Date sent: Wed, 09 Jun 1999 07:59:29 -0500 To: extropians@extropy.com From: Chuck Kuecker <ckuecker@mcs.net> Subject: Re: [GUNS] Re: Better people Send reply to: extropians@extropy.com
> At 04:32 AM 6/9/99 -0700, mark@unicorn.com wrote:
> >
> >Will you still feel the same way if that racist Australian political party
> >get a majority, and hence control all the guns in government hands?
> >
> >>No one needs to have weapons to kill people at a distance. The only
> >>reason to have them is to protect yourself from people who have them.
> >
> >So why is it that a large fraction (possibly the vast majority) of bullets
> >are fired at little pieces of paper? I've shot an awful lot of them myself
> >in the past, and precisely 0.00000000000% of them have been fired at another
> >person. If the only reason to own a gun is to shoot people who try to shoot
> >you, why are most guns used for target shooting or (in America) hunting?
> >
>
> Even if your only use for a gun is defense, it makes sense to be able to
> use it effectively - hence target shooting. Because I practice
> periodically, I am sure of hitting what I aim at.
>
> If the real concern is 'death at a distance', we must immediately ban all
> rifles and long barrel shotguns. Handguns are only accruate enough to hit a
> person within 25 feet in many people's hands. Any good full choke shotgun
> can kill at 50 yards. Rifles can kill at over a mile, with a good scope and
> steady aim.
>
> I have had exactly one opportunity to even have a gun in my hand in
> anticipation of use against another person, in over twenty-five years of
> ownership. A drunk was battering my door at 2 AM in the middle of winter. I
> called the police - he was escorted to a nice warm cell to sleep it off - I
> never even needed to put my finger on the trigger.
>
> If this individual had suceeded in gaining entry, though, I would have been
> able to either hold him off or disable him if necessary, to defend my
> family. If I had not had the gun, my only option would have been
> hand-to-hand combat with someone possibly much stronger than myself.
>
> I will keep my weapon just in case.
>
>
If you have neither been convicted of a violent crime nor judged
mentally incompetent by a psychiatric board (you have a family, so
are obviously of age), I have no problem with you retaining your
weapon.