[bdunbar]

> We don't allow people on the roads without a licence

I'm not convinced by this argument. Firearms are not used in public spaces, but in private land, or on club-owned property.

[Zimahl]

Actually, most hunting is done on public land - typically state or federal. There are private game ranches, but those aren't the standard.

[bdunbar]

Point! I was thinking 'shooting range', not hunting.

Which is silly - where I live half the office is gone during deer season.

[Maxious]

> NEWTOWN, Connecticut: People in the rural, hilly areas around Newtown are used to gunfire. [...]

> But in the last couple of years, residents began noticing loud, repeated gunfire, and even explosions [from propane gas tanks used as targets], coming from new places. Near a trailer park. By a boat launch. Next to well-appointed houses.

> [...] ''We're growing,'' [Council Ordinance Committee Chairwoman, Mary Ann Jacob] said on Saturday, describing a town where hikers and mountain bikers competed with gun owners for use of trails and forested areas.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/guns-are-why-were-free-8230-peop...

[bdunbar]

Your point - do you have one?

[justincormack]

Firearms are never used in public? Ever?

[hga]

Both Clayton Cramer and the US Government Accountability Office ("Investigative arm of Congress charged with examining matters relating to the receipt and payment of public funds.") this summer estimated there are outstanding around 8 million licenses to carry concealed.

I can't speak for others, but I can say that almost every time I walk outside I've carrying a M1911 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1911_pistol).

[bdunbar]

The only occasion I can think of where a private citizen would use a firearm in a public area is a city-owned gun range, or hunting on public land.