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Date:      Sat, 27 Jun 1998 22:35:09 +0000
From:      "Frank Pawlak" <fpawlak@execpc.com>
To:        Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com>, drifter@stratos.net, fpawlak@execpc.com
Cc:        freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Does it's true?
Message-ID:  <980627223509.ZM28324@darkstar.connect.com>
In-Reply-To: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> "Re: Does it's true?" (Jun 27,  3:16pm)
References:  <980627174601.ZM27818@darkstar.connect.com>  <199806272116.PAA20589@softweyr.com>

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On Jun 27,  3:16pm, Wes Peters wrote:
> Subject: Re: Does it's true?
> My hidden microphone recorded Frank Pawlak (fpawlak@execpc.com) saying:
> % Guns walking around probably refers to the guns per capita ratio in the US,
> % which has increased rapidly in the last twenty years or so, and to the
types
> % of
> % weapons that are being carried.
>
> Ah, yet another myth of the liberal press - gun ownership in the USA is at an
> all-time high.  My fater, his brothers, and ALL of their friends took their
> guns to school EVERY day.  They were, each and every one of them, expected to
> bring dinner home with them upon returning from school.  This meant carrying
a
> rifle, a fishing pole, or both, since thats how they got food.

The first part of your argument is just plain false.  Both gun ownership and
the kinds of weapons owned are at an all time high.

Food gathering on the way home from school may well hold in its time in some
areas of the country.  Part of my youth involved growing up in a rural area and
no such behavior occured.  Besides, back in the old days, people had more
respect for the next guy and his rights.

Two issues are raised here.  First, with rare exception in the US today is it
necessary to forage for food and use that as justification for carring a gun
all the time.

Secondly, the types of weapons being carried are designed and being used for
mass distruction.  No hunter worth his salt needs am AK47, AR-15. M16. MAC 10
or UZI to harvest game.  These weapons are very prevelent all accross the US
today.

The second part of my youth was spent growing up in so called tough working
class neighborhood in a major city.  Yes there were some gangs, and fist
fights, but, it was the very rare instance when one of the combatants pulled a
knife much less a gun.

I don't know where the hell you live that you are not aware of the fact that a
person in the US can get their shit blow'n away merely by pissing off another
person on a highway.

>
> If you mean gun ownership in the cities is going up, that's only because
living
> it cities is going up; the USA is significantly less rural that it used to
be.
> And gun ownership here where I live has gone down in the last 20 years, from
> about 95% of households in the 70s to about 75% of households in the 90s.

Wes, you are wrong here also.  Just a few days ago you lamented the urban
sprawl situation in the US.  It is a fact that most major cities are loosing
population to the burbs.  So more guns in cities because of population growth
doesn't wash.

  Much
> of the blame for this sad state of affairs is the increasing urabanization of
> northern Utah, and the attendant crime and drop in moral standards.

Finally, common ground.  BTW, on a visit to Salt Lake a couple of years ago, I
got talking to a local and remarked what a nice city it was and the amount of
night life there.  His told me that it is not as nice as it once was, and
blamed the decline on the migration of Californians to Utah. ;-)

Frank

>
> Guns are not the cause of crime, indecency is.
>
> --
>        "Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?"
>
> Wes Peters                                                 Softweyr LLC
> http://www.softweyr.com/~softweyr                      wes@softweyr.com
>
>
>-- End of excerpt from Wes Peters



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