to able to compare. Africa, Central America, Caribbean would be good places to start.

Dear Mr Das,
Unfortunately barring these countries as cited above, I have done my little share of traveling both domestic & international. ASAIK, while in our country, mugging to a great extent happens at knife point, in Africa it happens at gun-point. My uncle was mugged in Nigeria at gun-point. So I think the basis of comparison in itself is wrong.

And my sincere request would be to keep patriotism out of this debate as its completely out of context & is uncalled for. Nobody needs to prove their patriotism basis the fact whether each citizen should be armed or should be regulated or should not be armed or should be disarmed. They are personal views; according to you & other eminent members, it may not be an issue to have free-for-all policy and a certain section of the community feels that there MAYBE an issue and to start with, we should work towards smoothening the regulatory issues and ensure that procurement of licence becomes easier. In both cases, long-term scenario will be the same - maximum number of citizens will be legally armed to protect themselves, their families & the nation.

My assumption, which maybe completely wrong and would request my fellow members from US to correct me on the same, is that even in arms-free countries, one is suppose to produce some identification with social security number. If my assumption is right, then in India what is the legal documentation that is as authenticated & as well systemised as a social security number? - Ration Cards? Our PAN Cards? In which we are discriminating people who dont have income to file returns. Passports? Again same as the first case + fake passports can be availed from the market. So wont we be discriminating this section of the society, if they are asked to produce their PAN or passport copy & they dont have one?

Or are we advocating the fact that firearms should be available OTC like one could pick up grocery, vegetables, utensils etc.???

On a lighter note, this reminds me of a scene from first part of "The Matrix" (unfortunately not able to get an image on net) wherein Neo & Trinity go to save Morpheus. When faced with cops, all Neo does is opens his overcoat & what follows is a visual treat for all arm lovers here

The country will no longer be divided between "haves & have-nots". It will be a question of "How Many??" (Arey O Samba, kitne hathiyaar hai?? (OR) Mere pass 9MM hai, AK57 hai, MK54 hai, Remington hai, tumhare paas kya hai? Mere paas in sabki firing clips hai... )

I would like to rest my case here stating that am as much as an Indian as each one of us here, my heart swelled with pride when WE won the WC, it seared with pain & bled with all victims of 26/11, I was a part of the relief team who volunteered to collect life-saving items from Chennai & went to Gujarat when it was devastated by earthquake...so there comes no question about me talking bad about the country & her people (though am not saying that statement of Mr Das was directed towards me).

These are two sides of the same coin - while you believe that it will NOT make a difference if its OTC, I believe it MAY change the scenario if its OTC. Thats it!

In near future, YES it will & should change, but at present we should take step-by-step approach to spread awareness.

As an after-thought, while handful of us are sitting & debating here for whether firearms should be available OTC or not, trying to voice opinions of a billion on their behalf, there are larger issues that they are facing including their existence, daily survival, unemployment, soaring prices, hike in taxes (on average we pay 50-60% from our income as taxes under different heads) etc. etc.

"And there shall be peace!"

Cheers,
Rup

[goodboy_mentor]

In near future, YES it will & should change, but at present we should take step-by-step approach to spread awareness.

I agree, we need to progress step by step, one step at a time. A journey of thousand miles starts with a single step.

[hvj1]

No.Only hvj1 should be allowed to buy guns across the counter.Why? Because he knows that he is not a criminal.About the rest,how can you be sure?

Come on mate You surely dont mean that now do you?
Let me relate something to you, just in case you feel I am somehow priveleged in some way ( I am not). Since the past 14 months, I am trying to get my PP extended. The reason for not renewing my PP, was because I was so goddamn involved in getting the Common Wealth Games range up and running that I neglected the renewal.
So when the great nationistic fervour had died down, I went around for my PP righteously expecting it to be sanctioned without too much fuss, considering what a nice chap I have been.
For starters I got a boot up my ass, when the Resident Deputy Collector asked me "How is it that I have so many guns on my license?"
Next the Collector gave me another boot, saying "How is it that you have so many guns on your license?"
So the next few months went by getting all the government GRs which stated 'Why I should be given so many guns?'
Today was the fifth time I have made my application, 14 months, yeah I guess I am reaady to buy guns OTC.

[goodboy_mentor]

"How is it that I have so many guns on my license?"
"How is it that you have so many guns on your license?"
'Why I should be given so many guns?'

If you are member of recognised rifle club then Section 3(3) of Arms Act 1959 may come to your help:

(3) Nothing contained in sub-section (2) shall apply to any dealer in firearms or to any member of a rifle club or rifle association licensed or recognised by the Central Government using a point 22 bore rifle or an air rifle for target practice.

[spin_drift]

I would like to share a couple of incidents here:

I was in a Gurgaon Pub a few years back when the mall owner's son fired in the in front of the door of the pub just because a guy objected to him teasing his girlfriend. This guy had a licensed revolver.

A few months back, A prominent Jalandhar politician's nephew killed a well known hotel owner by firing at him. He had a licensed firearm, and so did two of his accomplices.

Aman, now that is a good argument here, but in both the examples the perpetrators are apparently rich and powerful and with strong believe that they can get away with anything.
Now, every living organism on this planet follows one basic principle consciously or unconsciously and that principle is the principle of self preservation.
If all the parties in the above cited examples had guns available to them, what do you think the outcome would have been?

Apart from these, we read about and witness incidents of road rage, fights over trivial issues etc. every other day, involving 'responsible' citizens who are not criminals. Just imagine if all these angry young men of India had a firearm.

1). The reason you read about all this is because no one publishes or writes about the deeds of responsible citizens.
2). The question you need to be asking is why are all these young men are angry? Not what they would do if they had a firearm available. The problem here is the perpetual state of anger the “Young man” is in, not the firearm.
Think about this: what if the “young man” is angry because the licensing authorities have been screwing him around and not giving him a license to acquire a firearm and if he were to get a firearm without the screwing around from the licensing authorities, would he be angry in the first place ?

It's not that I don't want things to be the way RKBA proposes, It's just that I think we as a nation are not ready for it yet. We need to educate our citizens first. We need to first teach them the value of life. We all look up to countries like USA when it comes to guns, but where do we stand in terms of gun education, handling, safety etc.?

We are a five thousand old civilization and from the time we started documenting our history there is evidence that we have religiously observed our right to keep and bear arms, we do not need to look up to anyone. We as a nation can be much more sophisticated, disciplined and responsible if we only choose to be.