From: viking@iastate.edu (Dan Sorenson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,talk.politics.guns
Subject: Re: A Japanese student killed in Lousiana
Date: 5 Nov 92 08:13:21 GMT
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA

masuda@fcs280b.ncifcrf.gov (Michiaki Masuda) writes:

>  Does it mean, "Not if I have to give up my weapon"? If you are found
>to be skillful enough to handle the weapon properly, you wouldn't have to
>give it up. However, if it turns out that you cannot use it appropriately,
>and you still stick to your weapon, that could be an invasion of other
>people's right.

	Sorry, but this is a pre-emptive attack.  I remember a friend of mine
raised in a Shinto temple in Japan.  His telling me an old Japanese legend:
Seems a man was rich, and met a poor man on the street.  Drawing his
sword, he told the poor man, "You admire my finery, my swords, and my
status in life, and you wish to have them."  "That is so," replied the
poor man.  "Thus, I must kill you so you do not take them," said the
rich man.  "That is so," said the poor man, and was beheaded.  

	Hey, I never said the legend was particularly nice.  The Japanese
and American cultures are entirely different; what you accept I abhor,
and visa-versa.  The facts, however, speak for themselves.

>>  Many gun owners I know practice responsible gun
>>handling, and among those that do have damn few accidents.

>  Surprising. Even those who have a good skill and knowledge could cause
>accidents. Imagine those who do not.

	I remind you that Japanese law serves incredibly stiff penalties
for those who kill pedestrians while driving.  American law does not.
Similarly, American law allowed me to drive an 18-wheel tractor-trailer
truck at age 12.  Try that in Japan.  The two are so totally different
that a claim based upon one will generally fail when applied to the other.

>   A class will teach respect and caution at least to those who have a
>sensitivity to those lessons. Or are there no Americans who have that
>kind of moral receptor?

	Some of us have it.  We were taught by everybody from Drill
Instructors to our parents.  How were you taught?

>   "Karate" can kill people. There was a graduate student in my friend's
>lab. The guy was a good karate practician -- I mean, VERY good. He
>has never drunk alcohol even at a party or other socializing occasions.
>My friend once asked him why he didn't drink. He answered, "I could kill
>someone with this (showing his fist) if I'm drunk and I cannot control
>its power." Yes, I agree that a spontaneous inner motivation towards respect
>and caution is important.

	Indeed, you are correct.  I know US Navy SeALS who get drunk all
the time and don't kill anybody or even get in fights, despite their
being one of the better killing machines the world has produced.  The
key is, as you say, inner motivation and respect.  No class offers that,
and no class can provide it if it does not exist already.

>  I don't think that there are so many people who are feeling that the
>examination for a driver's license is a punishment.

	I did.  I was legally told I could not drive a car, despite having
driven heavy equipment for years prior without mishap.

>   Please consider the background of this incident before concluding that
>it was the victim's fault.

	Please consider that you have to prove guilt beyond a reasonable
doubt in this country.  The grand jury has indicted the home-owner; it
has not said he is guilty, only that a trial is deserved.

< Dan Sorenson, DoD #1066 z1dan@exnet.iastate.edu viking@iastate.edu >
<  ISU only censors what I read, not what I say.  Don't blame them.  >
<  "This isn't an answer, it's a pagan dance around a midnight fire  >
<   written in intellectual runes." -- Rich Young                    >
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,talk.politics.guns