Sorry Kathryn. Guns have been in my family for hundreds of years and not
one has killed anyone. They have killed: bear, wildcat, stone sheep (no
not stoned sheep, that wouldn't be sporting), numerous deer, woodchucks,
rabbits, porcupines, quail, pheasant, grouse, woodcock, geese, and
various ducks. As for self defense, my grandfather once had to defend
himself against a wildcat attack. He had a pit in the side of his chest
for the rest of his life, and a wildcat hide to show for it. Guns are
primarily used as instruments to allow us to fufill our responsibilities
as the top predator. You who live in cities have absolutely no idea what
this statement even means. There are on average 100,000 white tail deer
in the state of NH. WIthout hunters responsibly managing the size of the
herd on an annual basis, the population would quickly skyrocket without
any other predators. This would a) cause a huge die-off in a severe
winter b) cause a skyrocketing accident rate from people hitting deer
with their cars and c) attract more wolves to migrate down from Canada
to the point that when the deer population plummets, in order to find
food, they would be reduced to attacking people.
The other two purposes: a) to defend ones life and b) to defend ones
liberty, are entirely in keeping with extropian values.
>
>
> > Until then, I find it sickening, and it frightens me in ways I can't
> > explain insofar as our future as posthumans. I mean, what are we
> > working towards, anyway?
>
We are working towards maximizing human liberty and capability. A gun is
a necessary instrument to defend the individual against statists and
criminals.
-- TANSTAAFL!!! Michael Lorrey ------------------------------------------------------------ mailto:retroman@together.net Inventor of the Lorrey Drive MikeySoft: Graphic Design/Animation/Publishing/Engineering ------------------------------------------------------------ How many fnords did you see before breakfast today?