[Leica] A Modest Proposal

[henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff)]

At 7:43 PM -0400 10/19/06, Buzz Hausner wrote:
>Gun owners should be lined up against a wall and shot.
>
>     Buzz

Ah, Buzz, you romantic!

>
>On 10/19/06 7:38 PM, "Philip Forrest" <photo.forrest@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>  I think that owning an assault rifle for home defense is impractical, 
>> yes.
>>  However, if one believes in protecting oneself, family and property, law
>>  enforcement doesn't do that for you.  There is no reason that a law 
>> abiding
>>  citizen cannot responsibly own and use a firearm of any type (small arms
>>  here, not artillery pieces & the like.)  I love target shooting and 
>> though I
>>  don't know if it should be considered a "sport" it certainly requires 
>> great
>>  discipline and training to be able to consistently and accurately place
>>  shots on target.  It's just a step below golf in it's level of discipline
>>  and ability, but much the same when it comes to the final goal.
>>  Fear is what drives irrational decisions.  A gun will not shoot itself, 
>> we
>>  all know this.  The only way a firearm will do what it's supposed to is 
>> if a
>>  person operating it makes it work.  Fear is what needs to be overcome by
>>  people who don't know anything about firearms.  They should be shown 
>> that a
>>  firearm is just a tool, the same way that a torque wrench is a tool.  
>> They
>>  have very specific purposes, but both are tools nonetheless.
>>  I have no problem with people who don't like guns, but for rational 
>> reasons.
>>  Anti-gun folks need to come up with real and equitable solutions to the
>>  problems they have that will WORK.  There will never be a United States
>>  where firearm ownership is not a right, so that side of the gun argument
>>  needs to come up with a realistic solution to the problems they have with
>>  firearms.  The AWB proved that gun violence did not decrease during the 
>> 10
>>  years it was effective.  10 rounds in the magazine or 100 rounds, it 
>> doesn't
>>  matter.  Assault weapons are used in so few crimes as to be a blip on the
>>  radar in comparison to the gun related crimes committed with Raven .25's 
>> or
>>  other cheap guns.  The average assault weapon starts at about $600.  Few 
>> if
>>  any criminals are going to be willing to put that kind of money into a
>>  firearm when they could get a cheap pistol for $30.
>>  The only way that crime with firearms is to be quelled is by large scale
>>  changes in society.  People need to be educated about firearms, the law 
>> and
>>  how with a lot of cooperation, we can turn the gun related violence 
>> around.
>>  Many parents view themselves as responsible when teaching their children
>>  about sex, birth control and parenting, right?  (not as many as need to 
>> be
>>  though)  Why wouldn't someone want to teach a person how to properly and
>>  safely handle a firearm?  We teach people how to safely drive cars every
>>  day.  Still the vehicular fatality statistics in this country are several
>>  times the gun related fatality numbers.
>>  The last issue I don't like is the anti-gun group playing upon that very
>>  fear and lack of knowledge by saying things like "...it might go off. Six
>>  blocks away someone's family member could be holding their insides in 
>> their
>>  hands.."  This little bit of editorial journalism is just what people 
>> like
>>  myself don't want to read or hear.  It uses that fear of the unknowing to
>>  suggest that there is a gun (not artillery) that a person could buy these
>>  days, shoot, and eviscerate an innocent person a half mile away.  Yes,
>>  people do get shot from stray rounds landing through their windows and
>>  roofs.  This is an amazingly small number of people.  Most wounds are
>>  superficial.  And surely, there is not a small arm available to the 
>> public
>>  at this time that could do such a thing.  Most small arms up to and
>>  including the .50 cal BMG only produce small, oblong holes at their 
>> tumbling
>>  worst.  I'm not condoning any of this, of course.  I don't support gun
>>  related violence or the wounding of innocent people at all, I'm just 
>> saying
>>  that a bit of exaggeration, or a lot, is not a good thing when it comes 
>> to
>  > this topic.
>>  OK, I've written far too much for sure.
>>
>>  Philip
>
>
>
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    *            Henning J. Wulff
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