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

Re: Chinese are worse than idiots

Author:Toni Reiss
Posted:5/5/1999; 1:41:52 PM
Topic:scriptingNews outline for 5/4/99
Msg #:5701 (In response to 5617)
Prev/Next:5700 / 5702

>gun control is very very strict there that if you have guns, you are either police/army/government agents, or thieves. Of course, you gain more safety, but you lose your freedom.

Doesn't that scare you? that's what gun laws do. the more strict they are, the more they make sure that only the government and the criminals have guns. in china, which is not a free society, this is absolutely necessary. if all those dissidants had guns, the government would have a big problem.

We Americans have become complacent with our government. We bitch and moan about this and that, but we forget that only 200 years ago (not very long by human history standards) we had to fight our government for our freedom to live as we wanted. One of the key things to winning that war was that every farmer and farmer's wife had a gun and knew how to use it. The British were'nt expecting that. Having weapons similar to those of your government and the criminals is key to maintaining freedom. So, when push comes to shove, there are always more upstanding citizens than the army and the criminals put together. Just think, if the Kosovars had the means of standing up for themselves, like we did 200 years ago, we wouldn't have to be in there bombing, and they wouldn't have to flee their homes at the mercy of Milosavich's troops.

And guns do deter crime. Unfortunately, crimes that don't happen rarely get reported. It's not hot news to say someone didn't get robbed today because they had a gun. The violent crime rate in states and counties that have passed concealed carry laws have dropped, while the rates in the surrounding states and counties that do not have the laws has risen. Criminals are cowards. If they think people might have guns, they are going to move on to a place where they know that law abiding citizens definately won't have them.

Guns, like the freedom to do drugs, and being able to post websites, are things that must be used responsibly. But there are people who won't use them responsibly. They will commit crimes. There are laws against those crimes and hopefully those who commit them will be prosectuted and dealt with.

Outlawing guns will not solve the problem. It may make a little more difficult for people to get hold of them, but mostly for the non criminals who just want to protect their home, not for the criminals who have a stake in finding ways around them. Clinton wants to limit gun purchases to one a month. Those two boys were planning this tragedy for a long time.

Our forefathers who wrote the constitution were very smart men. I hesitate to doubt them. There was very good reason for the second amendment. I'm sure there is good reason why it was number 2 and not number 10. It is the best weapon against oppression.

Littleton is a sad sad tradgedy. I have started sobbing at many of the newscasts about it. It could have been prevented. Not by outlawing guns, eliminating video games and violent movies or controlling the internet, but by paying attention to subtle warning signs and blatent ones (the web site!!!). By knowing that kids can be pushed too far. By knowing that there are thousands of school kids out there that are outcasts who would never do this kind of thing but they secretly dream about it and then hate themselves for it. By knowing that being a suburban teenager is not the paradise people think it is. By communicating with your kids and not assuming that they know right from wrong and that they have empathy for others. Constant teasing and bullying erodes that stuff. If you don't get the tools to deal with that from parents and teachers and others, you have a recipe for disaster.

This was a cultural tradgedy. There is no quick fix.

-Toni

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