From: Anton Sherwood (bronto@pobox.com)
Date: Tue Mar 14 2000 - 00:50:10 MST
Zero Powers wrote:
> [...] I think there is a problem with a country that
> contains more guns than legal gun-owners.
And that problem is ...?
> Especially when that country
> compounds that problem by a complete failure to make these dangerous
> instrumentalities as safe as they can practically be,
I assume you're referring to the rumored "smart guns" that won't fire
unless the hand is wearing a magic ring, or some such. One more thing
to go wrong in an emergency -- when the battery runs down, or you took
the ring off to go to bed. Or the burglar cuts off your finger to get
the ring. Or the cops develop a gadget that disables the ring remotely,
and gangs steal one or reverse-engineer it.
Guns are safer than a lot of things. If people want safer guns, they'll
pay for safer guns. My guns are safe enough for me, thank you. (I
particularly like the "decocker" model.) But as long as one child is
accidentally shot every now and then, politicians will have an excuse to
disarm anyone who can't afford the luxury model.
> and the fact that gun owners unnecessarily enjoy more anonymity than
> car owners.
I agree that is wrong. It chafes me that if I owned a car I wouldn't be
able to park it without registering my name and address with the city.
> Japan does not allow every wacko in the country to own a gun.
Are you suggesting that Japan is populated mainly by wackos?
> Does that make the Japanese government a fascist regime?
No, it doesn't *make* the Japanese government fascist.
In Japan, I hear, the police inspect your apartment whenever they like,
just in case you have any guns. Never mind whether that's just or
unjust: How many dead cops would it be worth to adopt such a policy in
America?
-- Anton Sherwood *\\* br0nt0@p0b0x.com *\\* http://www.jps.net/antons/
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