[Leica] Re: Guns and Leicas

[glehrer at san.rr.com (Jerry Lehrer)]

Phil,

FOUNTAIN PENS??  Really?  Are they collectible?  Though I did pick up a 
used pen at a La Jolla
estate sale a few weeks ago.  It is a Conklin, though I never heard of 
it.  Parker, Shaeffer , Waterman
yes, are the only names I know.   I paid $10 for the pen, though there 
were other pens there at higher
 prices, with names I never heard of.

Jerry.


Philippe Orlent wrote:
>> How many of us Leica owners are also gun owners?
> Nope
>
>> How many own more guns than Leicas?
> Nope
>
>> How many own more Leicas than guns?
> Yes. 1 Leica. And always the possibility of a second one, because you 
> never know.
>
>> How many of us shoot more pictures with Leicas than bullets from guns?
> Consequently.
>
>> Is there a natural affinity for lovers of precise machinery between 
>> Leicas and fine firearms?
> For some it might seem so. But for me there are many others types of 
> precise machinery that I like a lot more than a firearm: fountain 
> pens, single malts, wristwatches, meccano, minitiature trains, 
> airplanes big, small and very small, havanas, etc. The usual stuff :-)
> Can't have it all, and guns are very very low on my priority list. Let 
> alone the fact that you can't own guns over here without a licence.
> But then again, I don't live in the US. Of which by now I understand 
> that for some there are cultural and historical reasons to own one.
> I don't think that the deepest driver for gun owning is 'precise 
> machinery love' or 'cultural and historical reasons', though. It's a 
> bit more archetypical than that: sheer protection.
> Which you can't say of a Leica. Or a fountain pen and the lots, for 
> that matter. The appeal from those is far more cultural. Which is 
> about societal progression. And not about archetypical standstill.
> Aren't we at the stage yet that it becomes time to start to embrace 
> the fact that being human should mean not needing protection?
> Or are we still more of an evolved animal than we think?
>
> IMO ofcourse.
>
> BTW: I think that it is this duality that will make such a succes of 
> Kyle's book. There are only two possible opinions about gun ownership. 
> By not taking a standpoint in this debate, his book appeals to both. 
> The same image, different interpretations. His decision to stay 
> unbiassed in this matter was sheer genius.
>
> Philippe
>
>>