> I remember someone (a friend) arguing against legalisation of guns on
> the basis of the conflict in Ireland, seemingly missing the point that
> the guns used by all sides except the security forces were illegal
> anyway.
Is that really true though? Guns have always been legal for licence holders in the North and last year the Belfast Telegraph reported something like 145,000 legally held weapons (not including those held by the security forces) - a pretty significant figure in terms of the population of the place.
I'd agree with you it's a stupid basis for an anti-gun control argument, though.