Virginia Tech: Gun Control. Why did the Sheriff in the old west often confiscate the guns of the men until they left town. Why did the saloon operators make everyone "check" their guns at the door?
Did they know something that we have forgotten?
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ANSWERS: 4
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In those days everyone had guns. Arguments turned into gun fights. The experience Sherrifs and saloon keepers taught them that guns in everyone's hands can be unnessessarily dangerous. They needed guns out of twon in the days of wild animals, bandits and the Indian Wars.
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One element that you ignore is that they tried to take the firearms from men who were passing through, not from the residents of the town. The men passing through town were not polite tourists or settlers. They were rough men who just finished four weeks of an incredibly hard cattle drive and just got paid. These men had no attachment to the community and likely thought they wouldn't be coming back again, so they had no reluctance to tear up the town. Unless you got some proof that cowtown sheriffs confiscated the firearms from residents as well, your argument holds no water. Taking the sixguns from people who were a known criminal element was a rational thing to do. Taking firearms from people who were not known for razing a town was not.
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Back in those days, if a sheriff told you to drop off your guns at the courthouse and you ignored him, the undertaker would be taking you under PDQ. These days if a sheriff tried to do his business that way, the undertaker would be a taking him under, and I mean PDQ. We have achieved a fine balance of power, I can live with it. I hope you can see the wisdom in how this great nation has evolved over time.
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We have not forgotten that guns and alcohol don't mix. And as mentioned elsewhere, the sheriffs confiscated the guns of outlaws and near-outlaws. I thought we could still do that. the VT shootout would have ended VERY quickly had everyone around that guy been armed.
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