Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/10/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I played with guns, too, when I was a kid. My 2 brothers' sons still play with guns. But since real guns are not an option, they know pretty soon that the guns they have are toys, and that real guns are a whole different matter. Without wanting to become polemic, societies where guns aren't allowed freely seem to have (a bit) less problems with them. As in: don't put the cat with the milk. But I do understand where this US gun culture comes from. The question is just if the necessity of guns is still as pregnant now as it was back then. As for your questions: People kill people. Buit killing with a gun is easier than with your bare hands. Only criminals will have guns, but it will be harder for them to get any. No. Unless your a paranoiac. Philippe Op 20-okt-06, om 15:42 heeft B. D. Colen het volgende geschreven: > It is indeed part of American culture, and we 'got it' on the > frontier. No > matter how one feels about whether or not gun should be as widely > available > as they are today - they provided both food and protection to our > colonial > forbearers, and the ubiquitousness of long guns, and the colonists > skill > with them, played an important part in our victory over the British. > > Ever since that time, the gun, and even more important, the myth of > the gun, > has been writ large in our culture; think of all the paintings, > prints, > etc., in which a flintlock hangs on the mantel; think of how many > Currier > and Ives prints feature guns in one way or another; take a look a > Wallace > Nuttings 'photos' some time and look for guns; and then there's the > whole > mythology of the Western frontier, and the Colt .45 "Peacemaker" > and the > Winchester rifle, "the gun that won the West." > > I don't know about you, Walt, but I grew up playing with toy guns - > playing > war, playing "Davy Crockett," playing "cowboys and Indians." Think > about how > much all that play had to do with the acceptance of guns as a part > of every > day life. > > None of this, of course, begins to touch on the power and success > of the > "gun lobby," the NRA, and the way it has influenced American politics. > > But is our culture somehow different? You bet it is. > > Now, back today's inane questions: > > Do guns kill people, or do people kill people? > If guns are outlawed, will only criminals have guns? > If they take our guns, will "they" then come to get us? > Et al. > > > On 10/20/06 7:36 AM, "Walt Johnson" <walt@waltjohnson.com> wrote: > >> Richard >> >> I remember the first (and only) time visiting Spain. It was >> shocking to >> see the local police walking the streets with Uzis. Thirty years >> later >> we can see th same thing here.Is it cultural in America, if so >> where >> did we catch it? There is quite a bit of talk about how crazy we are >> but a quick historical review might open minds and eyes. The Germans >> systematically killed millions of unarmed men, women and children. >> The >> Russians starved millions of their own to death for political >> reasons. >> India and Pakistan threaten each other with nuclear weapons to prove >> who has the best god....and the list is endless. (including Mao's >> Red >> Guard) >> >> You are right to have chills up your spine, I do as well. >> >> Walt >> >> >> >> >> >> Richard wrote: >> >>> Jayanand, I grew up in HK and moved to the States in 75 when I >>> was 13. >>> I can turn you that from my experience, this series probably bothers >>> me as much as it does to you! To think that this is a predominant >>> thing sends chills up my spine. >>> >>> At 07:22 PM 10/19/2006, Jayanand Govindaraj wrote: >>> >>>> Kyle, >>>> I think its a brilliant series, and truly frightening for those not >>>> used to guns (like me!), that this a predominant culture. However >>>> much you humanize them, it still comes across as chilling, at least >>>> to me. But again, the photographs are compelling. My interactions >>>> with the USA and its culture has been largely on the coasts, and >>>> large urban centres, and my reactions probably show this. >>>> Cheers >>>> Jayanand >>>> >>>> Kyle Cassidy wrote: >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >