How To Create A Gun Nut
After a fellow grocery store employee who's already slashed eight co-workers chases you with a knife "like something in a serial killer movie," and you're saved by a guy down the strip mall with a 9mm, suddenly, I think you become one of the Second Amendment's biggest fans.
Alternatively, you're probably happy that the grocery store employee didn't have a gun himself.
Andrew at July 22, 2006 9:26 AM
I adore you for that blog post.
When the riots happened and it was obvious that police were not able to protect everyone from each other, a cornerstone of my liberalism collapsed. The Second Amendment is pivotal in our understanding of life, even if we have no interest in weaponry.
Crid at July 22, 2006 10:29 AM
The real issue is not the object (the weapon) but the people who have it. Did you notice the local cops saying they "commend him" (the Samaritan with his pistol) but don't encourage him "because he could get hurt"? That's not the issue at all: police become less important to a public which takes responsibility. It takes a LOT of guts to pull a pistol on somebody, even when you are right - and we won't see the trial, where our hero may be defamed.
A "ban" always means "some preferred people can have this thing". Your neighbor can go nuts, but she has nowhere near the destructive power of, say, a Federal agency in the thrall of some powermonger.
At the same thime, there is no magical power conveyed by a pistol, rifle or shotgun; all the possession of one does is allow you to raise the ante - to lend more weight to your opinion of how things will proceed from there on.
Just in case this thread starts to get out of hand, please look at these sites if you wish to learn from the premier sites in the world about firearms handling: Gunsite, Thunder Ranch and The Lethal Force Institute . If you want to know what the LAW actually says, as opposed to gossip/hearsay, look at http://www.packing.org . An outstanding photo essay is available at Oleg Volk's site, A Human Right . And if you'd like to see how ordinary Americans use firearms without the savage bloodbaths Sens. Feinstein, Schumer and others claim is inevitable were it not for their leadership in slapping your hands before you touch something dangerous, you could look at The Fifty Caliber Shooter's Association and Knob Creek.
Radwaste at July 22, 2006 11:39 AM
I wasn't here during the riots, but I was going back and forth from NYC then, and I heard by phone about how one of the guys in my complex (four apartments in two cool houses behind a gate in the hood in Venice) held people off with a shotgun from burning the place down.
Amy Alkon at July 22, 2006 11:25 PM
It's very sad that that sort of thing is necessary - but it is, now and then, because people can't see far enough ahead to prevent riots from happening. I think the term is, "too many rats in the cage". I'm happy the deterrent effect worked (I assume).
Most people who own guns - excuse me, possess them, there is a difference - are good people. But they aren't "news".
Radwaste at July 24, 2006 6:19 PM
Gun-related deaths per 100,000 people (http://www.guncite.com/cnngunde.html):
United States 14.24
Canada 4.31
United Kingdom 0.41
Percentage of Households with Firearms (http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcgvintl.html)
United States: 39%
Canada: 29%
United Kingdom: 4.7%
Note that handguns are much rarer in both Canada and the United Kingom.
Andrew at July 26, 2006 8:04 AM
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