At 09:40 PM 5/28/99 -0500, you wrote:
>"Joe E. Dees" wrote:
>
>> I have advocated denying gun ownership to (once
>> again, and am prepared to say 1000 times more) violent criminals,
>> the mentally deficient and/or deranged, spouse and/or child
>> abusers, and children.
>
>This seems also a list of those most likely to disregard whatever laws may
stand
>between them and their goals. It may have the effect of forcing them to
obtain
>their guns from the black market or through theft; perhaps the stupidest ones
>would be caught in the attempt.
>
We could also just enforce the existing laws. Theft is illegal already, as is supplying a gun to a convicted felon, etc, etc. The black market is already here - in Chicago a police officer was recently indicted for gunrunning to the gangs.
>Don't get me wrong, I don't wish to see those prone to initiating violence
heavily
>armed, but then neither do I wish to see them roaming at large, armed or
not (if
>we have to discuss whether they should be armed we have already arrived at
the
>wrong question). I am concerned, however, with what the political process
may do
>to us in process of turning your "common sense" into the usual
incomprehensible
>mish-mash. Politicians seem generally not nearly as concerned with the
probable
>outcomes of their actions as they are with being seen "taking action",
which IMHO
>is what is driving the recent spurt of gun-banning proposals. Since their
general
>response to failure is to keep doing whatever produced the failure, but
harder
>(ref: War On Some Drugs, gov't schools, public housing, welfare, etc etc),
I do
>believe the "slippery slope" is a real concern.
>
>- Steve
>
I am quite pessimistic on this - having witnessed the many slippery slopes we have slid down in the past, I expect this newest bout of 'gun control' to be no different. No individual can do anything about it that would be productive, but possibly enough of us together can. That's why I support the Libertarian party. At least I am trying to change things from within the system. I also have joined the NRA and the Illinois Rifle Association, primarily to get a better deel for what the true 'gun nuts' are doing, and to register my support for SOME of their programs.
I do not agree with all the NRA's positions, but like the Libertarians, they stand for many of my own ideals.
Chuck Kuecker