From: purtilo@cs.umd.edu (Jim Purtilo)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Re: ALERT! Anti-gun meeting in NoVA
Date: 18 Dec 92 16:17:55 GMT
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742

In article <5314@prcrs.prc.com> terry@prcrs.prc.com (Terry Cunningham) writes:
>In article <62748@mimsy.umd.edu>, purtilo@cs.umd.edu (Jim Purtilo) writes:
>> The
>> bulk of the market is not 9mm firearms of any kind (let alone semi-autos).
>> Thankfully, honest citizens still have the freedom to make their own choices
>> of firearms for defense, sport and hunting.
>
>The bulk of the guns taken in DC in connection with drug cases are, as I
>recall, 9mm  and 32 cal. guns.  Also the Bureau of ATF claims that the 9mm 
>the weapon of choice for most of the people involved in drug selling.

The note to which I responded claimed that the market for firearms (not 
market for firearms subsequently used in crime) was for 9mm semiautos.  My
point above is only that the original poster was incorrect in that observation.

Its not exactly clear what Terry Cunningham's point is. Terry seems to be
damning a subset of the types of firearms available to (most) honest citizens
of this country, because some criminals also use the same product.   Perhaps
in this case it is useful to balance Terry's comment by observing too that
9mm semiauto pistols are also the "weapon of choice" for an increasing number
of police departments, government agencies and ... honest citizens who choose
a handgun as the final option in their own portfolio of tools and practices
for personal and family protection.  Perhaps many of the good guys choose 9mm
semiautos for personal safety because they work.  The one time a handgun saved
my life during an assault, it was a high capacity, semi-auto 9mm pistol.  So
perhaps Terry could be more explicit in what point he is trying to make.

If the point is that somehow a particular kind of firearm is inherently "bad"
because `bad people use them', then I wonder how Terry would address other
inanimate objects that `bad people' use.  Will we hear Terry damn 8-cylinder
autos (automobiles) since they are the "get away car of choice for bank
robbers"?  Will we hear him damn Nissa Maximas and Pathfinders, the vehicles
of choice for gang members to use in conducting drug business? [Actually, I
vaguely recall a Post article to this effect on the latter example, from some
time ago ... aren't those two models among the most common hit in carjackings
too?]   How about damning cellular phones and pagers as the "high technology
of choice" in conducting drug business? [no pun intended]

>A state that says that a driving license is a privilege to be earned, but
>a gun license is a right, has it's priorities way out of kilter.  I believe
>that if you want a gun you should take a test, demonstrate an ability to
>use the gun safely and handle it in a proper manner, have a spent bullet
>from the gun identified in a ballistics test (same as fingerprinting) to
>go into a national databank, be required to notify the state whenever
>the gun is transferred to someone else, and carry liability insurance
>in case your gun ever does harm.    We go through most of these things to
>own a car, a handgun should be at least as tough.

Really?  Except for tax laws in some states, I bet you do those things in 
order to be allowed to use and operate that vehicle in public, not to own it!
I would be *happy* to have firearms treated much more like the real automobile 
analogy (not the draconian society envisioned by Terry above, which I would 
not wish on auto owners either.)   What would this mean? No nonsense to buy, 
own or use on your own private property;  passing a test to illustrate you 
understand safe operating procedures and legal issues means you can carry 
the firearm (concealed or open, I don't care) in public; and misuse of the 
firearm, whether negligent or malicious, is punished surely and swifty.  
[Okay, so in the latter point, I would like to see the firearm
treated like automobiles *should* but are not now treated.  As we discussed
in this forum in the last week, its clear that bogons continue to populate
our highways;  we find it pretty hard to get even drunk drivers off the
streets.  But in both of these areas, firearms and unsafe drivers, I would
hope we could reform the judicial system and elect judges that will really
enforce the law....]

Jim