Posted by Petra on April 27, 1999 at 05:14:55:
In Reply to: Re: Violence and history, has anything changed? posted by Champ on April 27, 1999 at 02:21:20:
Champ,
while I see your point, I must agree with Kate on this. Some of the reasons why I favor gun control I have just posted further up. But then again, I too come from a background where I grew up used to a society without guns (Germany).
: >Yes, and people with knives, baseball bats, cars, etc, kill with these items too...
Oooh, sounds like my husband talking here...:-)
True, but it's quite a bit harder to kill with a knife or a baseball bat because you need to get a little closer to the victim (standing eye to eye with a victim is quite different than just pulling a trigger from afar), you actually need physical force, you probably need more than one stab or beat to kill unless you know what to aim for, and in between you physically feel the impact of your weapon on that human body, you see the blood running. Do you pull out a knife from someone's belly so you can use it again? All this makes for at least some psychological barrier with many who initially start a violent attack. With a gun, it's just one clean little move and a person is dead.
: >At the expense of the rights of others? This is one of the reasons I served in the Army, to perserve my rights...
Yes, if the right to be restricted is outweighed by the right to be protected.
: >Wouldnt it be nice if we all could get along? Unfortuantly the world is not that way, and I knew that when peace seemed at hand [the fall of the Berlin Wall & Communisim] it was ALL an illusion that wouldnt last long....
There will never be universal peace, no doubt.
: I have talked to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, and one thing they have said in common, "Do NOT ever give up your right to own a firearm, IF we had not given up our guns we would have at least been able to fight back against the Nazis."
: I see the right to live & the right to bear arms as one and the same.
Now, that's a difficult subject. Without trying to disagree with those statements (just like so many other Germans, I have often wondered about that myself, about what factors might have made a difference then) I think we should consider one thing: The wars of the future will not be fought with hand-held weapons. But i understand what you mean, it goes through my mind also when I watch these news about Kosovo: Would there be a difference if these people had weapons in their houses? I'm not sure, but I do have my doubts.
Regards,
Petra