-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
At 09:36 AM 7/7/98 EDT, Andrew wrote:
> I think that a majority of the populace going armed would exert
> evolutionary effects quite soon to eliminate the hotheads and
> preserve the thoughtful. This is a good thing, no?
> >>
>
>
>As a former hothead myself, my first instinct would be to say no.
But a
>better question might be that it could depend on how fast the
thoughtful are
>on the draw.
>
One effect of an armed populace would be that those who could not handle the responsibility and would end up using their gun illegally - at which time they would be taken out by others. This is the most distressing effect of allowing many people to go armed, but it might be less harmful to society at large to have a few killings by 'hotheads' who are themselves taken care of, sooner or later, by the majority, than the present system where the only persons you are likely to meet who are armed are criminals or the police..
As far as 'hothead' goes, I, too, might not have survived to my creaky old age had I lived in this kind of society. But then, if I had been born even 200 years ago, I would most likely have been a street beggar, assuming I had lived that long, due to my terrible eyesight...
I see only two options to control the present crimewave. One is to immediately allow all law abiding people who are qualified through tests to carry a weapon to do so, while eliminating all consentual (drug, sex, and morality) crimes from the books. The other is a complete police state with 1984-like surveillance and arrests of anyone who even appears to be thinking about violating the law. Recent history makes me fearful we are heading toward solution #2.
Chuck Kuecker
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGP for Personal Privacy 5.0
Charset: noconv
iQA/AwUBNaKEjn8LxS+5ljdtEQLEvACfSAdDyFmXBs/kF9+K/+LBhnBDtMcAniHr
qEU0Hw8QZFHW3q4jPSFF9xMP
=TDMg
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
Chuck Kuecker, President
C K Enterprises, Inc.
326 Deveron Circle
Cary, Il 60013
USA
(847) 639-2771
(847) 516-1410 FAX
ckuecker@mcs.net
www.mcs.net/~ckuecker/