From: popovich@cs.columbia.edu (Steve Popovich)
Subject: Re: (what should I carry ?)
Organization: Columbia University
	<1992Sep22.221437.3948@walter.cray.com> <3766@unisql.UUCP>
	<10856@sun13.scri.fsu.edu> <23956@sybase.sybase.com>
	<MARY.92Oct1095823@martinique.Cayman.COM> <24344@sybase.sybase.com>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 08:05:45 GMT

Shame on you, Thorick :-).  You've not only made a politically
incorrect post, you're posting on the absolutely forbidden topic (on
this newsgroup) of gun control, and committing the cardinal sin of
arguing on the side of those ogres, the NRA.  You probably have
already received a message from the net.police about the "zero
tolerance" policy here on that topic.  For that matter, I may very
well receive one for this posting.  But be that as it may, here goes
nothing...

>Like us Martial Artists, many NRA members are people who like 'us', 
>do not relish violence but do enjoy
>perfecting their skills with weapons (firearms in this case), 
>are interested in the history of such weapons (like us), enjoy sanctioned
>competitions to test and refine their skills (like us), and some are
>interested in self-defense (like us)...

To quote from a flyer that the Columbia rifle team handed out at the
last Activities Day here, "Shooting is a sport of balance,
concentration and bodily control.  Great physical size, strength,
speed or endurance are not required -- in fact they can actually be a
hindrance."  Sound familiar? :-) When I spoke with some of them, I
found out that some shooting teams train not only with their rifles,
but in (seemingly Zen-like) meditation as well, with the aim of
promoting the calm, focused mental state and precise bodily control
needed for their sport, or art, or dessert topping, or whatever.  Not
to start that thread again, but it's what I was told.  In any case,
there seems to be a substantial overlap between martial arts and
shooting sports, and I'm a little surprised that more people involved
in either one don't also practice the other.

> Now try to consider a societal attitude in which the Martial Arts
> become blamed for serious injuries and death from non-firearm
> related incidents.. consider repercussions in which people begin
> to cry out for the banning of the teaching and practice of Martial Arts
> for the 'good' of society (after all, if you're a 'good' person, why
> do you want to learn things which are primarily meant to hurt people ?)
> Those of us who practice MA for reasons other than just 'hurting people'
> would probably get very defensive as increasing numbers of laws
> restrict what we 'decent' people can do..  "Kyokushinkai ?  BAN it, it's
> obviously primarily meant just
> for killing"  "Tai Chi ?  oh yeah, that's the gentleman's MA..  but
> get a permit first :-)"  I know such a scenario is hard to imagine)...

It's not all that hard to imagine, given the number of people that one
meets who seemingly get queasy at the thought of martial arts training
("but it's so VIOLENT!").  If there were any political gain in banning
martial arts, as there is in banning gun ownership, the majority of
the public would go along with it unquestioningly, and I'm sure that
all of our favorite arts would be back underground in practically no
time.  There are Satsumas in every society, it seems :-).  Didn't they
crack down on martial arts, as well as weapons, on Okinawa?  Anyway,
the modern-day Satsumas are hard at work in our cities.  Not only have
they given us marvelous legal constructions like the Sullivan law
(a[n] [in]famous gun control law) here in NYC, which is no doubt
responsible for this city's reputation as a crime-free Eden :-(, but
they do periodically seem to check on the martial arts.  A few years
back, there was a big stir in the news about a "karate kick" attack.
I forget exactly how badly the victim was hurt, but the public noise
about it got the NYPD into motion, and every dojo in the city must
have received some visits from them.  True, as far as I know, nobody
in this country has actually banned any martial arts yet.  But given
all the man-hours that the NYPD wasted in response to a single
isolated (if widely publicized) incident, and my admittedly rather
cynical interpretation of modern politics, the idea doesn't seem all
that far-fetched to me.
	-Steve