On Wed, Mar 15, 2000 at 06:29:18AM -0800, Technotranscendence wrote:
> Regarding the current gun debate and all previous incarnations, why bother?
> Aside from venting -- which, in itself is counterproductive; people who vent
> only vent again; they don't move to some new equilibrium -- do any of you
> really think you're going to persuade someone on this list?
Good point, however people _do_ change their attitude over time.
I'm considerably more skeptical about the claims of gun control advocates
than I was a couple of years ago, mostly as a result of intermittently
stumbling over the permanent floating usenet gun control thread and
engaging in _illuminating_ discourse with anti-gun-control people. (Not
flamage, you'll note. Gratuitous insults and flaming discredits the
flamer.)
My attitude probably doesn't make any practical difference to anything
-- I live in the UK and have never seen a real, working handgun in this
country outside of a museum or an airport departure lounge -- but it
might make some of the pro-gun-ownership people a little happier to know
that some of the people they're debating with can learn from the debate,
and will shift their stance over time if confronted with enough evidence.
For my part, I believe gun control in the UK is a classic example of
a moral panic being coopted by legislators for reasons of short-term
political gain. The real point of interest is why the USA has so many
people with low inhibitions against committing acts of violence against
their neighbours -- and why discussion of the underlying sociological
phenomenon seems to be taboo. (What kills people is other people with no
psychological restraint on their actions; never mind access to weapons,
if they can't get guns they'll use knives, or cars, or whatever comes
to hand. The burning question is _why_.)
I could make the same point about the abortion debate; here in the UK
only the religious fringe pay it any attention, and the vast majority
of the population don't want or perceive a need for any change in the
current law, which is basically abortion-on-demand up to 22 weeks. (In
fact, last time the religious right tried to ram through a parliamentary
act tightening up controls on abortion, the staged vote and tabled
amendments ended up _relaxing_ the law. Heh.)
-- Charlie
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