In article <1993Apr16.194708.13273@vax.oxford.ac.uk> 	jaj@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes: >What all you turkey pro-pistol and automatic weapons fanatics don't >seem to realize is that the rest of us *laugh* at you.  So what.  We think you're pretty hilarious too.  I love how you Brit's kiss royal arse.  That you're willing to throw out freedom-of-speech for the sake of protecting the reputation of the royal sluts.  That the British government advertised in American newspapers "Send A Gun to Defend a British Home -- British civilians, faced with threat of invasion, desperately need arms for the defense of their homes." during WWII.  [American Rifleman November, 1940]  That The Obscene Publications Act and the Misuse of Drugs Act have been used as justification for the police to seize masterpieces such as William S. Burrough's "Junky", Hunter Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", and Tom Wolfe's "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test".  British courts have never recognized the right to assemble or to demonstrate.  That evidence obtained form coerced confessions is allowed in a trial.  That only serious felonies warrant a trial by jury.  That suspected terrorists must prove their innocence, instead of the government having to prove their guilt.  That the secretary of state may issue an "exclusionary order" which bars someone from ever entering a particular part of the United Kingdom, such as Northern Ireland or Wales.  That the BBC banned Paul McCartney's "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" as well as John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance" during the Gulf War.  Yes, England is very very funny.  And very pathetic.  >I knew somebody else who went to one of your "Gun-mart" superstore >places, just so he could experience the sight of people putting guns >and ammo into shopping carts! I didn't believe it myself until I >drove by one in Vegas last year!!!  So what.  Laughter is a way of dealing with things we find uncomfortable. I thought the "Las Vegas Show Girl" ads on Las Vegas street corners were pretty funny.  Yes indeed, there are many strange and wonderous things in this country. I wouldn't have it any other way.  >Now that I live in Britain, I can see how the rest of the civilized world >perceives you gun-nut morons. The BBC recently referred to the American  >penchant for pistols, automatic weapons,etc.  very  appropriately - it was >called a "national eccentricity."  I don't disagree with that, I don't think it's bad either.  >The only problem is that Canada, I hear, is suffering from your national >eccentricity, in that easy to purchase weapons are being smuggled cross the >border.  So what.  If they didn't come from here they would come from elsewhere disguised as cocaine.  >Anyway, all you gun nut Rush Limbaugh fans, please *keep* up your diatribes >against Brady and other  evil "Liberal media" plots  - you 're so damn funny! >You provide endless amounts of entertainment in your arguments and examples >of why someone should be allowed to carry a piece! Keep us all chuckling!  You can laugh all you want, for us it's a matter of life or death. I don't find that funny in the least.  As for England:  "As our allies become more open, Britain grow yet more secretive and censorious.  Perhaps the real British vice is passivity, a willingness to tolerate constraints which others would find unbearble." [in "Britain, An Unfree Country" by Terrence DeQuesne and Edward Goodman, pp 33.]