4/19 Kind of nice to see the level of detail in the second amendment
discussion. Thanks to all who contributed. Makes me feel
hopeful for democracy and the better angels of our nature.
\_ In US the there can never be a gun control because that is
the way the society has developed. You and me and many
others understands the invalidity of the second amendment
but to make it through the head of these lunatics will take
ages or may be many such tragedies. What irks me most where
is the PROPER BACK GROUND CHECK. If they had a process of
checking the back ground thoroughly then any person with
little sense would have known that this guy does not deserve
to have even a spoon in his hand, forget a gun. There is no
shortage of resources to dig out every bit of information of
a gun holder and YES if a person wants to have a gun they
cannot argue for the right to privacy. Nobody should be able
to go to a store and buy a gun, the people who are
interested to possess a gun should enroll themselves and a
thorough check should be done and even then I am sure
incidents will happen but may reduce a lot. The general
apathy to everything which is not your own among the people
of this country has to change. This guy was crying out loud
that he needed help and yet not enough was done to really
help him. His parents were ignorant so they could not fathom
the extend of his cruel mind but what about the rest of the
society? This general lack of compassion among the people
of this country often makes us (I mean my family) wonder
whether we should continue to live in this country or go
back to our own land. This rush, always to do something or
get something done all the time where nobody has time to
look around and reach out for others is really missing. You
know we have a guy from certain country in our research
lab. Believe me nobody talks to him, nobody asks him for
lunch out, he comes and goes at his own time mostly avoiding
the vibrant time in the lab. Last Christmas I remember him
telling me that he is feeling very lonely because the only
thing he would be doing during the holidays is work. I felt
bad for him then but I did not really call him to my place
even though I had several get togethers. This tendency of us
to be always with the Best and seen around with the Best has
made us forget that we should not leave anybody behind. I
am sorry for this long note but someway I was unburdening my self.
\_ In US the there can never be a abolition because that is the
way society has developed...
But, really, OP, you were really asking for it by congratulating
the motd crowd on civility and sense.
\_ It is kind of tough to respond to you, especially with
this kind of a format. But as I could understand from
your response, you are of the opinion that we are in
need of sophisticated weapons to defend
ourselves. When you carry that argument too far, ther
only way we can be safe is if we barricade our homes,
lay mines outside, arm ourselves with rocket launchers
and machine guns, because we can be invaded anytime.
And I agree, that notion would not be too absurd, but
that is exactly why we humans organized as a society
and founded cities and eventually countries, so that
they could get on with life and hand off their
security to a professional military and police force
funded by part of what they earn (as tax). If you feel
that the government you elected cannot fulfil the duty
assigned to them of protecting your life and property,
it is then probably time for you to think about
changing the government.
If you do not empower that regulating force to control
the possession of items which are beyond the reason of
self-defence, then I guess it is kind of tough to
entrust anyone with any job. I am not going to take
the argument much further, seeing that you have a view
that is completely orthogonal to mine and one that is
kind of tough for me to comprehend.
I see securing people as a job that we let someone
else do. I pay people to write software for me, I pay
people to protect me. Yes, I could do it all myself,
but then I would not be able to do things that I am
good at. I say this in the context of your argument
that students should and would be well trained in the
responsible use of these weapons. Contrary to what you
might believe, military school might not be the best
place to be.
I refuse to fire a gun, and in your world, I would not
survive too many days, maybe mothers are a breed that
is undesirable in that scheme of things. |