From: cdt@sw.stratus.com (C. D. Tavares)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,talk.politics.guns
Subject: Re: Japanese exchange student killed in Louisiana...
Date: 10 Nov 92 19:28:05 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: rocket.sw.stratus.com

In article <BxGyrs.BI7@ncifcrf.gov>, masuda@fcs280b.ncifcrf.gov (Michiaki Masuda) writes:
> 
> >  You and the NRA are on the same side, except the NRA actually
> >offers training.
> 
>    Then, the problem seems to reside on the side of gun owners who do not
> take these opportunities. How would you solve it? 

What is the magnitude of the problem?  One person killed per year?  Ten?
A hundred?  One or two people in the US have been killed bungee jumping
in the past three years.  How would you "solve this problem?"  How much
of a problem is it?

No one here has yet quantified the extent of the American "problem" with
erroneous unlawful use of a gun, lacking criminal intent.  But they are
more than willing to pontificate about "where the problem resides" and
"what you have to do about it."

> >>   Do you propose a policy to distribute a free handgun to all the women and
> >>elderly who want to have one?
> 
> >You mean like the people who think that the right to have an abortion
> >means the government has to pay for it if the mother can not afford it
> >herself?
> 
>    Not a bad idea.

We also have a right to freedom of the press here, Masuda-san.  Please 
remember to pay as much tax as you can so that the government can buy me 
the Mac and the laser printer I need to exercise it properly.

>    If you are talking about a record in the government's hand and you distrust
> the government, wouldn't you think of a possibility that they might be able to
> manipulate what they have? It might be possible for them to frame
> innocent citizens and make criminals out of them. 

Yes, they do that today, for example, by planting evidence.

> It might be also
> possible to delete some climinal records. 

Ever hear of the "Witness Protection Program," "Juvenile Offenders" acts,
or "plea bargaining?"  We won't even mention Ollie North's shredding
machine, or Rose Marie Woods' sleepy foot.

> If the government is not
> trustworthy, wouldn't it be dangerous to expoloit a system which depends
> on the government's record?

It's not foolproof.

> >What kind of pressure did you have in mind? The kind of system I
> >had in mind was that public schools were required to offer gun
> >training and a high school diploma would automatically be considered
> >evidence of competence in handling guns.
> 
>    If the training is required by the government and the government is out 
> of control, they might be able to require the schools to teach the students
> that the violent resistance against the authority is an unforgivable
> crime under any circumstances. Didn't you mention that the government is
> capable of misusing the training system?  

Too many school systems already teach this.  We already have a
"government-approved" program called DARE which has children informing
on the behavior of their parents to teachers and civil authorities. 
What is your point?  The original poster is talking about taking BACK
the schools from this type of influence, despite the government agenda.
-- 

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Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan