--
On Fri, 03 Jul 1998 09:49:14 +1200 Gerhard Kessell-Haak (Gerhard
Kessell-Haak) <gerhard_kessell-haak@mail.tait.co.nz> writes:
>den Otter writes:
>>Oh yes, they *hate* the victims, maybe because they remind
>> them of how the world *really* is.
>
>Are you being sarcastic?
*I* don't think he was...
I dunno where den Otter lives, but here
in the US, that is a prevailing attitude
toward victims of crime, especially
among legislators and many police.
After being robbed at gunpoint a few
years ago, I was told by the detectives
on the case the same day that they
felt that *I* had staged the whole thing
to make trouble.
>It's an extropian meme in the US perhaps, due to necessity reasons (not
>that I would know - I've never lived in the US). I would argue that it
isn't in
>coutries with more stringent gun laws (and, maybe consequently, lower
>death rates due to violent crime). Looking in from the outside, it
appears
>to me that the US has found itself in a self-induced positive feedback
>condition. Preventing a country or region from entering this worrying
>state appears to be a more rational course of action - though if you're
in
>a country lilke the US you may not have much choice but to choose gun
>ownership.
There is a feedback loop at work, though perhaps not of the sort you imagine. Here is how it works, over a cycle of 5-10 years: Legislators pass new gun control laws in the name of preventing crime; crime increases due to the lesser availability of guns to potential victims; legislators cry over towering crime rates and pass more gun legislation. In general, it seems that if you feel that people are generally more apt to use a gun to defend themselves against crime than to commit it, you favor proliferation of guns. If you feel that people in general are only waiting for firepower to commit as many crimes as they can, you favor gun laws.
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Wolfkin.
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