Isn't that strange? The thing with the parking is totally correct, it kept me busy thinking for about...5 minutes. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
I watched the news yesterday (as I do every day), and this is how all evi starts! No, seriously, it got me to another difference.
The whole story was about a man living in Colorado, who had a "little" accident with a nail gun. For some reason he managed to shoot a nail into his head without even noticing (how is that possible???). The next few days he didn't feel too well (no wonder!) and thought that he had tooth-ache. So his girlfriend or wife or whatever convinced him to go see a dentist.
This is what he did - the dentist did an x-ray and what he saw was a 10 centimeter nail in the head of the man. (Ouch) Then they went along and of course removed the nail - now the man has to pay around 60.000 dollars for the surgery costs because he was not insured (but stated that he is still the luckiest man in history, from the point of view that he has no more nail in his head he is probably).
This is something that is totally unthinkable here in Austria, because basically *everyone* is insured. If you need a surgery, you get a surgery and your insurance pays for you. Also, insurances are to be had very cheap, so that also people who do not have any money can afford it easily. I think that this is quite different in America, but please correct me if I am mistaken. It seems like a good portion of the population in America is not (sufficiently) insured.
When you have a job here your boss will automatically pay your insurance, in fact he has to do so. When you are married with children and are the only one with an income, your insurance also pays for your wife (husband) and children.
I think that the "right to bear weapons" and the "right to use them" are two different pair of shoes. I can understand, especially if something really bad happened to you in your life already, that you want to protect yourself and your family. I don't think, though, that it should be that easy to get fire-arms. I mean, if you have to bring a medical and psychological paper stating that you are healthy and sane, and learn the basic handling of the weapons you wish to own this is a good thing, imho. I mean, knowing what you do does not only protect others, it also protects yourself. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
