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From: sunny@sun.uucp (Sunny Kirsten)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.rec
Subject: Re: Merry Christmas from the NRA
Message-ID: <1924@sun.uucp>
Date: Tue, 8-Jan-85 05:20:57 EST
Article-I.D.: sun.1924
Posted: Tue Jan  8 05:20:57 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 11-Jan-85 06:41:57 EST
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Xref: watmath net.politics:6684 net.rec:193

> > > 
> > > Last year, Handguns killed
> > > 
> > > 	10,728 in the united states
      last year there were 4 or 5 times as many killed on the highways by
      AUTOMOBILES
> > 
> > Fact is, Handguns never kill anyone.
> > People kill People, and they use a variety of tools to do so.
> > -- 
> > {ucbvax,decvax,ihnp4}!sun!sunny
> 
> Guns don't shoot people, bullets shoot people.
> Guns shoot bullets.
> People shoot guns.
Yes, the root problem is people, those who kill for socially unacceptable
reasons like robbery (as opposed to socially acceptable reasons like war).
> Criminals, fools, and hunters shoot people.
Accidents are not restricted to guns, but occur with all tools.  Training is
the answer, not loss of use of those tools which at times are necessary to
provide useful functions.
> The NRA does NOT shoot criminals, fools, or hunters.
The NRA does far more to support the continued existance of wildlife than it
does anything else.  It also supports the second ammendment to the US
Constitution, which many people seem to forget exists.
> Too bad, since the NRA seems to be composed of criminals, fools, and hunters.
And net.politics is populated with idiots who make large leaps of illogic.
> Which category wants armor-piercing bullets to be legal?
Since when have armor-piercing bullets constituted a problem?  Nobody but the
police and military can get them, so your illogic baffles me.
> Which category believes Saturday-night specials are used for sport?
Handguns are useful primarily as defensive weapons, i.e. in the defense of
the life of the person carrying one.  Offensive tactics favour assault-rifles
and larger scale weapons over handguns.  The problem is the criminal use of
guns, and the failure of society to stop criminals, not the tool itself.
> Which category thinks a man in a red plaid shirt wearing a bright orange
> vest looks like a 12-point buck?
only you.
> Which category ignores the statistics on how many people are shot with their
> own guns, or how many shoot family members they thought were burglars, or
> how many people are shot because someone was blazing angry and there was a
> gun right there?
And I suppose you think guns are the only tools this is a problem with?
> 
> If Uzi semi-automatic machine guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have Uzi
> semi-automatic machine guns.
What NEWSPEAK you mouth!  "semi-automatic" and "machine-gun" are mutually
exclusive.
> But at least psychos who walk into McDonald's
> and shoot everyone in sight won't.
Won't what? be outlawed?  Most problems with guns used illegally are traceable
to criminals who become repeat offenders through lack of death.  The real
problem is that we condone the release of these criminals back upon society.
> 
> joe
> 
> Anyone who disagrees with me is welcome to come shoot me.  You'll feel better.
To this I'd say "see you in net.flame", but since I don't subscribe to that
pile of @!#$RR%T^Y&* I hope you get robbed at knife-point by some idiot who has
no respect for human life, and has been released on his own recognizance
repeatedly.  Then maybe you'll begin to think of locking-up or killing
criminals, rather than locking up guns.
This country was founded on the principle of rugged individualism and self
sufficiency and self-responsibility.  I see you're too much of a wimp to
watch out for your own life, and so would have the government deprive the
rest of us of our constitutional right to defend ourselves against the nuts
you keep seeing fit to release on the street, no matter how many times they
commit violent crimes.  You obviously also have never lived outside an urban
area or you'd realize that the police can't do a damn thing to keep your ass
alive, and will merely come after the fact to mop you up and file reports and
explain (not very) sadly to your widow how you died.  For those of us who have
lived or do live in rural areas, there simply aren't enough police to go around,
nor would we want to live in the required police state to have same, and we
feel we must take responsibility for our own lives, and protect our own asses
from death at the hands of some nut you city folk have released after he's
committed numerous crimes against humanity.  There is NO substitute for a
handgun in the defense of your own life.  Although it might seem to you to be
a bad idea to have everyone wandering around the city with a sidearm on their
hip, there is no substitute in the country.  

If you disparage the NRA so much, I suggest you look up one of their
publications, and read the page titled "The Armed Citizen" and note how many
people are glad to be alive and healthy, and share that with their alive and
healthy family and relatives, who would not be so had they not had a handy
weapon in their homes to defend against the criminals so often not terminated
any other way.

I think I'd better stop before I being to flame your ignorance.
-- 
{ucbvax,decvax,ihnp4}!sun!sunny