"Hand guns should be legalised and licensed, Nigel Farage has said"

[Jason]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10595087/Hand-guns-should-be-legalised-and-licensed-Nigel-Farage-has-said.html

Radical stance from the leader of UKIP given general anti-gun feelings in the UK.

[Rocky Raccoon]

What the hell do people need handguns for aside from killing other people?  People are so ridiculous.

[Jason]

Defending themselves from people who pose a serious danger to them?

[Rocky Raccoon]

Defending themselves from people who pose a serious danger to them?

You mean defending themselves from other people with guns.  It's a little redundant when you think about it.  It's just awful that we don't have stricter gun laws here in the States.

[Jason]

California has some of the strictest in the United States...didn't stop Elliot Rodger that much. Those who use them responsibly are not the problem. Those who are irrational are. All the background checks in the world are not perfect. Personal responsibility and safety is a requirement. And only you can be the best judge of how you take care of that.

[Jason]

Getting back on topic...what do our UK folks on here think of Farage? I'm personally not a fan. He sounds like a fascist.

[rab2591]

....back off topic, sorry TRBB

California has some of the strictest in the United States...didn't stop Elliot Rodger that much. Those who use them responsibly are not the problem. Those who are irrational are. All the background checks in the world are not perfect. Personal responsibility and safety is a requirement. And only you can be the best judge of how you take care of that.

Agreed.

Also, I can't imagine not having a firearm available to protect myself from a home-invasion. I shudder to imagine what it would feel like to be totally dependent on the response time of a police car.

If you want to own a weapon you should be required to take a course in firearm safety, you should have a thorough background check done, and perhaps even a mental health check. But, in a gang/criminal infested country like America, it's baffling that some people want to abolish this right. 

[Mike's Beard]

Getting back on topic...what do our UK folks on here think of Farage? I'm personally not a fan. He sounds like a fascist.

I don't agree with everything he says but compared to the knobheads that represent the main three parties he talks the most sense.

[Mike's Beard]

....back off topic, sorry TRBB

California has some of the strictest in the United States...didn't stop Elliot Rodger that much. Those who use them responsibly are not the problem. Those who are irrational are. All the background checks in the world are not perfect. Personal responsibility and safety is a requirement. And only you can be the best judge of how you take care of that.

Agreed.

Also, I can't imagine not having a firearm available to protect myself from a home-invasion. I shudder to imagine what it would feel like to be totally dependent on the response time of a police car.

If you want to own a weapon you should be required to take a course in firearm safety, you should have a thorough background check done, and perhaps even a mental health check. But, in a gang/criminal infested country like America, it's baffling that some people want to abolish this right. 

I'd hate to see easy access to guns in the UK, but with a country like America I think it's a case of you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. Once a country is fllooded with criminals carrying guns it's only natural that law abiding citizens would want a gun to defend themselves, I know I would.

[Jason]

Easy access isn't the problem. Idiots are the problem. A gun is only a tool. How one uses it is the problem - and then you can only blame the perpetrator, not the object.

[the captain]

Don't make it easy for idiots to legally obtain tools to kill people.

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Nigel Farage should be shot.

[Smilin Ed H]

He's more of an idiot than a fascist, but he has a following made up of formerly traditional Labour and Tory voters largely because his views on Europe and immigration appeal to them.

[Awesoman]

California has some of the strictest in the United States...didn't stop Elliot Rodger that much. Those who use them responsibly are not the problem. Those who are irrational are. All the background checks in the world are not perfect. Personal responsibility and safety is a requirement. And only you can be the best judge of how you take care of that.

You could also add that Rodger didn't just only use guns on his killing spree; also stabbed his roommates to death.  Kid was nuts...