From: "Earl W", [EMAIL PROTECTED] This was posted in can.talk.guns by Len McLaughlin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I think some of his comments on jealousy have some relevance to us. EW ===================== In the gun debate, it appears to me that the gun community has failed to get across those issues to which the general public can personally relate, i.e. property ownership, home sanctuary and family safety. Even though gun owner arguments have been legitimate, the government has been successful in confusing and misleading the majority of that public, just as they did on free trade , the GST, and many others. -- Governments have long learned how to manipulate the public's weak points and gun owners may have fallen victim to one of the most basic, that of jealousy. Unfortunately and never admitted, most people secretly take some satisfaction from the misfortune of their neighbors, especially in the area of property or finance. As an example, they are never really upset when their neighbor's property tax is increased or their neighbor is demoted, etc. -- The gun owner makes the perfect victim for this inherent jealousy. He is a minority who enjoys owning guns and usually likes to hunt or shoot, an enjoyment the majority will never experience. So here jealousy raises its ugly head, here is a chance for that majority to pull their neighbor down a peg. They justify their actions by conveniently buying the government's safety argument or its demonization of a "powerful gun lobby". A lobby which is, in reality, just a patchwork of organizations consisting of average people, trying to fend off an arrogant and devious government. -- This same public is being told by a government, that has never lied to them, that this is a user pay proposition, and so they see the registration and confiscation of guns as having no direct cost to themselves. However, if the government's own figures are to be believed in regards the reduced number of gun owners, along with admitted escalating costs, it becomes obvious that there are now too few gun owners to pay even the admitted costs. -- The right to own property, the sanctuary of the home and the safety of the family are things most Canadians would take for granted. The Liberal gun bill is a threat to all three. I'm sure all Canadians feel they have the right to own property or at the very least to be compensated if government action devalues that property. Most must believe in the sanctuary of the home and its exception from unreasonable search and seizure. They also would not expect the government to expose the family in that home to undue risk at the hands of the criminal element. This is just what the government is doing when forcing any family to list in-house valuables on a computer listing, available to any hacker. --
