But but but the guy resisted!!!

[jp]

Well JP, how about something at least 1/4 as well cited as what was posted

Honestly, there's no point. We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_fallacy

 

[sesamosinsal]

How many kids (not mentioning adults) get their heads blown-ups in countries being more liberal about weapons?

Your question is a good one, but accidents and misuse happen with pretty much anything. The key is responsibility. A person shouldn't have a firearm license if he leaves them strewn about the house, just like a person who runs stoplights left and right shouldn't have a driver license.

I'm all for some government regulation, i.e. licensing. But how far do these things have to go? How much of our privacy and personal freedoms do we have to give up in the name of "public safety?"

With that said, CCW permits are good in the U.S. I'm not sure how good of a fit they'd be in Argentina. People here don't have respect for stop-signs, and much less for their fellow citizens, as they block highways and strike every two seconds making their lives a nightmare.

 

[steveinbsas]

People here don't have respect for stop-signs, and much less for their fellow citizens, as they block highways and strike every two seconds making their lives a nightmare.

This may be true in CF but it isn't where I live. Most folks here drive with a lot more care than the drivers in CF.
Of course there is crime in Bahaia Blanca, but out here in the country crime is virtually non-existent.

We don't drink tea, either...and it's taken for granted that everyone has a gun.

 

[ElQueso]

Ok, the topic has gotten off, so I'm just going to post a link to an incredibly erudite editorial, scientific explanation and examination in brief of what most real scientists actually think of global warming, including a much more likely culprit for global warming than CO2 and an explanation of why the current global warming hysteria is wrong in a couple of important areas.

If you're really interested in understanding what's probably really going on related to what some are claiming the possible end of the world, read through this from top to bottom. Look at some of the links the author includes to explain in more detail certain concepts. Look at the author's credentials and those to whom he references.

http://www.middlebury.net/op-ed/global-warming-01.htm

The following is an extremely, extremely short summary of what is discussed. It goes into the best detail I've ever seen in the shortest space possible (and therefore is still long) while providing references to what drove their conclusions.

Mann, the scientist that the IPCC (the UN committee on global warming) used to base all of their current policies on, either screwed up hi mathematics horribly when he "analyzed" his data, or he downright committed fraud. The man-made global warming scare is a mega-money maker for many people involved in politics and the green industry.

CO2 is incapable by the laws of physics of affecting more than an extremely small amount of temperature. Most real climatologists understand this and have never been on board with this scare.

In fact data untouched by Mann's algorithms, along with known historical temperatures in the Northern hemisphere, show temperatures approximately 1000 years ago were as high or higher than they are now, actually helping Europe climb out of the Dark Ages as the world warmed and food production capability increased. Temperatures 200-300 years ago were much lower, causing more crop failures. These are known facts that are not seriously disputed. But Mann's graph didn't even show this.

Mann, btw, published his paper that showed the steep climb of temperatures in the 1900's and called 1998 the hottest year ever in recorded history, in Nature. It was not peer reviewed. It was then taken up by the UN's IPCC and they used it to develop policy, actually completely opposite of what a statement in 1995 had put their position.

The sun goes through cycles that coincide with the heating cycles going back in history. Yes, we have been going through a warming cycle, for the last 100 years or so, but it's not man made and it's also not a bad thing.

CO2, btw, seems to be produced en mass (aside from volcanic eruptions which is the absolute largest CO2 producer) by the heating of the earth and the out-gassing of CO2 in land and ocean. Yes, we do contribute CO2 to the air, but natural cycles produce MUCH MORE.

The graph that Al Gore made of CO2 versus Global Temperature in his "An Unpleasant Truth" movie actually shows the opposite of what Gore is saying, but the two lines are separated vertically and what you don't see, which is the opposite of what Al Gore says (but you do see when you merge the lines) is that rise in temperature ALWAYS precedes rises in CO2.

CO2 is not causing warming, it is a symptom. And a beneficial symptom at that. CO2 is not an actual greenhouse gas - it is only physically capable of trapping 8% of the energy that "touches" the CO2 molecules in the atmosphere. It is a trace gas at a very low concentration. Water vapor is responsible for 98% of the temperature in the Earth's atmosphere. CO2 is absorbed by plants because that is what they use to breathe and fuel their processes much like we use oxygen.

The more CO2, the better crop yields. But no real measurable effect on global temperatures.l

 

[French jurist]

There's global warming because we put too much ice in our whiskeys, everybody knows that!

 

[nicoenarg]

Completely agree with what ElQueso said about CO2 and so called global warming. Its bloated out of proportion for personal gains.

Anywho, as for the content of the original post of this thread and CCW. I think people should be allowed to carry. Restrictions on everyday citizens being able to buy and carry weapons just makes it easier for robbers to rob and rape and murder.

What I would like to know is, if someone's trying to "invade" my home, and I have a gun. I use it to shoot him in the head (basically shoot to kill) to stop him from coming in and hurting me and mine. What is the law regarding that in the city and the country?

I know a decade or so ago a dude in Britain was painted a criminal in the media and the courts for defending himself against 2 crooks who entered his house. He killed one of them and injured the other.

 

[ElQueso]

I suspect that here you would as well be branded as a criminal.

I once had a conversation with a policeman here. He is actually a foreigner, the only foreigner in the PFA, who told me what would happen if one tried to defend himself against one of the adolescents robbery gangs here.

This came up regardng the middle of 9 de Julio, when there were some problems, before the renovation and installation of lights and cameras in the parkish areas in the middle of the boulevard. People were getting mugged there by teenagers crossing the street at like 3 in the morning.

A friend of ours had brought a stun gun with him from the States. He was commenting about using that on those punks if it came to it. Our PFA friend mentioned that if he did that and one of the kids complained, he would be arrested for assault. It had more to do with doing something against a minor to protect oneself rather than in general against an adult thief, but I wonder if it wouldn't apply as well?

As far as actually in your home with a gun, I don't know, but I doubt it would go well, unfortunately.

 

[nicoenarg]

Let me get this straight.

I am living in a country where the law enforcement is laughable. The police can't protect me. And if I try to protect myself then I am a criminal!

Beautiful, that's just beautiful!

PS: If they really cared about those kids, they'd put 'em in jail for them to learn their freakin' lesson!

 

[scotttswan]

There's global warming because we put two much ice in our whiskeys, everybody knows that!

You should never put ice in whisky, it cools down your tongue/taste buds and prevents you from actually tasting the stuff! You also cant control the amount of water in your whisky so it could easily kill it.

Drop of water sure but ice? no chance!

 

[ElQueso]

I can't remember if I posted this previously, but the story's a bit apropos related to your feelings, Nico.

It must ahve been something like 6 months now, maybe even a year (time flies so freaking fast!). I was in my office in my apartment, working. I noticed that there was a flashing blue light down in the street below. I'm on the second floor, with no balcony on the first, so I get to see everything that happens below me.

I went out on my balconey to see what was up and down on the street were two PFA cars parked along the curb and about 6 cops standing around. The next thing I noticed were two pistols and three knives sitting on the trunk of the car most directly below me and a couple of the cops reviewing the weapons and making notes, filling out forms.

Then I looked farther below me, up against the building itself, and noticed nine kids with their backs up against the glass of our building's entry, all handcuffed with their hands behind them, legs out in front, seated on the sidewalk. They were all dressed nicely - expensive sweat pants or slacks, nice shirts, Nike tennis shoes, etc. Each of them had a cellphone on the sidewalk next to them. I saw Blackberries and touchscreen Nokias, a couple of different really nice-looking phones.

The cellphones on the sidewalk would each ring on occasion. The cops picked them up and answered them when it happened.

They must have been down there for about two hours or so. I eventually got tired of watching (although I did take some pictures, just for grins) and went back to work.

Later, after I'd realized they were gone, I chanced to need to go out for something. I stopped by my portero's desk and asked him what had happened.

He explained to me that the police had caught a theft ring, apparently in the act of robbing someone. They don't usually travel in such big packs he said, but as he understood it was a robbery of convenience and they had the bad luck to be all together and get caught.

I asked them why they sat there for so long, and what was going to happen to them.

He chuckled. He told me something like (working from memory), "this is Argentina. They can't prosecute minors for these crimes. They were sitting here so long because they were waiting for their parents to come get them!"

Of course, my first thought is, how convenient. How much you want to bet those parents are in on their kids plans? How easy would it be to send their kids out to steal and plunder, knowing the law won't touch them, and all they have to do if their kids get caught is come by and pick them up?

As an aside, my portero is Argentine born, of German ancestry, fairly recent. His father came over at the end of World War II and settled in Entre Rios. For all I know, his father was a Nazi on the run from justice. My portero himself has a pronounced German accent. He complains about his fellow Argentinos more than anyone I've ever known, even more than my Australian antiques dealer friend who lived here for almost 30 years before leaving late last year to return to Australia.