From: earlw@Apple.COM (Earl Wallace)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: Re: Merry Christmas
Date: 18 Dec 92 18:34:59 GMT
Organization: Bit Flippers, Inc.

In article <105088@bu.edu> merritt@macro.bu.edu (Sean Merritt) writes:
  >...
  >Wayne Lo, an 18 year old American of chinese decent did almost
  >that on Monday night. Mr. Lo who was arrained yesterday, killed
  >two people and injured four others on the campus of Simon's 
  >Rock College in western Massachusetts. At his arraignment Wayne
  >showed a little emotion as he stood sullenly with his shaved head
  >and T-shirt that had the words "Sick of it all." printed
  >on it. Wayne was an `A' student and a basketball standout. He
  >...
  >It's been a bad week in the Bay State, what with the holidays
  >and all:
  >...
  >In an unrelated incident a man shot a woman whom she had a restraining
  >order out against and then killed himself, in Brighton(Boston).
  >
  >Monday afternoon a 18 hispanic year old youth was killed by a shotgun
  >blast in what is described as a "gang killing".(Jamaica Plain, Boston)
  >
  >On Friday two 16 year olds and a 20 year old were "ambushed" on
  >on a crowed street in Dorchester(Boston). They 20 year old 
  >was DOA and the two teenagers are in critical condition.
  >
  >A .25 caliber semi-automatic pistol was taken form a 14 year old
  >female student at a Boston High School yesterday by school
  >security guards. She said she didn't feel safe in school without
  >her "piece". 
  >...

With 5 billion people on the planet and 250 million of them here in the US,
we're sure to find plenty of examples of humans turning against one another.

-- Tangent Mode: enabled

It seems to me that the root of the violence has little to do with guns.
Still, some people feel there is a simple solution to the violence - just
ban guns.  Well, I'll agree in a second that some people probably shouldn't
own a gun, but that doesn't mean everyone on the planet should be disarmed
to accomplish the task of disarming a few.  After all, if we agree that it
doesn't make any sense for the police to spray a crowd with bullets to kill
a criminal, it also makes no sense to disarm everyone to just disarm the
crazies, right?

We need to admit to ourselves that some humans have buggy programs installed
in their brains.  How they got programmed that way is where we need to focus
our attention.  Let's stop worring about what tool they used to commit a 
crime.  The fact that they commited a crime is all that we should be
concerened about.  If they can be reprogrammed, then we'll let them back
into society (no jail time needed), if not, we dispose of them.  It's that
simple.  We have to stop letting serial killers serve 2 years in jail and
turning them loose again -- it's nuts.  We need to send messages to everyone
that says "we will not tolerate violence against each other" -- period. It
doesn't matter whatsoever if one uses hands, feet, head, arms, guns, knives,
cars, phones, pencils, .. in a violent manner against another, it just will
not be tolerated at all (this applies to governments as well).  Not at any
level.  No discussion or debate.  Do harm against the other and you can plan
on an early exit from life.

Now, we know this will never happen, so what do we do in the meantime?  How
about we only put VIOLENT offenders in jail and keep them there until we're
sure they are non-violent and will remain so forever (if we can, if not -
fry them).  And reprogram the non-violent offenders without jail time.  

-- Tangent Mode: disabled

Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns