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Politics : High Tolerance Plasticity -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Razorbak who wrote (7990)	9/16/2001 3:46:47 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23153

Hi Razor, You can have the victory. I don't want it. I want peace. Boring, I know. why do you automatically assume that the mere presence of a weapon means that it is intended to destroy or eradicate others rather than to simply protect the carrier? This is an important premise underlying my philosophy about national security, Well this is an underlying premise of my philosophy of national idiocy. Let's face facts, in the U.S. we glorify violence. One evening with the boob tube ought to just about convince anybody. I like to contrast the murder rates in American cities with those of more sane countries like Britain who've intelligently limited the right of wackos to bear arms and subsequently have made it possible for the cop on the beat to have less need for firearms. I know my comment is somewhat dated and that things are changing over there. Pardon me for being a nostalgic romantic dreaming of streets that one can walk down in a world class city like London and have a pickpocket incident being your worst fear. Try that is East L.A., Bed-Stuy or even certain streets in Portland, OR. The problem that we have here is not that your notion of having a piece isn't intimidating to the bad guys, it's that the distribution of firearms is at a ludicrous level here in the U.S. Just one historical note to make my point. [[I'm sorry, I keep thinking about the past, as if it has anything to do with understanding human nature and the circumstances we find ourselves in. ]] When the "Tommy gun" was created near the end of WWI, it was too late for the war. Stuck with an inventory problem, the manufacturer then attempted to interest police forces across the U.S. in the weapon, clearly superior in terms of firepower to anything else the police forces had. The police, by and large, didn't see a need for such a weapon. The manufacturer then decided for the sake of salvaging a profit to offer the Tommy gun for sale to the general public. We all know the results, with the police forces now outgunned by bootlegging thugs. To my mind, the whole episode shows just how ridiculous we can be when it comes to gun rights in this country. Seemingly permanently. Other than that, you win, OK? Happy now? I seek my peace with Gandhi and MLK. You can have your Rambo. He's an ersatz myth. My men are real. Best, Ray The irony of preferring two heroes who were assassinated is not lost on me.