🚀 go-pugleaf

unruh@physics.ubc.ca (William Unruh) writes:

>jkp@cs.HUT.FI (Jyrki Kuoppala) writes:

>>, I would like to point out that a big portion of the people
>>who are defending the right to have guns do not do it because they
>>want to defend themselves against other citizens but because they want
>>to defend themselves against government.  Think of it as a kind of
>>insurance - it's not something that you want to get used, but good to
>>have in case it is needed.

>Oh you mean like JFK, or ML King, or R Kennedy, or R Reagan? This is the type of
>political process you uphold and advocate? After all the perpretrators
>of all those actions felt that the "govenment" as represemted by those
>people was a grave threat. 
>Or is it that when they do it they are nuts but of course you will only
>do it when it is absolutely necessary.

REALITY CHECK!!  REALITY CHECK!!

Apparently a short history lesson is in order for our esteemed colleague
from Canada.  Martin Luther King, Jr. was an advocate of non-violent civil
disobedience AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT, because the policies of that government
discriminated against people of African descent.  To construe him as
REPRESENTING that government is ridiculous.

All these people were shot by kooks who were not interested in expressing
any particular displeasure with our form of government.  If you lived here
or paid any attention to what happens here (although I must admit that the
media in any country rarely understands what happens outside its own
borders, so its probably not your fault), the guy that shot Reagan was
trying to impress an actress.  The guy that shot Robert Kennedy was probably
a mafioso (RFK was, after all, the US Attorney General), the guy that shot
MLK, Jr. was a racist, and the guy that shot JFK... well, conspiracy
theories abound, but he may have even been working FOR the government.

Please, if you're going to try to use our own history to make your point,
get it right.

And please, dont't say that stricter control of guns would have prevented
these crimes...  None of these people just went out and purchased a
"Saturday Night Special" or "Assault Weapon" in the "Heat of Passion" to
commit their crimes.  These people were methodical, and planned things out
carefully.  Even banning guns totally would not have stopped them.  Do you
really believe that making something illegal has much of an effect on its
availability?  You DO?  Gee, then our countries obviously can't have a
"Drug Problem," because cocaine is illegal!!

--
Michael T. Palmer, M/S 152, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681
Voice: 804-864-2044,   FAX: 804-864-7793,   Email: m.t.palmer@larc.nasa.gov