If a man wanted to buy a kitchen knife from you, but you knew that he intended to use it to kill his wife, would you still sell it to him?

What if he concealed the purpose of his purchase from me?

No, that doesn’t work. H&K cannot be unaware of the human rights abuses committed by the forces they sell arms to. Numerous times the company has deliberately circumvented arms embargoes that were put in place precisely because of ongoing human rights concerns. Recently H&K was caught illegally supplying guns to Mexican states such as Oaxaca, where it is well known that police commit serious human rights abuses, including shooting unarmed people.

I can kill you just as quick (probably quicker)with a Subaru than a rifle.

No you can’t. There is a reason that soldiers around the world are armed with rifles and not Subarus. Think about it: What would you rather try to dodge – an SUV or a bullet?

I take your point that other objects can be used to murder people, but your assertions that any old thing will do the job as easily as a modern assault rifle are starting to sound ridiculous.

If you think the UK is being “devoured” by gun crime, you need to check the facts: Per 100 000 people, the US has 40 times more firearms murders than the UK.

Our campaign is not an ‘intellectual’ exercise; it is a moral imperative – part of a wider movement to expose and dismantle an unethical industry that profits from war and repression. If you can think of more effective tactics that we could use to achieve our aims, please let us know.

Doesn’t bother me at all. Just pointing out the obvious to you.

If a man wanted to buy a kitchen knife from you, but you knew that he intended to use it to kill his wife, would you still sell it to him? If you did, what sort of person would that make you?

What if he concealed the purpose of his purchase from me? He kills his wife, and I find protesters in front of my store? They impede my business and deface my property? What sort of person does that make you, the protester?

As you point out, intent is crucial. Cricket bats, shovels, spoons and bungee cords are not made to kill people, whereas assault rifles have only one purpose – to kill people or to make people do what you want through fear of being killed.

So why avoid addressing intent? That’s the entire issue. Cricket bats or rifles..it doesn’t matter. The operator determines the use of the object. I can kill you just as quick (probably quicker)with a Subaru than a rifle. Plus I would be air conditioned doing it. Rifles have been used throughout the last two centuries or so in legitimate defense of homeland. The US sent thousands of rifles to England in WWII so they could protect themselves after they foolishly banned them in the 20s and 30s. If it wasn’t for those rifles and other ‘warlike’ services rendered by Allies, you’d be speaking German right now. But, you didn’t learn a thing from history, pursued the same political course again recently, and find yourselves being devoured by crime in a society where criminals enjoy more freedom than you do.

Instead of slogging around in the same ‘intellectual’ rut of ‘banning’ objects that can’t be banned really, try something else. Think past the third century. I know it will require effort, certainly more than trespassing and protesting.

As you point out, intent is crucial. Cricket bats, shovels, spoons and bungee cords are not made to kill people, whereas assault rifles have only one purpose – to kill people or to make people do what you want through fear of being killed.

If a man wanted to buy a kitchen knife from you, but you knew that he intended to use it to kill his wife, would you still sell it to him? If you did, what sort of person would that make you?

What if people working for an arms company knowingly sold assault rifles to regimes that use the weapons to kill civilians? How would that be different?

Finally; if, as you say, campaigning against the arms trade is not going to have any effect, then why does it bother you so much?

You missed the point. You can’t stop arming. As long as there are humans, there are weapons. ‘Intent’ makes war, not the tools. I see people daily use common cars to intimidate and injure in road rage. The list is endless. Total up the people killed yearly by shovels, spoons, rocks, bungee cords, etc., etc. it would dwarf any direct kills associated to equipment manufactured by companies like HK. This has existed since the dawn of man, and it has never changed. So you suddenly think with a protest and a website you can convince all of mankind to suddenly cease being predators? To quite making or buying weapons? Run along now, boy..

Humans are inherently evil. War has been waged since the beginning of time. You can only prevent war when you can prevent the continuation of society. The useless and pathetic ‘quest’ to stop arms production in any form shows how truly powerless and ignorant of humanity you really are. But, if that somehow makes you able to sleep at night, well…

What’s next after H&K? Picketing cricket bat manufacturers?

So you have a family. So do people who work in the arms industry. So do the people you fight. So do dictators and despots. So what?

You still don’t get it – NATO and the US are the ones who “use weapons of war to oppress and kill people”. Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan.

R. Jackson

Ultimately, opposition to the arms trade needs to be as global as the arms trade itself. If the company opens a new factory in another town or another country, it needs to be opposed there too.

And Russle, if you’re a mercenary, you are the “bad guys”.