I've been watching this thread for a while and I'm not so surprised at how polarized the group is about handguns.
Those who are opposed are opposed because of moral issues or fear. They believe that we (Americans) should not own guns because guns kill people or they can be stolen from the gun owner and used to kill people. Some also don't understand why someone would want to own a "weapon" when there is no apparent need for one in this country. They forget to come face to face with a few facts: 1) To date, a modern handgun has never killed a person in this country. People have used handguns to kill people. The handgun was just the weapon of choice and there are many other choices available. Kitchen knives, baseball bats, hammers, etc, etc. Maybe we should ban all of these "weapons"? 2) To date no-one has been accidentally killed by a modern handgun. Every handgun "accident" is the direct responsibility of the handgun owner, no exception. If you have kids or grandkids in the house and you have handguns "available" and a 4 year old finds one, pulls the trigger, it goes "bang" and kills his sister, it's 100% your fault as the gun owner. 3) Banning handguns will not take them out of the hands of the "bad guys". 4) Handgun ownership can be a very rewarding hobby. Those of us who like to go out and shoot have as much fun with our handguns as someone who plays football, rides a bicycle or goes fishing. It's not all a redneck macho thing as some on this list would suggest. And thinking of fishing - we should ban fishing! How dare we present a fish with a tasty morsel of food, only to use a sharp hook to forcibly drag him out of the water by his mouth. Then we slide him on a piece of rope along with the other "poor unfortunate fish" where he slowly suffocates to death. By the way, I fish too. The above argument is right in line with some of the "anti-handgun" arguments I've read in these posts. Thanks, Tom Hargrave www.kegkits.com 256-656-1924 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Zoltan Finks Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 5:53 PM To: Mercedes Discussion List Subject: Re: [MBZ] Man bites dog, was guns Now - Back to Guns OT OT Well, I can agree with some of what you say here, Andrew. You touch upon one of the biggest downfalls of having a gun. Most certainly, if someone introduces a gun into a hostile situation there is the possibility of it being turned on the gun wielder. I suppose the answer here is for each gun owner to be trained or otherwise experienced in the use of that weapon, and to take it deadly seriously and be aware of the risk of the reversal. I think perhaps also it may be true what they say: If you point a gun at someone, you had better be ready and willing to shoot them. And further, you should always shoot to kill, not to wound. So the foregoing would eliminate the option of simply showing a gun *solely* as a deterrent. Being armed with a gun is not a perfect solution, but it makes sense to me. You may be surprised to learn that I have never owned a gun. I came close to buying one, but I - then and now - struggle with the gravity of it all. This is partly because I know that I need work in the area of anger management. I don't know for 100% sure that I could trust myself in all situations. And the other part of the hesitation deals with the point you raise: The possibility of the gun being taken over by an intruder - be it from my hands or from a closet. Brian On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 3:46 PM, andrew strasfogel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > OK, here goes, although I'm not sure how this ties into your "yellow line" > analogy. > > A gun is just as likely to kill you as protect you. It is impersonal. > Having one means that you potentially allow someone else - a family > member, > friend, or criminal - the means to injure or kill you, even if by > accident. > > For example, someone breaks into your house but isn't armed. You point a > gun at him and he wrestles it away and shoots you. Were you really > "safer" > because of the gun? Or even if he were armed, if he knows/sees you are > armed is he more or less likely to use his weapon? This is not to say > there > aren't murderers and evildoers out there intent on harming you, but I just > don't see a net benefit in gun ownership. _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. 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