[freeeee]

At which point every American will be required to train with and carry a firearm.

In your dreams.

So far the war on terrorism has one distinct characteristic: More restrictions on citizens, and more government power.

If an incident like the hypothetical one in the article happened, the response would be the exact opposite from your idea: It would be the 9-11 of gun control. PATRIOT Act powers, and other war powers (which they'll make up as they go) will be used to disarm all Americans.

This in turn would likely cause some Americans to resist giving up their arms, and would cause us to fight one another. This is the ideal terrorist plot. After all, the purpose of terrorism isn't just to destroy a target, it also seeks to terrorize and destabalize a population. If they can cause in-fighting among us, that is an added bonus, similar to a 'secondary explosion'. The planes that hit the WTC were simply the catalyst for the force of gravity that brought them down. Similarly, most of the damage by this type of attack will come from gun control/seizure, and infighting among ourselves. Terrorists will seek to exploit weaknesses in our society, and I'm sure they are all too aware of the gun control movement in this country, and the response to Columbine.

Given the mentality behind our own government's response to terrorism up to this point, and the ruthless cunning of these terrorists, it would be foolish, naive and irrational to believe otherwise.

[old school]

"Today Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to
restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful! This is especially true if they
were told there was an outside threat from beyond, whether real or
promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples
of the world will pledge with world leaders to deliver them from this evil. The
one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this
scenarios, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of
their well being granted to them by their world government."

--Henry Kissinger in an address to the Bilderberg organization meeting at
Evian, France, May 21, 1992. Transcribed from a tape recording made by
one of the Swiss delegates.

[xsrdx]

This is the ideal terrorist plot / It would be the 9-11 of gun control

Bingo.

Not to mention, CCW is of limited utility against a dozen terrs armed with RPG's and automatic rifles, even assuming they're inept. Better call out the National Guard, and confiscate private weapons.

Safer that way, you see.

[Southack]

"So far the war on terrorism has one distinct characteristic: More restrictions on citizens, and more government power. If an incident like the hypothetical one in the article happened, the response would be the exact opposite from your idea: It would be the 9-11 of gun control. PATRIOT Act powers, and other war powers (which they'll make up as they go) will be used to disarm all Americans."

There was once a society that frowned on gun ownership by civilians. A maniac came to power in a nation nearby, however, and threatened their very island with conquest. The public feared that storm-troopers would parachute out of the sky and shoot up schools and administrative buildings.

In response, every available firearm was issued to civilians (they didn't have enough to go around, however).

That nation was Great Britain. The time was World War Two.

Now, if you think that the British won't issue guns when attacks are imminent, just what do you think will happen in the U.S.?!

I've got news for you, disarming civilians would become the third rail of politics in America if terrorists shot up any serious targets. Just wait until that first country-boy deer hunter puts paid to a terrorist. There will be parades for him so large that Lindbergh would blush.

The ghetto-gangster that snipes the next subway shooting terrorist will get a full Presidential pardon for all of his sins, a book deal, and a whirlwind media tour.