Police giving me trouble regarding weapons.

[NightOwl]

Ah nunchucks- the most deadly of weapons banned everywhere but some Islands of Indonesia, and having been actually used less times to kill someone about as cellphones. Australia is known for its strict laws against weapons, so I'm not sure if there is much you can do except try asking nicer cops.

And brokenswordx....I feel your pain.

[brokenswordx]

^ That's very unfortunate to hear.

[bushido_man96]

As far as the gun laws go, as has been pointed out, they vary greatly from state to state. In most places, they are regualted pretty well as to who can carry a firearm. No system is perfect of course, but by and large from my experience, most trouble over here comes not from gun owners in compliance with state statute, but those who are using them illeagally and therefore outside the established rules.

I have found, and it can also be seen in this thread, that those who want to carry, will; regardless of legality. That is the only problem with conceal and carry laws. When conceal/carry came around in KS, all of a sudden many signs went up on the doors of business places, saying you couldn't carry your concealed gun in there. It really hampers the good of the law, and the people who go out of their way to qualify for conceal and carry.

When the conceal/carry was in its talk phase, I spoke with several people who were against it. When I asked them why, they said they were concerned about making it legal for criminals to carry guns. My response to them was "criminals are going to carry whether it is legal or not."

[fleasome]

We discussed this in class last night and eventually the topic lead to an interesting comment.

It is extremely easy to buy a rifle in America, and there are no real laws in most places about carrying a rifle around. Most are not concealable.

You ever see a martial artist wig out, climb a tower, and kill 23 students with his nunchaku?

You ever see a martial artist wig out, enter a McDonalds and randomly start thumping people?

But which is easier to get and carry in America in general.

Just an interesting thought that materialized in class.

Lee

[tallgeese]

I think I see what you're getting at. True, you rarely see a ma-er start whacking away in public with a set of wooden sticks. However, based on the sheer number of firearms in general, and rifles in particular, out there, you don't actually see many of them shooting up shopping malls either.

The actual percentage of crimes commited by those who possess firearms in increadably small considering how many are out there. And most of these infractions are commintted by people who are already in some violation of laws regarding firearm ownership (convicted felon, domestic batterer, no owner id card or registration depending on the state).

Also, most states regualate how firearms of any kind can be transported. Hence, you're going to have restrictions on rifles, just not the same as handguns due to their conceilment capabilities. In IL, the rifle must be transported cased, without ammunition in it. So, you couldn't just walk down the street with one. Not to mention, that's gonna draw a lot of attention and probibly police presence. Much more that a set of 'chucks is gonna earn you.

As far a ease of laying your hands on one, you can order up any ma weapon from Asian World and have it no questions asked in a few working days. For a firearm purchase, you are gonna have to deal with background checks, a waiting period at a minimum. In Illinios, we have to have a firearm owners ID card that again makes you jump though background check hoops to get and you must have one prior to making any kind of purchase.

I don't disagree that weapon laws rarely make complete sense. I say so a bit further up in the thread. But there are real laws in place dealing with rifles, and they are certainly not as easy to lay hands on as a set of 'chucks are.

[brokenswordx]

People that are not familiar with MA's or know someone who trains in them have a rather hollywood view about them. The think that everytime you get in a disagreement or argue with someone you're going to go all Bruce Lee on them. Or when they throw a punch to see how you react, which isn't a good thing since you might actually punch them in the face. The weapons ban is biased, in my opinion, on fear. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but we know most killing come from a fire arm or other modern weapon than a MA one.

[bushido_man96]

I think that fire arms are MA weapons. Actually, I would classify all weapons as MA weapons.

[fleasome]

Yes, but that advanced Jagdpanzer Tiger-Elefant kata is a bit intense.

[bushido_man96]

Good jest!

In all sincerity, though, is it required that a weapon have an accompanying kata in order for it to meet the requirements of being an "MA" weapon? Medieval European swordsmen have no recorded katas, yet still used the sword in the same manner as the Samurai.

[fleasome]

And I thought I was the only Midwesterner with insomnia.