Firearms???

[Don Gwinn]

A healthy fear of being shot is not the same thing as being frightened of a gun just because it exists. Are you afraid of cars? Candles? You could be hit with a car and you'd stand less chance of making it than with the average gunshot. You could wake up surrounded by a deadly house fire started by some fool who left a candle burning.

 

However, you are not frightened of cars and candles. You recognize that the way to prevent these things is not to ban cars and candles, but to stop people from being stupid, irresponsible, or malicious.

 

This is a very unpopular point of view because it's a lot more difficult and holds out less hope of success than a politician yelling "licenses and bans!" The question is, would you rather have false hopes and make-believe action, or results?

 

And always remember, folks, no matter how strongly you may feeeeel them, your feeeeelings do not cancel my rights. You do not have a right to feel any certain way. I do have a right to defend myself (and again, I can't believe I have to argue that point on a martial arts forum!)

 

"If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it."

 

--Ronald Reagan describing the liberal philosophy of life.

 

[Don Gwinn]

I know Zin Ju says he's leaving, but perhaps he'll check in. If you don't like seeing this, what can I say? What do you expect from a moron?

don look if your more scared of a frist in the chest, then a shotgun blast to your chest, you truly are a complete d*ckhead.

 

Then clearly I am not, because I said no such thing. I said that it is foolish to be afraid of the gun itself. Since you brought up the analogy, are you afraid of fists? In other words, when you see someone's hand in a fist, does that frighten you? Of course not. You might feel reasonable fear of being punched, but the mere existence of a fist doesn't frighten you; that would be silly since the fist is not going to hurt you of its own accord. It's the owner you have to watch.

 

Guns are the same. I have a very healthy fear of being shot, but I am not frightened in the presence of a gun unless it's pointed at me. Simple common sense. I know it's been done to death, but guns really and truly don't kill people.

you said "During the LA riots, the only Korean stores that survived in the riot zone were the ones that had store owners and their families banded together on the roofs with AR-15 and AK-47 rifles"

 

so the people didn't go to that store because they were scared of getting shot.

 

you contridict (spelling?) yourself

 

Read the passage above. If you'd read my original posts you'd see that there was no contradiction. They were afraid of being SHOT, not of the fact that a gun existed or might be present. And the use of those rifles by good people saved lives and property that night, a fact you seem to be glossing over. A gun is a tool the same as a knife, a tonfa or a car. In the hands of a good man it is good and in the hands of a bad man it is bad because it has no good or bad will of its own. It is an inanimate object.

enough said. i aint even gonna try to argue with such a stupid moron

 

I don't need to respond to this one, I just wanted everyone to look at it one more time and think about who they believe is more deserving of such an epithet. On the board I work for, http://www.thefiringline.com , you'd be banned for that kind of language and personal attack, but clearly the rules are a bit looser on this board. Your punishment will have to be having your words put up again for everyone to see as a reflection of your character.

 

 

[Don Gwinn]

Then I would have to change my discussion to that the United States is one messed up country, a haven for criminals, and is unable to deal social problems.

 

AHA! A light goes on! Overstated, but this is the problem in a nutshell. Of course, the U.S. is far from unique in this. England has its own problems, like its skinheads and yardies. Canada doesn't see much, but with all due respect, Canada's population density and diversity are nil compared to the U.S. Japan doesn't have much of a crime problem, but they show signs of a big problem with innocent people going to prison after being tortured by police. They also have a huge suicide problem.

 

The U.S. is unique in the scope of our "social problems" as you call them. Few other societies have to deal with the racial tensions we do, nor are drugs the kind of giant criminal enterprise in most countries that they are here. And, of course, prosperity attracts criminals. We also, quite frankly, have a harder time convicting people than many other countries because of the safeguards we've built into our law.

 

However, as Jefferson said, I prefer even dangerous freedom over tranquil slavery.

 

 

[They Call Me Bruce]

truth hurts eh ?

[They Call Me Bruce]

whats your problem with the ghetto.

 

famous people from compton.

 

ice cube

 

dr dre

 

williams sisters

 

coolio

 

 

[Sin Style]

withers, zin, don whats are you really talking about.

 

don you said "I have a very healthy fear of being shot, but I am not frightened in the presence of a gun unless it's pointed at me"

 

didn't zin-ju say about the same thing, zin said "im not afraid of the firearm, but im scared of what the shotgun blast could do to my chest" or words to that effect.

 

i think its sad for you all to try to make a argument out of this.

 

zin should of at least blanked out m****, but if your not willing to accept his view i would get mad to

[Don Gwinn]

Sin, that's what he said AFTER I called him on his original comments which were, and I quote:

i probelm caused by guns, they scare the sh*t out of some people, and it aint cause of the person who has the gun, its the gun id be scared of.

 

Can't be much clearer than that. Obviously one of those quotes might represent his real opinion, but they can't both be real. They're mutually exclusive. So which one is real? I chose to address the one he put out of his own accord before I nailed him.

 

As for blanking out "moron," are you for real? If he replaces the letters in the word, even though he, I, and everyone else still know exactly what he's saying to me, then it's suddenly acceptable? I think not. Again, I'm not sure he would do that if we were face to face. If he would, I'm not sure why I would bother to have a face-to-face conversation with anyone with such poor manners and self-control.

 

Finally, you say you would do the same if I "didn't accept your point of view." Did you read that before you posted it? Did you really mean to say that you consider everyone who disagrees with your opinions to be a moron? And whenever someone disagrees with you, you start calling them morons? How do you get through the day?

 

Am I the only one here who thinks this sounds a little crazy? Is this acceptable behavior on this site? I can call names with the best of them, but if that's all we're doing here, it's not worth my time. You'll notice that I've been answering the posts of two or three people at a time here, constantly on the defensive, hounded from a couple of sides--but I have not resorted to name-calling and flaming. Could that mean my argument is stronger? Or am I really that much more in control of myself?

 

 

[Don Gwinn]

Bruce, to what truth are you referring? Tell me what it is and I'll tell you if it hurts.

 

People, it's not that complicated. Iron Arahat gets it, so what's so difficult? I understand why Americans would be reluctant to come to the conclusion he did, out of simple national pride. But I should think a Brit or a Canadian would love a chance to bash American culture. I've never met one who liked it much. Why not bash the parts that deserve it?

[Iron Arahat]

Don Gwinn stated "A gun is a tool the same as a knife, a tonfa or a car. In the hands of a good man it is good and in the hands of a bad man it is bad because it has no good or bad will of its own. It is an inanimate object."

 

Now with this said the question should be what can be done to keep guns out of the hands of "bad people"?

 

With all the "social problems" that Don has eluded to, are Americans as a country responsible enough to have firearms in the general public?

 

Don Gwinn stated "Canada's population density and diversity are nil compared to the U.S."

 

The first part is true, but you do not take into acount large centers such as Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, etc.. which are densly populated. Then look at places like Windsor, Ontario --- just across the river from Detroit, but nowhere near the violence.

 

Don Gwinn stated "Few other societies have to deal with the racial tensions we do, nor are drugs the kind of giant criminal enterprise in most countries that they are here."

 

I would differ from you here on this point as well, there are racial tensions here as well, we deal with aboriginals, blacks, vietnamese, jamacians, and so on. We have white supremsists, gangs, the Hells Angels, and so on.

 

 

[Iron Arahat]

Don Gwinn stated "A gun is a tool the same as a knife, a tonfa or a car. In the hands of a good man it is good and in the hands of a bad man it is bad because it has no good or bad will of its own. It is an inanimate object."

 

Now with this said the question should be what can be done to keep guns out of the hands of "bad people"?

 

With all the "social problems" that Don has eluded to, are Americans as a country responsible enough to have firearms in the general public?

 

Don Gwinn stated "Canada's population density and diversity are nil compared to the U.S."

 

The first part is true, but you do not take into acount large centers such as Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, etc.. which are densly populated. Then look at places like Windsor, Ontario --- just across the river from Detroit, but nowhere near the violence.

 

Don Gwinn stated "Few other societies have to deal with the racial tensions we do, nor are drugs the kind of giant criminal enterprise in most countries that they are here."

 

I would differ from you here on this point as well, there are racial tensions here as well, we deal with aboriginals, blacks, vietnamese, jamacians, and so on. We have white supremsists, gangs, the Hells Angels, and so on.