From: Dwayne (ddraig@pobox.com)
Date: Sat Jul 04 1998 - 05:58:50 MDT
den Otter wrote:
>
> I suppose that if you did the same test on the transhuman mailing list,
> or on ExI-Euro, the results would be somewhat different. Europeans tend
> to be rather gun-phobic. It's probably linked to the popularity of
> socialism etc, in which the criminal is just a "poor victim of society",
> blah, blah, and should be given a better treatment than those annoying
> (real) victims. Oh yes, they *hate* the victims, maybe because they
> remind them of how the world *really* is.
I would assume, myself, that it has more to do with the fact that
zillions of europeans aren't shot to death by guns every year and
so they can see for themselves how not living in a country armed
to the teeth is healthier, despite whatever bullshit surveys the
gun nuts care to trot out.
> > Since Prof. John Lott's research of FBI crime stats over many years has shown
> > that gun ownerhip conclusively reduces the incidence of crime, while most other
> > 'less well considered' policies tend to increase or have no effect on crime,
> > that gun ownership is an important extropian theme.
>
> It certainly is. Guns are very useful pieces of technology. By carrying
> a gun (and training yourself in it's use) you empower yourself
> considerably, having an edge over most thugs you encounter. Objectively
> speaking, a gun is a great transhuman tool, but get's discriminated
> against because it's related to a "touchy" subject (killing people).
> Personally, I wouldn't lose any sleep over shooting an (armed) attacker.
Bah.
Dwayne
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