From: gt38091@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Greg )
Subject: Re: democratic platform
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 19:26:18 GMT

ronp@dazixca.ingr.com (Ron Phillips) writes:

>WHAT???? Are you saying all those kids shooting each other in L.A., 
>Oakland, Stockton & etc. are getting their guns illegally???  If so,
>why aren't they being charged under the existing laws that are being 
>broken?    :-)

as a matter of fact, they are obtaining guns illegally...those kids don't
just walk into a wal-mart and put an uzi on their visa card...they get them
from the same places that they get their drugs from...that's the problem
right there that much of the proposed gun control legislation (and some of
it that has already passed) only serves to deny decent, law-abiding citizens
their right to own a gun...sure, semi-autos may seem dangerous, but so are
sports cars...should we outlaw them too because they're dangerous and
upwards of 50,000 people a year die on the roads each year???

to follow up to some of the other articles i've read so far, it seems that 
many people are forgetting why the Second Amendment was added in the first
place:

* first of all, there are times when the government simply cannot afford 
  good protection to everybody:

  ---the LA riots come to mind
  ---any major blackout is another good example
  ---not everybody lives near police

* secondly, gun ownership makes us all equal in a sense:

  ---contrary to what some might suggest, we will never find ourselves in a
     position like 1917 russia...just by the mere fact that everybody can
     own a gun, that means that a large portion of the population can't be
     enslaved like in the past...i may not be entirely happy with my current
     situation, but i know that i will never be a slave or anything like 
     that.

* the last thing i want to say is that the Freedom To Keep and Bear Arms 
  assures us of a relative degree of political security...you may not be happy
  with the current adminitration, but the basic "American Way" will always 
  be preserved....that is unless we are stripped of our freedoms.

i don't know how many of you saw the movie _red dawn_, but there was a 
truck with a bumper sticker that read, "you can take my gun...once you pry
it from my cold, dead fingers"

this is a very touchy issue, and the consequenses of any legislation on it
must be carefully weighed.


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* Gregory Tao                      | E-mail to:  gt38091@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu     * 
* Univ. of IL at Urbana-Champaign  |        OR      gtao@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu     *
* Department of Computer Science   |        OR      gtao@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu     *
* --------------------------------------------------------------------------- *
*                                                                             *
*  	``Change, suddenly, is everywhere we look, sweeping empires and       *
*    ideologies before it, shaping a new era even as we watch. Such moments   *
*    are rare. Today we stand at such a moment.''                             * 
*                                                                             *
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