Guns are no problem. They make great toys for enthusiasts, and they are great male jewelry for those who buy guns so they can put them in a safe. Their usefulness in hunting is obvious. But, let's not kid ourselves. There are plenty of cowards and bullies who love guns too, and these can be counted on to keep everyone jumpy with atrocities, suicides and accidents.
Saddam Hussein allowed every Iraqi to keep an AK-47 for a number of good reasons. There is nothing like an automatic weapon to give every family a false sense of security, even though nothing can defend from a knife in the back. Instead of comparing notes and organizing for protection, everyone sits at home watching propaganda and cleaning their guns.
Handing out guns to a whole population keeps everyone worried about their neighbors and complaisant about themselves. A tyrant can always count on a occaisional outrage to justify a useless and bored Homeland Security. Soon, everyone is looking at everyone else. Half the population thinks they are the good guys keeping an eye out for bad guys, when the truth is that there is only a country of the weak and blind.
When the public is living with constant fear and anger they are demoralized and easy to fool. It is not that hard to convince them that a liar and bully is a protector. Handing out guns is the perfect con. Just like pirated video tapes, guns can be declared illegal as a pretext for a roundup. Everyone should understand that right-wing crooks really want names more than guns.
http://www.nazilieskill@us
Hater of Nazis above all. Hobbies include activism, military model building, military history, exciting and vital conversation with retired crooks. Retired
One of the reasons the U.S. cannot conquer Iraq is that every citizen had a gun. And maybe the reason Saddam was able to hold a Sunni/Shia secular country together was because every citizen had a gun. In the best of all worlds, the U.S. would not have a standing army, but our schools would produce not only scholars, but every citizen would graduate a soldier, a carpenter, a farmer, and able to manage a biosphere. Then we would truly be free.
by
W.M.L. (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 257 comments)
on Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 6:33:34 PM
If I was a tyrant I would fear talkers, readers...
writers and thinkers more. Those people are more dangerous than any set of guns because they know how to get the guns pointed in the right direction, and they are less likely to be controlled though all the inducements of status, power and money. There is nothing worse than a person who cannot be easily bought.
I am probably a hopeless romantic, but I think that small businesses and farms were excellent places to learn and grow beyond the usual 14 years when development usually stops.
by
John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 789 comments)
on Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 7:00:29 PM
The trouble with your theory is that fear and paranoia occur far more in disarmed societies. For instance the blacks in america were disarmed and seemed to believe that people were out to get them. They had some reason for this belief. The whites however still feared the blacks were out to get them even after the blacks were disarmed. Far from increasing fear, guns in the hands of the populace decrease it because everyone knows that they can defend themselves. That's why violence has increased in Iraq after partial disarmament.
by
Michael Price (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 34 comments)
on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 5:34:28 AM
and so forth for hunting (after slavery). The real problem was that they were not organized against the Klan, and they couldn't get organized because the Whites called all the shots economically and socially. White money was the most powerful weapon. Guns are effective in offense, but not worth much against bushwhackers. (Most wars consists of bushwhacking). This country is full of armed and jumpy people, but that doesn't stop the cops from coming through the door. (I apologize for the title. It relates to an essay that I have for the future on how Hitler's economics (like Bush's economicis) made his war on Poland almost inevitable)
by
John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 789 comments)
on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 8:16:25 AM
