Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: DaveNet: Bombing Yugoslavia

Author:Dennis Peterson
Posted:4/22/1999; 10:34:48 AM
Topic:DaveNet: Bombing Yugoslavia
Msg #:5194 (In response to 5191)
Prev/Next:5193 / 5195

1) You can't get rid of all guns. Rural people depend on rifles and shotguns. Also, if we can't keep illegal drugs out of the country, we won't be able to keep the guns out either.

2) People who practice with their guns are much less likely to shoot somebody by accident than people who don't. Therefore it's a bad idea to limit ammo. Note also that limiting ammo to a hundred rounds still allows a psycho to kill lots of people anyway. Even if he only had one gun.

3) The Second Amendment, like it or not, is insurance against despotism. If you think governments can be trusted, ask any Jew. As benevolent as our government may be now, that is no guarantee it will be the same in another twenty or thirty years.

4) Speaking of Jews, the Israelis used to have a problem with people shooting up their schools. They don't have that problem any more. Here's how they solved it: They allowed their teachers to carry concealed, and encouraged parents to patrol the school grounds with rifles. Did it result in mayhem? Kids caught in the crossfire of pitched battles? No. The attacks simply stopped.

5) There is a very low incidence of legal gun owners using them for criminal acts. Overall, legal gun ownership and concealed carry has been shown to reduce violent crime, with rigorous statistical analysis. And the vast majority of defensive uses of a gun do not involve any shots being fired--the display of force is usually sufficient.

6) Britain has very strict gun control, but they still had a school massacre a couple years ago. Switzerland requires every adult male to own an assault rifle, and has very little violent crime.

7) Now you probably think I'm a right-wing fanatic. I'm not. I'm simply a pragmatist. And I grieve when defenseless people are massacred.

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