Gun Control

[McBell]

MYTH: Most gun deaths are caused by accidents or by crazed madmen.
FACT: More than two out of every three gun deaths are either suicides or drug-related murders.
Source: Centers For Disease Control - Deaths 1998 (625KB document!) and U.S. Department Of Justice - Bureau of Justice Statistics


MYTH: Twelve children are killed with guns each day.
FACT: Half of the people that politicians count as "children killed with guns" were actually legally adults. The gun murder rate started falling when crack cocaine started going out of style in 1990. In 1997, 2284 children aged 0-17 years were killed with guns, most of them teenagers. That is 6 per day. In 1998, the number dropped to 1971, still mostly teenagers. That is 5 per day. The age distribution of child gun deaths tracks the age distribution of child drug dealers.
Source: Centers For Disease Control


MYTH: The best way to protect children from guns is to keep children ignorant about them.
FACT: The best way to protect children from guns is to teach them gun safety and lock up guns whenever it is practical to do so. "Ignorance is best" is the old argument against sex-education, reworded by the same people who ridiculed it when it was used by sex-education opponents. With more than 250 million guns in the USA, children will encounter one sooner or later, especially if they live around police, security guards, hunters, or the military.


MYTH: Trigger locks are the best protection against unauthorized gun use.
FACT: The best protection against unauthorized gun use is to keep guns in a child-proof burglar-proof safe whenever they are not being used for hunting, self-protection, or target-shooting. Trigger locks do not protect guns from being stolen, and an improperly-installed trigger lock can cause a gun to fire accidentally, especially if the gun is dropped.


MYTH: The politicians who talk loudest about "gun-control" work hard to prevent gun violence.
FACT: After demanding passage of the Brady Law, the Clinton-Gore administration prosecuted fewer than 5 out of every 100 convicted felons who violated the law.
Source: U.S. Department Of Justice - Bureau of Justice Statistics, courtesy of US Congressman John Dingell


MYTH: If guns were illegal, criminals would not have guns.
FACT: Guns are readily available in China, Eastern Europe, and illegal-drug-producing countries such as Mexico and Columbia. Criminals smuggled 690,000 pounds of cocaine into the USA in the first 6 months of 2000. Thousands of guns can be hidden in 690,000 pounds of cocaine.
Source: USA Today newspaper, 28 September 2000, page 3A


MYTH: Mandatory gun registration means all guns must be registered.
FACT: Because it is already illegal for convicted felons to own guns, the Fifth Amendment protects felons from being forced to incriminate themselves by registering their guns. Any criminal can easily avoid gun registration by committing a felony and getting probation, or by storing his guns at the home of a convicted felon. If his existing guns are confiscated, he can buy more from any drug dealer.
Source: Fifth Amendment To The Constitution Of The United States and the US Supreme Court ruling Haynes Versus United States


MYTH: "Gun-control" organizations are run by dedicated volunteers.
FACT: The president of Handgun Control Incorporated (HCI) makes more than $150,000 per year from gun violence.
Source: HCI financial filings


MYTH: The National Rifle Association (NRA) is evil.
FACT: For several decades the NRA has been working to reduce gun deaths. Their "Eddie Eagle" videos teach young children that when they encounter a gun they should: "Stop! Don't touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult." The NRA's magazines are full of advertisements for child-proof burglar-proof gun safes. The NRA-supported Project Exile has reduced gun deaths in Richmond, Virginia by strongly punishing criminals who use guns in crimes. The NRA has selfish reasons to fight gun violence: More gun deaths means more votes for anti-gun politicians and more money for multi-million-dollar "gun-control" businesses such as Handgun Control Incorporated.
Source: NRA "Eddie Eagle" videotape and American Rifleman magazine


MYTH: "Gun-control" laws worked in England.
FACT: After more than fifty years of "sensible gun-control laws," English criminals have more than three million illegal guns, twice as many as ten years ago.
Source: The Sunday Times newspaper, 16 January 2000, Killings rise as 3m illegal guns flood Britain and The Guardian newspaper, 23 October 2000, US-style gun law comes to Britain​

Source

 

[McBell]

In 1999, there were 28,874 gun-related deaths in the United States - over 80 deaths every day.
(Source: Hoyert DL, Arias E, Smith BL, Murphy SL, Kochanek, KD. Deaths: Final Data for 1999. National Vital Statistics Reports. 2001;49 (8).)


Between 1993-1999, gun deaths in the United States have declined 27%.
(SOURCE: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/default.htm, WISQARS, National Center for Injury Control and Prevention, accessed March, 2002.)


In 1999, 58% of all gun deaths were suicides, and 38% were homicides.
(SOURCE: Hoyert DL, Arias E, Smith BL, Murphy SL, Kochanek, KD. Deaths: Final Data for 1999. National Vital Statistics Reports. 2001;49 (8).)


Of all suicides, 57% occurred by firearm
(SOURCE: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/default.htm, Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS), National Center for Injury Control and Prevention, accessed March, 2002.)


In 2000, 75,685 people (27/100,000) suffered non-fatal firearm gunshot injuries.
(SOURCE: Federal Bureau of Investigation. Uniform Crime Reports for the United States: Crime in the United States 2000: Uniform Crime Reports. Washington, D.C: U.S. Department of Justice; 2001.)
​

Source

 

[PureX]

MYTH: Most gun deaths are caused by accidents or by crazed madmen.
FACT: More than two out of every three gun deaths are either suicides or drug-related murders.
Source: Centers For Disease Control - Deaths 1998 (625KB document!) and U.S. Department Of Justice - Bureau of Justice Statistics​

Most gun deaths are caused by having easy and immediate access to a gun, while making very bad decisions, usually because of drugs or alcohol or raging emotions.

MYTH: The politicians who talk loudest about "gun-control" work hard to prevent gun violence.
FACT: After demanding passage of the Brady Law, the Clinton-Gore administration prosecuted fewer than 5 out of every 100 convicted felons who violated the law.
Source: U.S. Department Of Justice - Bureau of Justice Statistics, courtesy of US Congressman John Dingell​

Sometimes politicians don't do anything about gun laws BECAUSE of the gun lobby. Let's be a little more even-handed, here.

MYTH: If guns were illegal, criminals would not have guns.
FACT: Guns are readily available in China, Eastern Europe, and illegal-drug-producing countries such as Mexico and Columbia. Criminals smuggled 690,000 pounds of cocaine into the USA in the first 6 months of 2000. Thousands of guns can be hidden in 690,000 pounds of cocaine.
Source: USA Today newspaper, 28 September 2000, page 3A​

This is a silly 'straw-man' argument. No one believes that if guns were all made illegal, that no one would have guns.

MYTH: Mandatory gun registration means all guns must be registered.
FACT: Because it is already illegal for convicted felons to own guns, the Fifth Amendment protects felons from being forced to incriminate themselves by registering their guns. Any criminal can easily avoid gun registration by committing a felony and getting probation, or by storing his guns at the home of a convicted felon. If his existing guns are confiscated, he can buy more from any drug dealer.
Source: Fifth Amendment To The Constitution Of The United States and the US Supreme Court ruling Haynes Versus United States​

This is an idiotic argument. Of course a criminal will not register a gun that he owns illegally.

MYTH: "Gun-control" organizations are run by dedicated volunteers.
FACT: The president of Handgun Control Incorporated (HCI) makes more than $150,000 per year from gun violence.
Source: HCI financial filings​

This is so pathetic an argument that it's insulting.

MYTH: The National Rifle Association (NRA) is evil.
FACT: For several decades the NRA has been working to reduce gun deaths. Their "Eddie Eagle" videos teach young children that when they encounter a gun they should: "Stop! Don't touch. Leave the area. Tell an adult." The NRA's magazines are full of advertisements for child-proof burglar-proof gun safes. The NRA-supported Project Exile has reduced gun deaths in Richmond, Virginia by strongly punishing criminals who use guns in crimes. The NRA has selfish reasons to fight gun violence: More gun deaths means more votes for anti-gun politicians and more money for multi-million-dollar "gun-control" businesses such as Handgun Control Incorporated.
Source: NRA "Eddie Eagle" videotape and American Rifleman magazine​

The NRA makes mistakes just like any other organization. They also sometimes get things right. "Evil" has nothing to do with anything.

MYTH: "Gun-control" laws worked in England.
FACT: After more than fifty years of "sensible gun-control laws," English criminals have more than three million illegal guns, twice as many as ten years ago.
Source: The Sunday Times newspaper, 16 January 2000, Killings rise as 3m illegal guns flood Britain and The Guardian newspaper, 23 October 2000, US-style gun law comes to Britain​

Source

No laws work perfectly. And I wonder how much OUR love of maximum violent response is effecting Brittain ....​

 

[Reverend Rick]

I lived in Chicago for many years. And I read the Chicago Tribune most days of the week. We always had a copy of the paper laying around at my job, and I usually would buy the sunday paper at home. In all those years I've read many stories about people getting killed with guns. And I can tell you how it would break down throughout the year.

In the fall, when the kids were first going back to school there would be a drastic increase in gang shootings. They were fighting to establish dominance around the school, I guess. And they seldom actually hit the people they were aiming at. Most of the time they would hit non-gang bystanders, who were also kids. This would go on for a couple of weeks, until the cops figured out the hot spots, and the gangs figured out who's on top, and then it would subside.

There would also be a sudden rise in gun violence and deaths in and around the month of June. And the reason for this is that the weather begins getting hot in Chicago in June, and people living in the poorer neighborhoods don't have air conditioning. So they begin to hang out on their porches in the evening. They drink, and they argue with the neighbors on the next stoop, and their gang-banger kids clash, and out comes the guns. This is the time of year when people shoot their best buddy, their neighbor, their wife, son, parent, whatever. And it's always over some ridiculous petty grievance, and almost always alcohol and/or drug fueled. In this same category are the bar flies who get to fighting, and on goes home or to their car and comes back with a gun, and shoots up the bar. These weren't weather related, though. they could happen any time.

Then there are the disgruntled lovers. These are almost always men, who upon finally realizing that the love of their life is not the fantasy love that they made up in their heads, decide that they must kill them in some sort of tragic act of vengeance. Sometimes, if the girlfriend has kids, they will kill the whole family. This would happen probably three or four times every year.

Then there were the home invasions that end in someone getting killed. The vast majority of these were done by junky neighbors, and were usually committed against old people. Junky-boy would break into the old lady's house next door because in his addled mind, he has imagined that she has some hidden stash of money, and he's so wasted that he forgets that she's probably home. When she catches him in the house, he decides he has to kill her because of course she knows who he is. So he kills the woman to cover up a silly B&E, steals $20 from her purse, and goes and gets high. He gets caught, thankfully, but what a waste. These idiots sometimes use guns, but usually not. Being junkies, they can't hold on to anything of any value, including a gun. So they tend to kill with whatever they find handy. If they find a gun, though, they will use it and then sell it.

In 23 years of living in Chicago, I don't recall an instance of a hardened criminal planning a crime, carrying it out, and killing people in the process. There was a horrible robbery of a chicken joint, where all the employees were killed, 6 of them. But when the killers were caught, they turned out to be a couple of local high school kids who had never done anything like that before or since. There were many armed robberies, of course, but when the criminals are sober, and plan the crime, they rarely ever actually fire their guns.

The only crimes I recall that involved automatic weapons were gang-banger drive-by shootings. But the bangers have constant look-outs as part of the normal way they do things, so such drive-by shootings would tend not to be all that successful. They were more likely to hit a bystander than their enemy gang members.

The bottom line, though, was that the vast majority of killings involving guns were the result of drunks, junkies, hot heads, and nuts getting hold of gun (often they bought them, themselves) and shooting each other, or the neighbors, or their lovers or even their own family members. Most of the people shot and killed in Chicago in any given year knew the people who killed them. They were not killed by plotting criminals. They were killed by really bad spur-of-the-moment decisions made by family, friends, and neighbors that were warped by drugs, alcohol, and rage.

And in almost all of these cases, if the guns had not been right there, so easy to pick up and pull the trigger in that moment of stupidity, the killings would never have happened.

Purex your definition of criminals and mine are different. If you use a gun to rob someone, (even in high school) your a criminal.

If you have a gun and are not licensed to carry it or purchase it, your a criminal.

If you break into someones home and steal a gun, your a criminal.

If you shoot your wife or girl friend because she did not live up to your expectations, your a criminal.

If you get drunk or high AND shoot someone with a gun, your a criminal.

You do realise that not a single CCW license holder in this country has committed a crime with a gun, right? Actually we have a better record of obeying the law than the police do at this moment. They have been carrying weapons alot longer however.

 

[McBell]

Most gun deaths are caused by having easy and immediate access to a gun, while making very bad decisions, usually because of drugs or alcohol or raging emotions.

58% of gun deaths are suicides. Post #102
So you are just flat out wrong.

Sometimes politicians don't do anything about gun laws BECAUSE of the gun lobby. Let's be a little more even-handed, here.

Please.
The gun lobby can control the politicians prosecution of less than 5% ?
Talk about wishful thinking.

And I did notice you dodged the point.

This is a silly 'straw-man' argument. No one believes that if guns were all made illegal, that no one would have guns.

No, your reply is a straw man.
You changed 'criminals' to 'no one'.
Nice try though.

This is an idiotic argument. Of course a criminal will not register a gun that he owns illegally.

You really like those straw men.

This is so pathetic an argument that it's insulting.

I agree.
That is why I am glad that his salary has been pointed out.

The NRA makes mistakes just like any other organization. They also sometimes get things right. "Evil" has nothing to do with anything.

Agreed.

No laws work perfectly. And I wonder how much OUR love of maximum violent response is effecting Britain ....

Yet you want a proven non-effective law put into place here in the USA?
One wonders what your personal agenda is about.

 

[Reverend Rick]

What this is really about is that some folks want us totally reliant on the government literally for every breath we breathe.

Gun laws keep the criminals armed and the law abiding citizens unarmed, thus making them reliant on the police to protect them. When crap hits the fan and you dial 911 and get the busy signal, it all sinks in.

Some folks don't like it when a disaster strikes and the local folks fix the problem themselves. How dare us have a few propane tanks and bottled water stored for an emergency. While some areas sit and wait for help, others are having steaks on the grill and running air conditioning off their generator after using their chain saw and personal tools all day.

They actually had a full tank of gas and some cash on hand for an emergency. God forbid if looting started we actually strapped on a side arm.

 

[PureX]

Purex your definition of criminals and mine are different. If you use a gun to rob someone, (even in high school) your a criminal.

If you have a gun and are not licensed to carry it or purchase it, your a criminal.

If you break into someones home and steal a gun, your a criminal.

If you shoot your wife or girl friend because she did not live up to your expectations, your a criminal.

If you get drunk or high AND shoot someone with a gun, your a criminal.

You do realise that not a single CCW license holder in this country has committed a crime with a gun, right? Actually we have a better record of obeying the law than the police do at this moment. They have been carrying weapons alot longer however.

I don't really care who is a criminal. What matters is that the guns are there for people to grab and use when they are not making responsible decisions. And as a result, a lot of people are being needlessly killed. Innocent people. To stop this, we need to find ways of keeping the guns away from the people who are likely to make such bad decisions. We also need to teach people how to make better decisions, which we are not doing, either.

 

[PureX]

58% of gun deaths are suicides. Post #102
So you are just flat out wrong.

No I'm not. Once again, we have people using guns, mostly because they are so easy to get hold of, to carry out a really bad decision made while emotionally unstable. And once again, if we could keep the guns away from these emotionally unstable people, many of them would not be dead. Some would, of course, but some would not. I didn't mention people killing themselves because the newspapers don't usually report that, at least not in Chicago, so I had no idea how many people kill themselves with guns.

 

[PureX]

What this is really about is that some folks want us totally reliant on the government literally for every breath we breathe.

Name one person that wants us all totally reliant on the government. C'mon! That's a ridiculously broad and prejudicial statement.

Gun laws keep the criminals armed and the law abiding citizens unarmed, thus making them reliant on the police to protect them. When crap hits the fan and you dial 911 and get the busy signal, it all sinks in.

No one in Chicago gets a busy signal when they dial 911. No one where I live now does, either. In the city, the police show up very quickly, because they are always nearby. In the country, they take a lot longer because there are fewer of them, and they are further away. But then, living in the country, one rarely has to worry about being victimized by crime and needing to call for help.

But then none of this has anything to do with anything, as no one here is proposing a ban on guns.

Some folks don't like it when a disaster strikes and the local folks fix the problem themselves. How dare us have a few propane tanks and bottled water stored for an emergency. While some areas sit and wait for help, others are having steaks on the grill and running air conditioning off their generator after using their chain saw and personal tools all day.

So what? People are people. They think all kinds of things. Lots of people can't afford steaks and generators. You puff yourself up big enough in front of them, and maybe they'll come and take yours.

 

[yossarian22]

No I'm not. Once again, we have people using guns, mostly because they are so easy to get hold of, to carry out a really bad decision made while emotionally unstable. And once again, if we could keep the guns away from these emotionally unstable people, many of them would not be dead. Some would, of course, but some would not. I didn't mention people killing themselves because the newspapers don't usually report that, at least not in Chicago, so I had no idea how many people kill themselves with guns.

A couple things.
Guys tend to use firearms more often than women as a means of suicide. Strange huh? But you cannot conclude that they would not have killed themselves if they did not have access to a firearm. Hanging is fairly common I believe. As are pills. Are you going to declare that we should outlaw those as well?
A newspaper is the absolute worst place to get your information. They report the extraordinary events. The outliers.

 

[Reverend Rick]

No one in Chicago gets a busy signal when they dial 911.

Gee, that is about as arrogant as me bragging about steaks on the grill.

People in New Orleans got the busy signal.
People in L.A. during the riots got a busy signal.
After several hurricanes I experienced, I could not even get a dial tone or a cell phone to connect.

My point is, when crap hits the fan, the police cannot answer every ones call.

I would much rather let the professionals do their job, but some times that is not an option.

Let's talk about all these unstable people. I get mad as hell when some one cuts me off in traffic. I have never even once thought about doing something about it.

We all have been done wrong by someone, employers, lovers, family, what ever. How that equates to law abiding people is beyond me.

Homicidal idiots are a reason for gun ownership not more gun laws.

 

[McBell]

No I'm not. Once again, we have people using guns, mostly because they are so easy to get hold of, to carry out a really bad decision made while emotionally unstable. And once again, if we could keep the guns away from these emotionally unstable people, many of them would not be dead. Some would, of course, but some would not. I didn't mention people killing themselves because the newspapers don't usually report that, at least not in Chicago, so I had no idea how many people kill themselves with guns.

Are you saying that your arguments are based upon what you get from the media?

 

[rojse]

Heyas, this thread got started in another thread which you can find here:

http://www.religiousforums.com/foru...t-kind-statement-shopping-mall-murderers.html

But It is veering away from the OP and turning into a debate about Gun Control, so I figured I'd move it here. This thread is basically to discuss your views on Gun Control, more specifically the U.S. Constitutional right to bear arms but also other countries policies on firearms and how effective, unaffective different methods can be. In my own opinion, the right to bear arms is quite important and removing guns from people is treating the symptom and not the problem. I guess I'll throw down some little factoids to get this started:

Amendment II (U.S. Bill of Rights)

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Though I think that's pretty obviously saying that people can have arms, many people take different views, so we can discuss that.

I don't want to make this post ridiculously lengthy, so I'll post some relevent links

United States vs. Jack Miller
United States v. Miller - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

George Lewis vs. United States
LEWIS v. UNITED STATES.

Worldwide Homicide Rates with Firearms
Gun violence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, guns. Where do you stand and why?

In Australia, gun ownership has been heavily restricted. Guns were brought back by the government, and sales heavily restricted. Shootouts are rare, and are usually between police, the gun owner, and, rarely, one or two close relations. I can't remember the last civilian shooting rampage in Australia, where someone goes berserk and takes out a bunch of people they do not know.

We get the news that one occurs in America at least once a month, if not more often, that this is such a huge tragedy and the rest of it. My full sympathies to the families, but I cannot understand why there is such an outcry resulting from such incidents when guns are so unrestricted.

I prefer Australia's controlled gun system, thank you.

 

[PureX]

Gee, that is about as arrogant as me bragging about steaks on the grill.

People in New Orleans got the busy signal.
People in L.A. during the riots got a busy signal.
After several hurricanes I experienced, I could not even get a dial tone or a cell phone to connect.

My point is, when crap hits the fan, the police cannot answer every ones call.

I would much rather let the professionals do their job, but some times that is not an option.

Let's talk about all these unstable people. I get mad as hell when some one cuts me off in traffic. I have never even once thought about doing something about it.

We all have been done wrong by someone, employers, lovers, family, what ever. How that equates to law abiding people is beyond me.

Homicidal idiots are a reason for gun ownership not more gun laws.

What does this have to do with anything? I have never advocated that we ban guns. I just want to try and keep them away from homicidal idiots. The reason we need gun control is because WE are the homicidal idiots.

 

[PureX]

Are you saying that your arguments are based upon what you get from the media?

My arguments are based on what I know, and common sense. And so far, I have not seen you come up with any great rebuttals. If you think the Chicago Tribune was lying about all those incidents involving guns, then there isn't much point in this discussion.

 

[prayerbead]

I know it's part of the US constitution but the Right to Bare Arms is outdated imo Maybe if the gun manufactures stopped making them people would take up martial arts and tackle the obesity issue at the same time.

 

[McBell]

My arguments are based on what I know, and common sense. And so far, I have not seen you come up with any great rebuttals.

Of course not.
You do not see that which you do not want to see.
Post #102 is a perfect example.

How much research have you done on the subject?
And I mean research, not ratification?
Thus far it seems that you have done little to no research.
Yet you go on and on like you are some sort of expert on the subject.

 

[McBell]

My arguments are based on what I know, and common sense. And so far, I have not seen you come up with any great rebuttals. If you think the Chicago Tribune was lying about all those incidents involving guns, then there isn't much point in this discussion.

Interesting, is it not, that you have presented nothing but your opinion to support your opinion.

Not once in this entire thread have you presented something other than your opinion, even when flat out asked to present.

Now you want to try a straw man.
The Chicago Tribune does not cover every single fire arm incident in Chicago, let alone the rest of the USA.

Here you are taking the little bit you know on the subject, which is based upon incomplete information on a small section of the USA and attempting to apply it to the whole USA.
And you do not see any problem with that?

 

[PureX]

I know it's part of the US constitution but the Right to Bare Arms is outdated imo Maybe if the gun manufactures stopped making them people would take up martial arts and tackle the obesity issue at the same time.

The real problem is that we have developed a culture in which maximum violent response is considered normal. We have all seen, now, a thousand movies and TV shows in which the 'bad guys' go down in a hail of bullets. This is how we solve problems with other people in this country - a hail of bullets. At least it is if you were judging the actions of a nation by the way we depict ourselves in books, movies, and TV. And it's because we so routinely view a hail of bullets as a legitimate way of resolving our conflicts with other human beings, that we get these guys shooting up schools and shopping malls. Not to mention all the disgruntled husbands and boyfriends who shoot their wives and lovers and their kids, and their parents. And the drunks in the bars who get into fights and come back shooting. This also explains why the kids who go to tough inner-city schools want to have and carry guns around with them. They see guns as the universal way of dealing with bullies, because that's what they see on the TV and in movies. Deadly violence is the American way of problem-solving. And that's why we have so many guns in the hands of so many idiots.

 

[McBell]

The real problem is that we have developed a culture in which maximum violent response is considered normal. We have all seen, now, a thousand movies and TV shows in which the 'bad guys' go down in a hail of bullets. This is how we solve problems with other people in this country - a hail of bullets. At least it is if you were judging the actions of a nation by the way we depict ourselves in books, movies, and TV. And it's because we so routinely view a hail of bullets as a legitimate way of resolving our conflicts with other human beings, that we get these guys shooting up schools and shopping malls. Not to mention all the disgruntled husbands and boyfriends who shoot their wives and lovers and their kids, and their parents. And the drunks in the bars who get into fights and come back shooting. This also explains why the kids who go to tough inner-city schools want to have and carry guns around with them. They see guns as the universal way of dealing with bullies, because that's what they see on the TV and in movies. Deadly violence is the American way of problem-solving. And that's why we have so many guns in the hands of so many idiots.

Interesting how this 'hail of bullets' theory of yours is only in works of FICTION.
When was the last time congress used it?

You are taking the exception and presenting it as the rule.
If I did not know any better and took only what I heard from the anti-gun folks, I would be thinking that every shopping mall, school, and bus stop gets shot up at least twice a year. Post #67

Interestingly enough, you are also implying that people cannot tell the difference between real life and fiction.
Yet the real world does not have 'bad guys gunned down in a hail of bullets' on every street corner.