From: corun@access.digex.com (Corun MacAnndra)
Subject: Re: Guns & self defense
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 14:17:09 GMT

In article <92325.11365434AEJ7D@CMUVM.BITNET> <34AEJ7D@CMUVM.BITNET> writes:
>
>There is an old saying to the effect that "One with an experience is
>never at the mercy of one with an opinion". I have been in precisely
>the situation described, faced by thugs who burst into an area
>everyone thought "safe". I was armed. I survived.

And were you legally carrying that gun? Did you have the necessary permits 
to carry it? If not, then why did you have it on you? I won't claim to know
the laws for each individual state in the Union, but most places, to carry 
a gun without the proper permits is illegal. Read into that what you will.

>I am rather disheartened by the knee-jerk response people often offer
>as a proposed solution for anyone caught in such a situation,i.e.,
>"run away and scream". This is wrongheaded thinking and elitist,
>in that it completely ignores the millions of aged and/or disabled
>persons in America who CANNOT run away. They simply physically cannot.
>For similar reasons, martial arts *philosophy* can be of benefit
>to this segment of the population, but a great many of them are
>physically unable to practice the various hand-to-hand combat techniques.
>What are we to do, write these people off as "expendable" or as,
>to use Mao Tse-Tung's term, "useless eaters"? I, for one, am not
>willing to do that.

Up until now, the scenario you described les me to believe that you were
alone, and faced with a small group of thugs. Now you make it sound like 
you were protecting and old folk's home from a troop of terrorists. Why
not tell us the *real* story instead of all these vague maunderings. As 
for people who are physically handicapped, I don't want to be in the same
place when you give a loaded gun to someone with cerebral palsy. You use an
extreme example here, and then make noises that sound very much like you
are some self appointed protector. Is there a big bat on your chest, or
do you maybe hand out silver bullets? You sound very much like a vigilante.
I do not condone nor support vigilantism anywhere, anytime. I *do* belive
that we are responsible for each other, I just think there's a better way
to do that without resorting to carrying and using guns. Let's face a little
reality here. I don't trust you with a gun as far as I could piss into a
high wind. All your comments make you sound totally irresponsible.

>>But she's right. Why get upset about that?
>
>But of course she is - in her own fantasy world view. A better question
>would be how might we help alleviate whatever stresses bring about
>such a distorted interpretation?

I think it's a matter of interpretation as to who is living in a fantasy here.

>Oh, please. The silly "guns are for killing" whine has already
>been adequately debunked by other posters. The cardboard scenario
>at an imaginary gun shop only lends credence to points I have
>already made.

I'm sorry, but this fact has not been debunked, adequately or otherwise. Read
a little history before you start making this kind of comment.

>>Let's start a conversation about how to cure the ills of society. Once we've
>>cured the psychoses and neuroses that make the rapists and murders, once
>>we've abolished the causes of violent crimes, then the rest will take care
>>of itself. But this continuous bantering about whether a gun is an assault
>>rifle or a hunting rifle and the advantages of one type over another is
>>senseless and futile. Don't ban the guns, ban the uses to which they are put.
>>Greater social consciousness is what's needed, and you can't regulate that
>>with a bunch of laws.
>
>With that I wholeheartedly agree.

Good. Does this mean you're going to stop carrying your gun now and work in
your local community to raise the general level of consciousness?

Bb,
Corun

-- 
===========================================================================
    Corun MacAnndra    |    My opinions *are* those of my boss, because
  Dark Horde by birth  |   he is me, and I am he, and we are all together.
    Moritu by choice   |                 Coo coo cachoob.