Medical Assisted Suicide??

['Butterflies']

As for the gun isssue. I can't speak for any other country, but there is no reason to legalize hand guns in Britain. The people of Britain do not want it, and gun crime is not a major issue here, outwith gang culture.

Knives are easy to get in Britain. In a large part of Scotland knife crime is out of control. People carry knives for protection against other people who carry knives. Knife attacks are pretty common in that part of Scotland. Thankfully, they are usually not fatal. Allowing these people to carry guns instead of knives seems like insanity to me, and thankfully also to the overwhelming majority of people in my country.

[TheoK]

"The people of Britain do not want it". I suppose you had a referendum then, before guns were restricted for the first time. 

[Adam]

Knives are easy to get in Britain. In a large part of Scotland knife crime is out of control. People carry knives for protection against other people who carry knives. Knife attacks are pretty common in that part of Scotland. Thankfully, they are usually not fatal. Allowing these people to carry guns instead of knives seems like insanity to me, and thankfully also to the overwhelming majority of people in my country.

this is exactly how I see it. And makes sense completely to  me

As for a referendum, I would be fine with that. I think we can be pretty sure that most people are definitely against it tho

[Binty]

The United Kingdom has one of the lowest rates of gun homicides in the world. Only Singapore has a lower rate of gun homicides. The overall homicide rate is also low. In England and Wales (the most populous part of the United Kingdom) the rate is below the EU average and about four times lower than that of the United States. Its police officers do not routinely carry a firearm, and both the public and the police prefer this to continue. Gun ownership levels have traditionally been low. This was the case even before the imposition of modern firearm legislation.

[Callaway]

I think we should have the right to end our life when we see fit.

I hate the saying "permanent solution to a temporary problem".  The girl who was raped, her problem isn't temporary.  She's gonna have to live with the trauma of the rape for the rest of her life.

The girl in debt and with boyfriend issues, that doesn't sound temporary either especially if she has no means at all to pay off the debt.

It's dismissive to say that someone's problems are only temporary.  Sometimes that may well be the case but a lot of the time, it isn't.

You make a valid point, but my point is that my cousin is living with that trauma as opposed to dying over it.  I think she regretted trying to kill herself shortly after she woke up in the Children's hospital and she was glad that she was still alive.  She is pregnant now with her first baby, which is due later this month.

Her mother (my aunt, my mother's youngest sister) recently died from a recurrence of breast cancer.  Although she very much wanted to live to see her granchild born, that was not possible.  The cancer, which was different from the original breast cancer that she had gotten rid of, spread to her brain last Christmas and she was in horrible pain near the end.  If my aunt has wanted a large dose of pain-killers to end her suffering, IMO that would have been a permanent solution to a permanent problem.
    

[Adam]

But who gets to judge what's a temporary problem and what's permanent?

Also even if it IS temporary suffering, some people still will not want to go through that. and why should they have to?

[Binty]

I think we should have the right to end our life when we see fit.

I hate the saying "permanent solution to a temporary problem".  The girl who was raped, her problem isn't temporary.  She's gonna have to live with the trauma of the rape for the rest of her life.

The girl in debt and with boyfriend issues, that doesn't sound temporary either especially if she has no means at all to pay off the debt.

It's dismissive to say that someone's problems are only temporary.  Sometimes that may well be the case but a lot of the time, it isn't.

You make a valid point, but my point is that my cousin is living with that trauma as opposed to dying over it.  I think she regretted trying to kill herself shortly after she woke up in the Children's hospital and she was glad that she was still alive.  She is pregnant now with her first baby, which is due later this month.

Her mother (my aunt, my mother's youngest sister) recently died from a recurrence of breast cancer.  Although she very much wanted to live to see her granchild born, that was not possible.  The cancer, which was different from the original breast cancer that she had gotten rid of, spread to her brain last Christmas and she was in horrible pain near the end.  If my aunt has wanted a large dose of pain-killers to end her suffering, IMO that would have been a permanent solution to a permanent problem.
    

That's another thing I hate, how mental health is seen as less important than physical health.  Just because someone's body isn't shutting down but their mind is, shouldn't they have the same rights?

As I said before, it just strikes me as really dismissive.

['Butterflies']

"The people of Britain do not want it". I suppose you had a referendum then, before guns were restricted for the first time. 

This country is a better place for it's firearms restrictions. I am in no position to say the same thing for America or Sweden. I don't know enough about those countries. Legalizing guns in Britain makes no sense at all. There is no point introducing another problem into our country. We already have enough problems without arming our citizens.

I have no idea if we held a referendum before restricting guns. If one was held now, it would be overwhelmingly against legalizing guns.

[TheoK]

"The people of Britain do not want it". I suppose you had a referendum then, before guns were restricted for the first time.  

This country is a better place for it's firearms restrictions. I am in no position to say the same thing for America or Sweden. I don't know enough about those countries. Legalizing guns in Britain makes no sense at all. There is no point introducing another problem into our country. We already have enough problems without arming our citizens.

I have no idea if we held a referendum before restricting guns. If one was held now, it would be overwhelmingly against legalizing guns.

I was sarcastic. Of course it wasn't a referendum. The point is that most gun laws were introduced without ever asking the people about it. That was kind of why they were made.

Sweden's gun law sucks, but nothing compared to that of the UK. And criminals who want guns have no problems getting them here.

[Adam]

Agreed 100% with Bint and Butterflies. also can we move one of these discussions to a different thread at least ?

[Adam]

"The people of Britain do not want it". I suppose you had a referendum then, before guns were restricted for the first time. 

This country is a better place for it's firearms restrictions. I am in no position to say the same thing for America or Sweden. I don't know enough about those countries. Legalizing guns in Britain makes no sense at all. There is no point introducing another problem into our country. We already have enough problems without arming our citizens.

I have no idea if we held a referendum before restricting guns. If one was held now, it would be overwhelmingly against legalizing guns.

I was sarcastic. Of course it wasn't a referendum. The point is that most gun laws were introduced without ever asking the people about it. That was kind of why they were made.

Sweden's gun law sucks, but nothing compared to the that of the UK. And criminals who want guns have no problems getting them here.

Er, most laws IN GENERAL are introducdd without asking the people about it

[TheoK]

"The people of Britain do not want it". I suppose you had a referendum then, before guns were restricted for the first time. 

This country is a better place for it's firearms restrictions. I am in no position to say the same thing for America or Sweden. I don't know enough about those countries. Legalizing guns in Britain makes no sense at all. There is no point introducing another problem into our country. We already have enough problems without arming our citizens.

I have no idea if we held a referendum before restricting guns. If one was held now, it would be overwhelmingly against legalizing guns.

I was sarcastic. Of course it wasn't a referendum. The point is that most gun laws were introduced without ever asking the people about it. That was kind of why they were made.

Sweden's gun law sucks, but nothing compared to the that of the UK. And criminals who want guns have no problems getting them here.

Er, most laws IN GENERAL are introducdd without asking the people about it

And you think that's the way it should be? The Swiss had a referendum a while ago, but they voted to keep their guns, because they're among the few Europeans that still aren't total cunts.

[Adam]

Honestly? Yes. I don't want to have to vote on every single law the govt wants to pass. I actually have other thigns I want to do with my life

If there was a lot of support for gun ownership in this country, people would be more vocal about it. I have yet to meet anyone irl who's openly wanted the gun laws repealed

[TheoK]

Honestly? Yes. I don't want to have to vote on every single law the govt wants to pass. I actually have other thigns I want to do with my life

If there was a lot of support for gun ownership in this country, people would be more vocal about it. I have yet to meet anyone irl who's openly wanted the gun laws repealed

Because most Brits are cunts. You're even more cunts than Swedes are, and that says a lot.

['Butterflies']

"The people of Britain do not want it". I suppose you had a referendum then, before guns were restricted for the first time. 

This country is a better place for it's firearms restrictions. I am in no position to say the same thing for America or Sweden. I don't know enough about those countries. Legalizing guns in Britain makes no sense at all. There is no point introducing another problem into our country. We already have enough problems without arming our citizens.

I have no idea if we held a referendum before restricting guns. If one was held now, it would be overwhelmingly against legalizing guns.

I was sarcastic. Of course it wasn't a referendum. The point is that most gun laws were introduced without ever asking the people about it. That was kind of why they were made.

Sweden's gun law sucks, but nothing compared to the that of the UK. And criminals who want guns have no problems getting them here.

Er, most laws IN GENERAL are introducdd without asking the people about it

And you think that's the way it should be? The Swiss had a referendum a while ago, but they voted to keep their guns, because they're among the few Europeans that still aren't total cunts.

That's a good question. If we have a referendum about every decision, then I can see 2 major problems.

One is that you would be having so many referenda that the vast majority of people would quickly lose interest in voting, and these referenda would be dominated by those people who had a real interest in that one issue, rather than being a true representation of the wishes of the people.
Another is that, the majority of important decisions require a lot of research into the subject. It is unlikely that the majority of people in this country would have the time, and intelligence to do the necessary research into these issues, and instead will simply be guided by whatever tabloid newspaper they read. This would probably have the effect of replacing our shitebag politicians, with even bigger shitebag media moguls. The populist vote will win, regardless of whether it's the right decision or not. You will surely see complete shitebags like Rupert Murdoch gaining more power as they are in the best position to influence the minds of the masses through their media empires.


Of course, on the other hand, leaving the decision making up to our politicians has very severe drawbacks as well. Look at the Iraq war for instance. There will be many more examples of our politicians ignoring the wishes of the people, and then getting it completely wrong.


I would probably just choose the system we have at the moment, although I do know that it is hugely flawed.