Date sent: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 03:50:10 -0700 (PDT) From: mark@unicorn.com To: extropians@extropy.com Subject: Re: GUNS: Fear of Guns Vs. Fear of No Guns Send reply to: extropians@extropy.com
> QueeneMUSE@aol.com wrote:
> >"The Biggest Rational
> >Fear" from *citizens* is if Mr. Gun Owner starts a lucrative business of
> >RESALE of guns (to criminals).
>
> Of course, if citizens don't sell guns to criminals, the cops will happily
> take up that 'lucrative business'. A BATF survey of crimes committed with
> guns in DC a few years ago showed that around 40% of the guns had been
> stolen from police evidence rooms.
>
A squad of Chicago cops dressed as bikers and gang members
made the rounds of nearby gun shops, loudly advertizing their
alleged intention to use the guns they purchased in crimes. In two
months, they purchased 171 firearms for around $65,000. Included
were AK-47's, Uzis, and guns equipped with laser scopes. One
enterprising gun shop, nestled in a sleepy subdivision of 14,000
souls, sold 6500 guns that were later confiscated by Chicago
police after being used in crimes. A study by the National
Economic Research Associates found that in the US, one in five
legally purchased handguns were used in the commission of a
crime within four years of their purchase. Conduits also form
between states with more restrictive laws and those with less.
Ninety percent of all guns used in New York City crimes were from
outside the state, many bought new, but most transported and
resold illicitly (which demobnstrates the need for statewide
standards).
>
> >They aren't as afraid of zealous Mr. Gun Owner himself, for he is "one of
> >us"...(though you foreigners are right to fear him - remember the dead
> >Japanese tourist who broke down on the highway and walked up to a home to
> >call for help, Oops!! -- he thought "Freeze" meant "please" ?)
>
> You will, of course, cite a reference to this incident? No, you won't, will
> you, because it never happened.
>
It did, Mark, in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was all over the
Pensacola papers. The gun owner was not prosecuted after an
investigation decided that the death was a "tragic accident."
>
> If you're referring to the Japanese student
> killed in Texas, the gun owner was taken to court and the jury decided it
> was a justified killing. You'd have thought that if gun owners were as
> irrational and trigger-happy as you make out, a jury would have decided
> otherwise, wouldn't you?
>
Not in Cajun Country, when a local killed a foreigner.
>
> >MOSTLY
> >what one SHOULD fear is the thousands of accidental shootings Mr. Gun Owner's
> >kids incur
>
> That's what you get when you try to keep guns away from kids and don't teach
> them firearms safety; numerous studies have shown that kids who grow up
> around guns and shoot them with their relatives are the least likely to be
> involved in a shooting accident. If this really concerns you, why aren't you
> pushing for more gun safety classes?
>
The Golden kid was NRA trained (his father was a member), and
he shot real well from the ridge outside his school.
>
> >But guns are clearly out of control and our country is insane. We need to do
> >SOMETHING.
>
> Ho hum, emotional rhetoric, yes, that's really going to convince people. BTW,
> the number of murders and the number of shooting accidents (which often
> include suicides classified as 'accidents' by the cops for various reasons)
> have been going down for years; so why is this 'clearly out of control'?
>
There were 32,909 deaths in the US from bullet wounds in 1995.
18, 503 of these were suicides (the person most in danger from a
gun is its owner). Of the 14,406 remaining deaths, only 616 (about
4%) were ruled justifiable homicides; the remaining 96% (13,790)
were murders. In other words, in 24 out of 25 shooting deaths, the
bad guy is behind the bullet and the good guy is in front of it.
BTW, when someone loses a family member to senseless gun
violence, it is bound to be an emotional moment, and that is no
indictment against its seriousness.
>
> >How about: Mothers Against Gun Greedy Errant Rednecks (MUGGERS)???
>
> Ah, call your opponent a 'redneck', and then you can laugh at them, right?
>
> Mark
>
I'm a redneck. Born in Mobile, Alabama. Lived most of my life
down here, except for a stint in the military. Love to hunt, camp
and fish. Drive a 1965 Ford Twin-I-Beam Camper Special in the
woods. To associate us fine suthrn crackers with the likes of
extremist barrel-sucking riff-raff is an affront to my dignity. BTW,
when are you gonna apologize for lying about me,
Mark@unicorn.com? Is your horn growing like Pinocchio's nose?