Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa (Post 858466)

Okay, folks............

Let's take a little break for a brief review on firearms.

Clearly the original poster does not understand the distinction between automatic firearms and semi-automatic (or auto-loading) firearms.

Since he did not find a revolver, or a single-shot handgun it was probably a semi-automatic. That means it fires one time, and only one time for each pull of the trigger.

However, a couple of posters have stated that there are no full automatic pistols. This, too, is incorrect. I invite you to look at the line of "broomhandle" Mausers. This pistol comes in several versions. It is a very versatile pistol.

There is a model which has a selector switch which will permit it to be fired either semi-automatically or as a fully automatic pistol where one pull of the trigger, when held back, will fire several rounds or even empty the magazine.

There are models which have built in magazines which are loaded from the top with a "clip" of cartridges. There are models that accept loaded magazines.

It was commonplace for some Mausers to be carried in wooden holsters which could be attached to the handle of the pistol as a stock so the gun could be fired from the shoulder.

Rather than try to post a series of photos, I am leaving a link to images of the broomhandle Mauser. You may see some with a red 9 engraved on the handle. These were converted from their original lower cartridge size to 9MM.

https://www.google.com/search?q=maus...iw=800&bih=499

Further, surely you have heard about many of the "gangster" machine pistols, such as the MAC-10. There are actually many more. In fact, dozens more. See Category:Machine pistols - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Now, moving on............ the Uzi, and many others on the list linked above, is entirely too heavy to be used effectively as a one-handed pistol. It weighs 7 and three quarters pounds. And with a standard 32 round magazine it is entirely too bulky to haul around on your person. During my career in the Secret Service the Uzi was our intermediate range shoulder weapon.

That's all. Just thought I'd clear up a little confusion on firearms nomenclature.

Originally Posted by Golfingnut (Post 858102)

So do I and I do. We do however have a problem with how easy it is for convicted felons to buy guns and ammo. I know we will never stop it, but there must be ways to slow it down.

Originally Posted by RayinPenn (Post 857964)

Why there are too many guns...
I work in the what was just rated the most violent small city. I see, read about and have experienced what guns can do every day. I road that LIRR train that Collin Ferguson shot and killed all those people almost every night home. That night I missed it, caught the train behind it but Myself and 2 other commuters jumped off our stalled train and walked to the Merillon Ave. station. I saw the senseless bloody carnage in all 20 something shot 6 killed. Months later I saw the wounded try to resume a normal life.. Walking with limps and struggling to carry on.

Every year in the U.S., an average of more than 100,000 people are shot
Every day in the U.S., an average of 289 people are shot. Eighty-six of them die: 30 are murdered, 53 kill themselves, two die accidentally, and one is shot in a police intervention, the Brady Campaign reports.
Between 2000 and 2010, a total of 335,609 people died from guns -- more than the population of St. Louis, Mo. (318,069), Pittsburgh (307,484), Cincinnati, Ohio (296,223), Newark, N.J. (277,540), and Orlando, Fla. (243,195) (sources: CDF, U.S. Census; CDC)
One person is killed by a firearm every 17 minutes, 87 people are killed during an average day, and 609 are killed every week. (source: CDC)

Too many guns in too many irresponsible and unbalanced hands. As scary a place as Israel can be they have gun control laws that are stricter and more intelligent then here in the states ..ours clearly are not working...

"One mishandled firearm that you have stumbled across in your entire lifetime is statistically irrelevant."
If a child picked it up and killed himself or another child would it be statistically irrelevant? You sound like Scrooge- would be ok because it would lessen the excess population?

Originally Posted by karostay (Post 857989)

You claim to have found a loaded gun and want all guns taken away
How many times have looked in you rear view mirror and have seen people on a cell phones or texting. Lets ban cell phones

Originally Posted by RayinPenn (Post 857964)

Why there are too many guns...
I work in the what was just rated the most violent small city. I see, read about and have experienced what guns can do every day. I road that LIRR train that Collin Ferguson shot and killed all those people almost every night home. That night I missed it, caught the train behind it but Myself and 2 other commuters jumped off our stalled train and walked to the Merillon Ave. station. I saw the senseless bloody carnage in all 20 something shot 6 killed. Months later I saw the wounded try to resume a normal life.. Walking with limps and struggling to carry on.

Every year in the U.S., an average of more than 100,000 people are shot
Every day in the U.S., an average of 289 people are shot. Eighty-six of them die: 30 are murdered, 53 kill themselves, two die accidentally, and one is shot in a police intervention, the Brady Campaign reports.
Between 2000 and 2010, a total of 335,609 people died from guns -- more than the population of St. Louis, Mo. (318,069), Pittsburgh (307,484), Cincinnati, Ohio (296,223), Newark, N.J. (277,540), and Orlando, Fla. (243,195) (sources: CDF, U.S. Census; CDC)
One person is killed by a firearm every 17 minutes, 87 people are killed during an average day, and 609 are killed every week. (source: CDC)

Too many guns in too many irresponsible and unbalanced hands. As scary a place as Israel can be they have gun control laws that are stricter and more intelligent then here in the states ..ours clearly are not working...

"One mishandled firearm that you have stumbled across in your entire lifetime is statistically irrelevant."
If a child picked it up and killed himself or another child would it be statistically irrelevant? You sound like Scrooge- would be ok because it would lessen the excess population?

Originally Posted by buggyone (Post 858554)

Use common sense and you do not need to carry a pistol - my thought.

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr (Post 858560)

And unless I'm mistaken, Uzis and Mausers along with all other forms of fully automatic weapons are banned in this country under federal law. So why are they even a part of this discussion?

Originally Posted by RayinPenn (Post 857964)

"One mishandled firearm that you have stumbled across in your entire lifetime is statistically irrelevant."
If a child picked it up and killed himself or another child would it be statistically irrelevant? You sound like Scrooge- would be ok because it would lessen the excess population?

Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa (Post 860101)

Shame on you for a despicable ad hominem attack.

Further, your "what if" could be extended to almost any circumstance.

What if........... a child got a butcher knife out of the kitchen and killed another child?
What if........... a child fell in the family swimming pool and drowned?
What if........... a child was standing behind the family car and dad backed up over him?
And so on ad infinitum.........

You surely don't claim there are too many butcher knives, swimming pools or family cars.

-------------------

As a retired cop I can also tell you that you mishandled the situation. You should not have picked up and handled the pistol.

What if.......... it had just been used in a murder a few blocks away and the murderer threw it out his car window when he thought he was about to be stopped by the police? Maybe the young man in camo seen searching the area had returned to retrieve it.

Your handling of the pistol could have obliterated all of the fingerprints of the murderer. Then, even if the gun could be linked to the crime by ballistics, it could not necessarily be linked to the murderer.

--------------------

One misused and/or mishandled gun cannot be projected into a generality that "there are too many guns."

If there were only ten guns in the United States and you found one beside the road that wouldn't mean there were too many guns in the country, just that one was mishandled.

The same is true if there are 270 million guns. It just means that the one you found was mishandled.

.

Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa (Post 858998)

Fully automatic firearms are not banned in the United States. There are millions of personally owned fully automatic firearms here.

Their ownership and transfer of ownership is closely regulated. In 1934 the National Firearms Act was passed in response to the use of automatic weapons by criminals. The act imposed a $200 "transfer tax" on the transfer of ownership of fully automatic firearms and provided for registration of their ownership. There are too many other facets to the act to discuss them all here, but the fact is that there are millions of legally owned fully automatic weapons in the U.S.

In addition to the "gangster" style weapons of the 1930s, many fully automatic "war trophies" were brought into the country after WWII. They generally fell through the cracks with regard to being detected, so several decades ago the government declared an "amnesty" and allowed all holders of fully automatic weapons of any kind an opportunity to register and retain them.

That is why there are so many of them still available. To obtain one you would have to pay both the astronomical price the current owner would want and the $200 transfer tax to the government, as well as registering your ownership with the government.

And, even more to the point, they are part of this discussion because the OP originally called the pistol he found to be an "automatic" and someone else pointed out that it was probably a semi-automatic.

And, further although they are held illegally, there are many unregistered fully automatic firearms still held and being used by the criminal element in our country.

.

Originally Posted by Sueclark (Post 860111)

Thank you for posting. We are about to go back to Boston, where guns are rampant. We need to be diligent. Thank you also for being a concerned citizen. Many people might have just "not bothered." People in that neighborhood are lucky to have you there.