🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1kbeqjINN7sk@sol.tis.com>, mjr@tis.com (Marcus J Ranum) writes:

|> 	I own several guns and I know how to use them. I don't carry
|> them, or even keep ammo around the house (other than a few boxes of
|> .22 for the RugerMkII) because having them doesn't make me feel any
|> safer. That's the root of the problem - people look at the *GUN* and
|> think that solutions to the USA's crime problems can be had, which
|> involve the *GUN*. Kind of a lot to expect from an inanimate object.
|> On the other hand, I believe that if there is a solution, it quite
|> likely will involve some increased restrictions on the ownership 
|> and use of guns. I personally don't mind that, but ONLY if the solution
|> is workable and involves a legal inititive and an educational
|> initiative along with whatever else happens. Just slapping a
|> law against buying guns, like Virginia is thinking of doing, is a
|> joke when our media glorifies the gun as a solution to personal
|> problems.

I basically started out with your point of view.  Then i made an effort to read
everything i could get my hands on.  I've written to HCI and gotten their story,
i've sat in the Marist library and read about gun control from both sides of the
fence.  Granted, as an owner of firearms, i'm not terribly likely to jump into the
HCI camp, but i've tried to be objective and fair.  I came to the conclusion that
there are a lot of variables that affect crime (very astute, huh :))...  I think
that the biggest is the gradual erosion of the criminal justice system - simply
put, its failing to incarcerate the violent criminals.  I'm not talking about
weakening the exclusionary rules, or reversing Miranda; i'm talking about the
weak sentances (and weaker time served) for violent crimes.  Even if jail isn't
going to deter them in all cases, it at least keeps them from preying on society.
It also teaches other people that crime doesn't pay; you will get punished, its
not cool or neat.  I've seen numbers like: the average time served for murder  ..
1.2 yrs, rape 8 months.  Now, for the past 30 yrs or so, the average time served
for violent crimes has fallen, while the rates of violent crimes have risen.
Over that time, we have had more new gun control laws (gc '68, for example) than
probably any other time in history, yet the rates climbed steadily throughtout
the 60's and 70's .. long after any effect of gca68 should have been seen.

I think we have a tough road ahead; if it took ~30 yrs to screw it up this bad,
how long will it take to straighten it out .. and will the politicians stop
trying to do a "quick fix/hack" when long hard work is required?  Its scary!

Having said that, i think that the gun control proposals i've seen (Brady, et al)
are a waste of time and money, generally including enough back door bans (see
Brady HR7) that any goodwill i might have had toward HCI's stated goals of
reducing violence is long gone.  In short, they've polarized me.

|> 	Basically our (the USA "our") attitude towards guns is like
|> our attitude towards booze in the 20s. The abolitionists want to
|> focus on banning the stuff completely, and are so focussed on that
|> that they don't accept that some folks are mature individuals without
|> a drinking problem. Then there are the people who are addicted to
|> drink. And everyone in between. Our situation with respect to guns
|> is similar, and I believe folks like HCI and NRA do us all a
|> disservice by constantly attempting to polarize the issue into
|> two rigid ideological camps.

Maybe its my bias (i'm an NRA member) but i've found HCI's liturature to be
lacking in factual information.  On the other hand, i've found the NRA to be
truthful - i joined after i saw that .. perfect? no, but factual and truthful.

Marcus, did you used to work at DEC?  I think i remember seeing your name ..

-- 
Michael Phelps, (external) mjp@vnet.ibm.com ..
                (internal) mjp@bwa.kgn.ibm.com .. mjp at kgnvmy         
 (and last but not least a disclaimer)  These opinions are mine..