From: kapson@dip.eecs.umich.edu (John Kapson)
Subject: Re: democratic platform
Followup-To: talk.politics.guns
Organization: University of Michigan EECS Dept., Ann Arbor
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 05:51:30 GMT

Note the follow-up!

In article <14natnINNjgt@darkstar.UCSC.EDU> echo@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Hagame uno mas!  Esos son muy cool!) writes:
>
>Funny, then, isn't it that this the exact same reasoning that I use to
>justify the legalization of drugs, but conservatives alwaysd think I'm
>an idiot?  Anyone wanting to buy drugs will get them right?
>
True.  Although, being a fairly conservative person, you'll probably assume
I think you're an idiot.  Try not to let you prejudices lead you too far
astray.

>But you're right.  Anyone who really, really wants a gun can probably get
>it.  But what the waiting period attempts to do is stop people like
>David Chapman and John Hinckley, who walked into gun shops and minutes
>later came out with the guns they used to kill John Lennon and attempt
>to kill Ronald Reagan (oh, if only I could switch that around).
>
Perhaps if you learn the facts regarding Hinckley, you could make more
persuasive arguments...

>>So would the woman who started getting death threats from her abusive ex-
>>spouse.
>
>This is a problem that perhaps the waiting period is designed for.  By
>preventing the abusive spouse from running out and buying a gun and
>killing the other person in the heat of passion, that person now has
>to wait seven days.
>
>OK, let's assume that the abusive spouse already has a weapon, or chooses
>to commit havoc by another means.  This is what police protection and
>injunctions are for.  I'll admit that these methods are not what they
>should be, but (being the bleeding heart that I am) I think there should
>be more emphasis on it.  As opposed to the NRA line of "Let 'em fight it
>out."  I'm sure most people would rather be sequestered or relocated
>than suffer through the trauma of killing another human being, not to
>mention a trial and media attention (remember the Burning Bed?).

Ha ha ha.  Police protection!  Why don't you call the cops right now
and tell them someone threatended your life?  Assuming you're not some
senator's kid, you'll get NOTHING from the cops until it's too late.

>>So was the entire city of Los Angeles while the police stood by and let 
>>chaos reign.
>
>What's your point?  People that wanted guns those days in LA had only to
>bust into the front of the store and take one.  Obviously the waiting
>period wouldn't have been a problem there.  People that already had guns
>were a threat, people that didn't were threatened.  But in no way did this
>affect anyone's prospects of shooting or getting shot at.
>
Exactly.  The criminals got guns without being affected ny the waiting
period, while the law-abiding citizens were screwed.

+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
| John Kapson   NRA IEEE ACM  |                                              |
|                             |   My gun is safer than Ted Kennedy's car.    |
| kapson@dip.eecs.umich.edu   |                                              |
+-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: alt.politics.clinton,talk.politics.guns