Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 16:50:52 -0700 From: Travis Cole <tcole@wcug.wwu.edu> To: "Jason C. Wells" <jcwells@u.washington.edu>, Gary Kline <kline@tera.com> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Does it's true? Message-ID: <19980628165052.A11045@wcug.wwu.edu> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.96.980628145509.2460F-100000@s8-37-26.student.washington.edu>; from Jason C. Wells on Sun, Jun 28, 1998 at 03:06:46PM %2B0000 References: <199806280319.UAA12882@athena.tera.com> <Pine.BSF.3.96.980628145509.2460F-100000@s8-37-26.student.washington.edu>
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On Sun, Jun 28, 1998 at 03:06:46PM +0000, Jason C. Wells wrote: > On Sat, 27 Jun 1998, Gary Kline wrote: > > > C'mon, guys, let's get _really_ real... We need to > > abolish handguns altogether, since, let's face it: > > the only thing a .454 Colt Bisley is meant to kill > > is a human target. --One, maybe two for the expert > > shooter. > > <snip> > Handguns are designed with the express purpose of killing. Such is the > case with all weapons. Even target weapons are simple the "auto-racing" > verions of a more mundane instrument of death. > > The Toledo of the conquistador broadsword is intended purely to kill > people. So is the Dai Katana of the Samurai. Excalibur was wielded by King > Arthur in "defending the faith." But the intentions of the wielder of > these weapons vary widely. > > The point is that a weapon is inanimate. A weapon is neither good nor > evil. A weapon has no intentions. A weapon cannot be tried for a crime by > an court on the planet. I fully agree until the above paragraph. Here you logic begins to break down. Read below for my reasoning. > > Can you even imagine such a trial? > > Mr. .454, where were you on the night of... This is ludicrous. Why is it > ludicrous? Because the _human being_ is responsible for the use that the > weapon is put to. While I do agree the human being is responsible for the use of the weapon I do not agree that alone negates the logic of banning such weapons. Let me draw an analogy. In the US most drugs (pot, cocaine, heroin, LSD, etc) are illegal to posses, sell or buy. But it is not the drugs fault when some one abuses it and cause undue harm to themselves or others. This is fully the responsibility of the human involved yet these drugs are illegal. By your logic all drugs should be legal. The same can go for our seat belt laws here in Washington. It is fully my responsibility to wear a seat belt while in a car. Yet this is mandated by law to protect my own safety. My analogies do not run directly parallel with gun control they follow the same vain. Our Government often takes responsibility away from the individual in hopes to protect our own best interest. Drug laws, gun control laws, and seat belt laws are all examples. > Let me be more cliche. "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." > > I invite anyone to show me a case where a weapon has been found guilty of > a crime and has been convicted under the law of that government. The issue here is not how the weapon acts alone. Obviously putting an inanimate object on trial is ludicrous. The issue is reducing the harm *people* cause with guns. If one can't get a gun then a very quick and efficient method of killing is removed. What do you think would have happened if the kid in Oregon who shot many of his class mates couldn't have got his hands on any guns? Yes he may have still done something rash, but how much damage could he do with a knife or some other similar weapon before some one stopped him? Banning guns wouldn't come close to solving all our problems but it would probably reduce the number of deaths due to examples like the one above. And I think I agree with your overall point that steps need to be taken so people will take more responsibility for their actions but that doesn't provide a justification for the legality of killing machines. Just my thoughts. -Travis To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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