🚀 go-pugleaf

>I find it difficult to believe that we, in virginia, are resposible for 
>the breakdown in thesocial fabric in the rest of the united states.  Why 
>must we have a restrictive law passed to offset problems through out the 
>rest of the us.

	You're not responsible for the breakdown of the social fabric.
You're being made an example of. If the kind of crap we've been seeing
continues to happen, it's just going to get worse. It's becoming pretty
obvious that a lot of folks with guns are completely out of control.
Since the authorities can't handle it, we can all look forward to
knee-jerk reactions and stopgap measures. It's one of those cases of a
few bad apples ruining the barrel.

	I've got to admit I'm torn. Here in DC, gunfire is responsible
for 1/4 of the male deaths between ages 16 and 20. No matter how you
slice it, that *is* pretty scary. Yes, I know guns are "controlled"
in DC - that's got nothing to do with it. The problem is rapidly
escalating past the point where we can expect people to deal with it
rationally. Not to say that anyone was *before*. There's a loonie
driving around a friend of mine's neighborhood blowing folks away
with a shotgun for no apparent reason. He's shot 4 people so far -
just folks like you & me who were minding their own business got
rewarded with a blast of pellets in the head.

	I suspect that the laws that are being passed in VA are the
beginning of an avalanche. If I believed it would help the situation
dramatically, I'd be all for it. I think the tighter restrictions
on gun purchases and ownership *will* help, when (I no longer think
it's a matter of "if") they get enacted. I'd rather see an across
the board, well-thought-out social initiative to convince these
guys to solve their problems with fisticuffs instead, but frankly
I'll settle for anything that makes things better.

mjr.