Gunner wrote:
On Sat, 15 May 2004 19:45:30 GMT, Ian Stirling
wrote:

John Ings wrote:
On Sat, 15 May 2004 05:47:00 GMT, Gunner
wrote:

That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's
cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays
there.
- George Orwell

You still haven't got the message have you Gunner? Orwell wasn't
talking about a privately owned weapon! That's a government issue
rifle for a Home Guard member he's referring to! The Brit equivalent
of a national Guard member.

To expand on this, the quote is from an article in the
Evening Standard, 8 Jan 1941, "Don't let Colnel Blimp ruin the Home Guard."

"Even as it stands the Home Guard could only exist in a country where
men feel themselves free. The totalitarian states can do great things,
but there is one thing they cannot do, they cannot give the factory
worker a rifle and tell him to take it home and keep it in his bedroom.
THAT RIFLE HANGING ON THE WALL OF THE WORKING-CLASS FLAT OR LABOURER'S
COTTAGE IS THE SYMBOL OF DEMOCRACY. IT IS OUR JOB TO SEE IT STAYS
THERE."

From http://www.orwelltoday.com/readerriflequote.shtml

Bravo Ian!

Actually, I happen to agree with the poster that this fundamentally
disagrees with your position on what Orwell meant by this.