Hacker News Reader

It's not legal, therefore it's not practical? That doesn't make any sense at all.

This falls apart when you examine prohibited goods. Guns are illegal in most countries because they are very useful.

Are they though? I'm 38 and can't remember a situation in my life where a gun would have been useful. Not saying that I can't imagine such situations, I just find it a slightly weird example to make this point.

I also don't think that a fishing pole is useful, but that's because I don't like to fish. With a gun I could

* defend myself

* rob you

* murder you very effectively

* enjoy target shooting

* hunt wild game

* provide peace of mind in troubled times when law and order break down

The fewer guns there are per capita, the more useful they become for criminals. They are so useful, in fact, that people will spend a lot of money and subject themselves to costly and invasive regulations just to buy one gun. If no one found them useful, no one would find it necessary to ban them.

> I would not consider it useful.

Perhaps you meant (and people should have charitably interpreted you as meaning) "I would consider it to have no legitimate uses" or "... no uses worth supporting".

useful != legal