🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <395s80$ob3@crchh518.bnr.ca>, Tom G <tomg@bnr.ca> wrote:
>Give us a break please.  The NRA is for GUNS, period.  If it means 
>suggesting legislation that ensures guns are available then they
>do it.  But the bottom line is free gun availability.
>
>This is like saying that cigarette producers give a crap about
>"freedom of choice".  All they care about is selling cigs.  Now
>that hardly anyone believes their former claims that cig smoking
>is not unhealthy, they have switched to this new approach, making
>it look like their main goal is support of rights.
>
>Cig companies wanna sell cigs.
>
>NRA wants guns.  Lots of 'em.  
>

Your analogy falls apart here:  tobacco has no beneficial uses, other than
as a recreational drug.  Firearms can be beneficial, and can save lives.
Try a different analogy.  A firearm in the home is like a fire extiguisher:
you may never need it, but if you do need it, virtually nothing else
can take its place.

If we wanted a totally safe, padded world, we'd ban private ownership
of motor vehicles, since licensed, trained driver of public transportation
would be safer.  Think about how many auto accidents we'd prevent if
no one drove.  No one *needs* to have a car.  Betwen public transportation
and non-motorized (bicycles/feet) transportation no one would be
inconvenienced by this "reasonable change needed to save lives".  Think
about how many drunk driving accidents and needless loss of life that
would be prevented.  Think about the savings to our health care industry,
court system, and national economy if we all just gave up our cars and
let the government do the driving.  

IMHO one of the foundations of our society is that each person should
have as much freedom as possible.  This includes the right to chain-smoke,
drive too fast, become an alcoholic, and eat fried foods.  With that
freedom comes the responsibility to not blame the bar for your DWI
conviction, and not blame Church's chicken for your clogged arteries.
If we banned tobacco and alcohol we'd save many, many more lives than
we would by magically waving a wand and making all guns disappear.
It won't happen because we as a society are addicted to our legal
recreational drugs.  Unlike firearms, there are no valid reasons why
we should tolerate these killers in our society, other than the fact
that they are firmly established, and the addicts can't give them up.

If you support banning guns, then you should strongly support banning
alcohol and tobacco for the exact same reasons that you want to
ban guns.  Any other position would be hypocrisy...

Karl
rehn@arlut.utexas.edu