From: Waldemar Ingdahl (wingdahl@hotmail.com)
Date: Sat Jun 24 2000 - 15:41:04 MDT
>From: "\[ Robert-Coyote \]" <coyyote@hotmail.com>
>Reply-To: extropians@extropy.com
>To: extropians@extropy.com
>Subject: Gunrights ad-nauseum ( was: soccer violence as a model for
>pos..blah)
>Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 13:09:39 PDT
>
>
>How can any state claim specficly that the right to Guns extends only to
>use
>as a armed govmt millitia and not for personal use without violateing the
>equal protection act when the Washington state constitution cleary states
>they are for the individual citizen's personal defense ?
I am a libertarian myself, but I often find these "gun debates" on extropy
quite pointless. I defend people's right to bear arms, but its important to
point out the philosophical reasons. The right to bear arms is there in a
vacuum, it is part of a greater whole. That is that people are entitled the
right to their lives, freedom and property. That's the context of the right
to bear arms. Then one can point out that banning guns wont be a very long
step from banning nanotechnology, cloning, computers, the right to change
one's body, the right of free speach etc, all rights that I hope that all
transhumanists agree on. If you start banning things the steps to ban
another thing are that big. It is through showing the principles behind the
right to bear arms that I think that most transhumanists will agree on it.
Next time its probably you.
Guns are not the most important thing in libertarianism either, they are
tools of defense (maybe for collection too). The need for them would be
superflous in a society where everybody respected the others' rights. Like
Jeff Riggenbach said ironacally "just if we have drugs and guns we could all
live in a dump", but the libertarian vision is bigger than that- it is a
about a peaceful society (instead of the legalized warfare of the welfare
state)- and in that context it's easy for transhumanism to flourish.
So in my opinion- don't stress on guns, stress on the right to property and
the right to freedom, and we will certainly see better results.
Sincerely,
Waldemar
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