3 ms·

I said time, motivation, and uncommon resources. As to the "uncommon resources" part- what percent of the people that you know have two steel tubes of the rig

I said time, motivation, and uncommon resources. As to the "uncommon resources" part- what percent of the people that you know have two steel tubes of the right diameter? I didn't say it was like securing refined plutonium for an A-bomb, but I stand by my statement that those resources are not common possessions. As to the time part - yes, absolutely, it does. Just because you've got craft skills does not mean they are common. Do most people who own a home defense gun build them themselves using common parts from a hardware store? In fact, I bet that's extremely rare. I didn't say they were super hard, and I didn't say the resources were super rare. They're not out of reach of any dedicated person who is intent on achieving a goal. But then, a speed bump doesn't force you to drive slower, either. You can sail over them at 90 miles an hour, once. But speed bumps still do their job.

int_19h 10y ago
My point is that it's not even hard, much less superhard. Sure, you won't have a couple of pipes of the right size just lying around - but all you need is a measuring tape to get the diameter of a shotgun shell, and then walking into the nearest Ace or Home Depot to get those. So I would argue that they are, effectively, "common possessions", in a sense that it is something that can be obtained with very little time and effort - comparable to grocery shopping. And it doesn't require any specialized knowledge or skills at all - I couldn't fix my own sink, but I could make a working zip gun. The reason why you don't see this happening a lot in practice is because it's easier to get a proper gun in US, and it's much more functional. But if you make that harder, you'll have to deal with this workaround suddenly becoming a lot more popular. Speed bumps are a poor analogy, I think. They work, because their intended effect is localized - you put them where you want to avoid speeding because it's too dangerous. There's no similar locality in gun control.

int_19h 10y ago

My point is that it's not even hard, much less superhard. Sure, you won't have a couple of pipes of the right size just lying around - but all you need is a measuring tape to get the diameter of a shotgun shell, and then walking into the nearest Ace or Home Depot to get those. So I would argue that they are, effectively, "common possessions", in a sense that it is something that can be obtained with very little time and effort - comparable to grocery shopping. And it doesn't require any specialized knowledge or skills at all - I couldn't fix my own sink, but I could make a working zip gun. The reason why you don't see this happening a lot in practice is because it's easier to get a proper gun in US, and it's much more functional. But if you make that harder, you'll have to deal with this workaround suddenly becoming a lot more popular. Speed bumps are a poor analogy, I think. They work, because their intended effect is localized - you put them where you want to avoid speeding because it's too dangerous. There's no similar locality in gun control.