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From: csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Congratulations to the NRA
Message-ID: <336@mit-vax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 8-Jul-85 20:00:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-vax.336
Posted: Mon Jul  8 20:00:16 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 13-Jul-85 11:39:21 EDT
References: <481@gargoyle.UUCP> <7800348@inmet.UUCP>
Reply-To: csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe)
Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 33
Summary: 

In article <7800348@inmet.UUCP> nrh@inmet.UUCP writes:
>The point of MY original article was that it is not the weapons which
>truly cause deaths, but the deadly intentions of the people wielding
>those weapons.  I presented this idea in satirical form, pointing out
>that in a specific handgun-death, one may blame pinkies, the lack of
>armor, or some other extraneous cause, but (and I did not explicitly
>state this) the real cause of the deaths is deadly human intent.  Those
>who would outlaw handguns are attacking the symptom, not the disease,
>and they are attacking a "symptom" that occurs in the healthy as well
>(those who own handguns need not have lethal intent).

May I make an analogy of the doctor who give his/her patient a pain
killer while deciding how to treat chronic headaches. It is perfectly
reasonable to treat a symptom while also treating the cause. To ignore a
symptom, knowing that it will go away when the cause is fixed, is cruel
to the patient who is, in this case, society.

>Charles' later note to the effect that all who are against handgun control
>are idiots says more about him than the issue or about handgun control
>opponents.

Will someone please drag the offending piece of text off a disk and show
me how it applies to ALL pro-gun advocates? The comment was directed at
an individual who was suggesting we outlaw pinkies to stop crime. It
seemed like a reasonable value judgement at the time. A lot of people
disagree, I guess I was wrong, by concensus.

-- 
Charles Forsythe
CSDF@MIT-VAX
"The Church of Fred has yet to come under attack.
    No one knows about it."
        -Rev. Wang Zeep