Different "Customs"
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Post Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 5:53 am 
 

Badmike wrote:
"In Italy, 80.7 percent of all crimes go unpunished and the culprit is not found — 96.8 percent of the thefts, 58.2 percent of the homicides, 84.6 percent of the robberies, and 64.3 percent of the kidnappings. Moreover, Mr. De Masi might have addressed the fact that the Swiss are much more heavily armed than Italians are, yet are also less violent. The 1994 Swiss homicide rate was of 1.32 per 100,000 people (among which only 0.58 were perpetrated with a firearm), while the Italian rate was 2.25 (of which 1.66 were perpetrated with a firearm)." (From National Reveiw, 5/7/2002)



"Italy -- There are limits on the number of firearms and the quantity of ammunition a person may own. To be issued a permit to carry a firearm, a person must prove an established need, such as a dangerous occupation. Firearms which use the same ammunition as firearms used by the military -- which in America would include countless millions of rifles, shotguns, and handguns -- and ammunition for them are prohibited. Yet, "Italy`s gun law, `the most restrictive in Europe,` had left her southern provinces alone with a thousand firearm murders a year, thirty times Switzerland`s total." (Richard A. I. Munday, Most Armed & Most Free?, Brightlingsea, Essex: Piedmont Publishing, 1996.)





If we judge a country's safety upon the number of crimes being successfully prosecuted then no country is safe. The numbers quoted from The National Review are impressing, but it could be very interesting to quote the ACTUAL NUMBER of crimes being committed and the chance one citizen has to be victim of a crime. With such factors considered, Italy is still one of the safest countries in the world. There are exceptions (Naples is a basket case about this), but if we used the areas worst affected by crimes as being the average, then we could use the statistics from every major US city (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, etc.) and so we could conclude that the US is a war zone.  Did relaxed gun control laws make such cities safer?  



The comment about the law leaving helpless southern Italians victims of organized crime, implying that with a more relaxed approach they could better defend themselves and so the crime rate would go down, is in my eyes pure idiocy. Going along this way of reasoning, then Somalia - where virtually everybody owns or can buy a weapon - should be one of the safest places on the planet. It's not, of course. Canada - with stringent gun control laws - should be more unsafe than the US, which is not.



Organized crime will never uphold laws of course. If Mafia wants guns, it will get guns. If laws were more relaxed, perhaps it could buy them here and not 'importing' them from the Balkans... The key to safety is not, in my eyes, giving everybody a gun, the key to safety is a strong state with a good police force and a tough policy against crime and criminals (something sadly lacking here, I'm afraid, and not for lack of effort by the police). New York shows that.



Hmmm... perhaps we have a bit strayed from the subject... We could discuss more in private e mails I suppose...

  


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Post Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 6:56 am 
 

rosenkav wrote:Comparing us to Switzerland, a neutral nation since the medieval times and one of the best administered of the world, seems a bit unfair to me.


Don't worry; Swiss history is rather selective in the manner it's presented to the rest of the world. :o

Has only been neutral from 1815 (or rather, had neutrality declared upon the country). Ditto in 1648. The Swiss cantons were still involved in expansionist ambitions until defeat at Marignano (1515) partly because they couldn't agree with themselves (it wasn't a single country, back then).

None of this goes back to mediaeval times...



Anyhow; they changed their gun laws in 1999 rendering previous comparisons invalid.



===



Customs... yeah, depending on what's on the label any imports to the UK can also be hit for various duties in addition to VAT (value added tax). My record to date is over 40%.

And VAT is often applied to the postage paid, too (since that's a "service"). Is possible to get taxed about half-a-dozen times on the same item, depending of where it has been sent from.



Always mark as "books"/"printed matter"/"magazines", whatever.

If there are dice in a high-value package, get them sent separately. ;)

  


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Post Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 7:01 am 
 

harami2000 wrote:If there are dice in a high-value package, get them sent separately. ;)


Will try and remember that tip.

  


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Post Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 7:12 am 
 

johnhuck wrote:
harami2000 wrote:If there are dice in a high-value package, get them sent separately. ;)


Will try and remember that tip.


The rattle would be a bit of a give away, I'm sure.

Anything that encourages them to think "game components" is a bad move...



Can't see any advantage to putting "boxed set of books" over just "books" in that context, either. Save the former for a fall-back excuse in the extremely remote chance they actually open the package, unless there are game counters everywhere in which case it's probably best just to declare ignorance and pay up.

(ymmv)

  

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Post Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 7:21 am 
 

If they are NOT in shrink, the best option IMHO is the "used books" definition.

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Post Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:33 pm 
 

Stereotypes of the gunslinging, pizza-eating, striped-suit Mafia boys do not render Italians justice - as it would be picturing all the Americans as naive, hamburger-eating, Stetson-wearing gung-ho dumbwits




Hey, I'm from Texas, and you are right, it isn't fair to picture us all as wering Stetsons ...


Regards,



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Post Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 3:04 pm 
 

Ethesis wrote:
Stereotypes of the gunslinging, pizza-eating, striped-suit Mafia boys do not render Italians justice - as it would be picturing all the Americans as naive, hamburger-eating, Stetson-wearing gung-ho dumbwits




Hey, I'm from Texas, and you are right, it isn't fair to picture us all as wering Stetsons ...




... even if Walker does?  :lol:

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Post Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 9:14 pm 
 

rosenkav wrote:
Badmike wrote:


"In Italy, 80.7 percent of all crimes go unpunished and the culprit is not found — 96.8 percent of the thefts, 58.2 percent of the homicides, 84.6 percent of the robberies, and 64.3 percent of the kidnappings. Moreover, Mr. De Masi might have addressed the fact that the Swiss are much more heavily armed than Italians are, yet are also less violent. The 1994 Swiss homicide rate was of 1.32 per 100,000 people (among which only 0.58 were perpetrated with a firearm), while the Italian rate was 2.25 (of which 1.66 were perpetrated with a firearm)." (From National Reveiw, 5/7/2002)



"Italy -- There are limits on the number of firearms and the quantity of ammunition a person may own. To be issued a permit to carry a firearm, a person must prove an established need, such as a dangerous occupation. Firearms which use the same ammunition as firearms used by the military -- which in America would include countless millions of rifles, shotguns, and handguns -- and ammunition for them are prohibited. Yet, "Italy`s gun law, `the most restrictive in Europe,` had left her southern provinces alone with a thousand firearm murders a year, thirty times Switzerland`s total." (Richard A. I. Munday, Most Armed & Most Free?, Brightlingsea, Essex: Piedmont Publishing, 1996.)



Maybe someone forgot to tell the Mafia to turn in their firearms.....



Mike B.




Mike, I am Italian too. And the problem is not about firearms - the problem is about law and its application. The italian law is very restrictive, but also administered by judges who tend to use a "softer" hand against criminals than Usa judges do, and actively discourage owning and use of firearms in the "legal" society.



A very different situation from Usa, where the owning of firearms is seen as an heritage of freedom - but where the punishments for breaching the laws are harsher and swiftly administered (I still have to read about the total number of homicides in the Us, though...)



Comparing us to Switzerland, a neutral nation since the medieval times and one of the best administered of the world, seems a bit unfair to me.



Stereotypes of the gunslinging, pizza-eating, striped-suit Mafia boys do not render Italians justice - as it would be picturing all the Americans as naive, hamburger-eating, Stetson-wearing gung-ho dumbwits



:lol:




Just having a bit of fun...I'm a third generation Italian immigrant myself (my great grandfather came to New York from Italy in 1920 right after WWI).  I've lived in Texas my entire life (I was born in South Texas) and remarked to my wife the other day I've lived here over 40 years and have never owned a cowboy hat or boots, and finally bought my first pickup truck last year!!!! I just happened to remember that quote from the National Review article a couple of years ago, found the other Googling, thought they were quite funny actually. Just goes to show that (IMO) societies are violent by heritage and design, the US is full of the "Wild West" mindset and a lot of the European societies are more "sophisticated" than the gunslingers here across the Atlantic  :) Not that I'd have it any other way, I've had a .38 revolver for 20 years this summer and have never had to use it in anger or fear yet, just for target practice at the range.



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Post Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 9:28 pm 
 

Sotterraneo wrote:


Organized crime will never uphold laws of course. If Mafia wants guns, it will get guns. If laws were more relaxed, perhaps it could buy them here and not 'importing' them from the Balkans... The key to safety is not, in my eyes, giving everybody a gun, the key to safety is a strong state with a good police force and a tough policy against crime and criminals (something sadly lacking here, I'm afraid, and not for lack of effort by the police). New York shows that.



...




I would like to see Gun Safety given as a mandatory class for children in schools across America, at risk of being seen as a gun nut.  First, practically everyone in America has to take a course to learn how to drive a car (if they want to drive before they are 18), and it takes weeks.  Yet anyone without a felony record can legally buy a gun and shoot it, or even carry it concealed if they complete an 8 hour class.  Most fatal home gun accidents occur as the result of a child finding an unfamiliar weapon inside his or her house and messing around with it, classes would take the "thrill" out of this and also impress children with the danger and penalties involved in gun use.  I wish tougher penalties were the solution, the new federal and state laws adding more years onto felon's sentences if they use a firearm may or may not be having an effect on the decline of violent crime, it depends on which side you ask. Still, incidents like the one this week in Atlanta (where a felon on trial wrestled a security guard's gun free in a courtroom, proceeding to kill the judge, court reporter, a deputy, and later a customs agent before being caught) show that even legally purchased weapons wielded by law officals are dangerous in the wrong hands.  There was an incident near the Dallas area a few weeks ago where a nut on a rampage with an AK-47 killed his ex wife and was going to kill his son in front of a courthouse when a legal and responsible gun owner exchanged fire with the nut, drawing his attention long enough for the son to get to safety. The gun owner was killed but has been hailed as a local hero for his quick thinking and decisive action (the nut was later killed by police).  I prefer to hope for a future where this sort of responsible gun owner is the norm and not the exception.  Thanks for the soapbox, back to your regularly scheduled game forum!!!!!



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Post Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 4:14 am 
 

Although I find this comes as a surprise to many Europeans, there are some states in the United States(like North Dakota), with crime rates as low as Europe.

  

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Post Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 4:42 am 
 

dave wrote:Although I find this comes as a surprise to many Europeans, there are some states in the United States(like North Dakota), with crime rates as low as Europe.




europe has low crime rates??!!! swap with you anytime my friend! :)


Are we nearly there yet?

  

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Post Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 7:27 am 
 

Hey Mike, no offense taken  :D. It's shocking to know that you dont's use cowboys hats and that not all Americans have guns (well, you have a small one so I suppose that in Texas that counts as being unarmed :wink: )



Back to regular gaming schedule. I suppose on of the surest ways to judge if Customs will slap you taxes are: 1 the game is boxed 2 the game has dice. 3 the game has counters. If your purchases are in book of magazine form, you should pass customs easily. More, if the items arrive in an envelope, is virtually impossible for customs to control them. Boxed packages are another matter entirely, of course. Bigger they are, bigger the chances to get the taxman attention  :x . This is from experience, good and bad (perhaps I could open a consulting business for Italian EBay buyers... 8O )

  


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Post Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:10 pm 
 

killjoy32 wrote:
dave wrote:Although I find this comes as a surprise to many Europeans, there are some states in the United States(like North Dakota), with crime rates as low as Europe.




europe has low crime rates??!!! swap with you anytime my friend! :)




Reread what I wrote, I didn't say Europe has low crime rates. I said some states in the US have crime rates as low as Europe. Many states in the US are, of course, higher.



As for what a general "low" crime rate actually is, that is left as an exercise for the reader.

  


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Post Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 4:18 pm 
 

Well.......



In 1776, Thomas Jefferson stated that, "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."



No offense meant to anyone outside the U.S.



Just my two cents.


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Post Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 6:40 pm 
 

cavscout761 wrote:Well.......



In 1776, Thomas Jefferson stated that, "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."



No offense meant to anyone outside the U.S.



Just my two cents.




An admirable if somewhat naiive sentiment in the early 21st century. No offence meant to Thomas Jefferson.  My two penneth.

  


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Post Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 6:57 pm 
 

And I thought this was a thread about "customs", almost tempted to spout libertarian dogma, but probably best that I don't.





As I normally only buy from domestic sellers I am a bit ignorant on the taxes/tariffs end of international sales, who pays the tax/tarriff?  Is it the seller or the buyer, ie does the seller pay when shipping or the buyer upon receipt?



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Post Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 11:53 pm 
 

I have found that in Canada it is really a crap shoot too whether a package gets charged duty.  If it is labelled "Books" then it is suppose to get charged regardless of value, however, if it is labelled "Games" then you are allowed around $15 without getting charged.  Since customs has the right to open packages, they sometimes also come up with their own "value" to charge.



I frequently resubmit the customs slip back to Revenue Canada and attach an Ebay auction printout for a refund on their values or a reclassification on the item since we get charged $5 for the privilege of paying duty + the 7% or 15% duty.

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Post Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2005 11:14 am 
 

Hello, didn't mean to revive this thread, but I accidentally found it while searching on google.

Anyway, I'm from the US and don't know anything about customs. I plan on purchasing a $180 collectible, limited edition airgun/bb gun from Japan. It has the red plug and is actually a replica from a popular video game.

It's a pistol and doesn't weigh much, comes in a collectible box. I was wondering if it's better to ask the seller to ship by airmail so it goes undetected by customs? Or ship by EMS instead? Does it make any difference? Would it help if seller marks it as "toy gun?"

Also, if it does get confiscated by customs, will they let me know? Are there any forms to fill out so I can claim it?

I appreciate any advice you can give me... thank you :)

  
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