Steve 41oo wrote:You come out with all these silly ideas because you are desperate to justify the fact that you like playing with guns.
You ought to know better at your age. Put away your playthings and start acting like a man.
I've never heard it put so succinctly, but I've often thought it would boil down to something like that. I mean, you've got these socially conscious civic hero types who know what the right thing is and are ready to do it, and how can you blame them, they get laid and have an excuse to drive cute cars with free scheduled maintenance. But beneath the silver Toyotas and the frosted tips beat the hearts of men in a sense, and when they see someone acting in a manner inconsistent with what gets them their jellyroll and justifies the easter-egg they drive - whoa, lookout.
I don't own a gun, and have never fired a center fire cartridge. The line above alone is proof however that I live in a better country because of guns. If it weren't for guns they'd have more time to be on me about my cars emissions or the salt in my food telling me what I'm doing that I don't really need to be doing. But people dying just to keep me unbothered? How monstrous of me...
The difference with guns is unlike my dual 1 1/4 inch pipes and my tasty 25 cent Ramen - guns in America are not only a target of nanny culture but the antithesis of it. That is to say a gun, if you choose to own one or have the option to, is the item, that if environmentalists, nutritionalists and cops all fail to save you, or just plain decide to screw you, will let you still have your say in the matter. I'm not saying you won't have a better chance of being a victim of violence without gun control (although there are statistics that might) - just that with a gun or the personal choice not to own one your fate is to the largest extent possible in your own hands - and if self-reliance isn't what we're about then kiss my ass goodbye, for I shall move to Mexico.
Go ahead, tell me I'm hallucinating - but cops go bad, bureaucrats screw up or sell out - and even here in the Wild West only 1/1000 gets crimed with a gun annually - so if we're talking about statistics one way or the other I'd rather take them on in such a manner that if they concern me that I have a part to play in the outcome.
I think my outlook maps to England effectivly.