04-02-2013, 01:46 PM
That is a good one run. It is kind've refreshing to encounter non-Americans who are not rabid gun-banners.
It is sad and unfortunate that so many modern devices that are so useful for violence exist, but it seems to be a 'cat out of the bag' situation. If somehow every firearm on the entire planet could be made to go *poof* and disappear magically, I tend to think that all it would do is prompt the biggest arms race in human history, and the resulting mayhem would be horrific.
As an NRA member (but non-owner with some experience shooting; I live in Taxachusetts which has some of the most intrusive and restrictive regulations on licensing and ownership, and I haven't even tried to get a permit) I regard the issue pragmatically: You are NOT going to get guns out of the U.S, much less the rest of the world. Efforts to do that are likely to cause more harm than good. Better to focus on more practical means to protect innocents. For example, the Primary School that Obama and many of the other Beltway Aristocrats kids attend has 11 armed guards at it. Ironic I thought that the royalty in the Congress and White House deserve to have their children protected with heavily armed men, but the idea that that might be the best way to prevent Sandy Hook's and Columbines has yet to emerge instead of placing more regulations on the peasant's 2nd Amendment rights.
As an American I regard firearm rights ideologically. One of our nations founding documents specifies the _RIGHT_ of every citizen to bear arms and form into an effective militia. Given that power corrupts no less today than it ever did, I believe that the good reasons the writers of that had for including it in the U.S. Constitution are no less valid today than they ever were. From there it gets a bit more debatable, but I tend to lean toward more firepower available to anyone who has never demonstrated a sign of potential malice.
It is sad and unfortunate that so many modern devices that are so useful for violence exist, but it seems to be a 'cat out of the bag' situation. If somehow every firearm on the entire planet could be made to go *poof* and disappear magically, I tend to think that all it would do is prompt the biggest arms race in human history, and the resulting mayhem would be horrific.
As an NRA member (but non-owner with some experience shooting; I live in Taxachusetts which has some of the most intrusive and restrictive regulations on licensing and ownership, and I haven't even tried to get a permit) I regard the issue pragmatically: You are NOT going to get guns out of the U.S, much less the rest of the world. Efforts to do that are likely to cause more harm than good. Better to focus on more practical means to protect innocents. For example, the Primary School that Obama and many of the other Beltway Aristocrats kids attend has 11 armed guards at it. Ironic I thought that the royalty in the Congress and White House deserve to have their children protected with heavily armed men, but the idea that that might be the best way to prevent Sandy Hook's and Columbines has yet to emerge instead of placing more regulations on the peasant's 2nd Amendment rights.
As an American I regard firearm rights ideologically. One of our nations founding documents specifies the _RIGHT_ of every citizen to bear arms and form into an effective militia. Given that power corrupts no less today than it ever did, I believe that the good reasons the writers of that had for including it in the U.S. Constitution are no less valid today than they ever were. From there it gets a bit more debatable, but I tend to lean toward more firepower available to anyone who has never demonstrated a sign of potential malice.
There is no greater joy than to conquer your enemies and drive them before you. To take away their possessions and ride their horses. To see the faces of those they held dear bedewed with tears, and to clasp their wives and daughters in your arms.