On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:56:03 -0500, "Upscale"
wrote:


"Charlie Groh" wrote in message
enforcement. You're still on the arrogant side..

Maybe, but so what?

...so it colors whatever you say with bias. I figured loooong ago

Then you could say that about everybody. Anybody with a personality has
their own sense of self-worth which they project to others and could be
considered arrogance.

plenty of *bad* folks out there relish the though of an unarmed and
vulnerable *you!* And, no, they might not be as smart as you, either.

I don't know how old you are Charlie, but maybe you can relate. I'm 54. When
I went to school, just like any other school of any time and place, there
were bullies, people to be afraid of. You dealt with that as you were able.
But, nowhere in my experience in all the schools I attended were there
students that felt the need to be armed. I'm talking about knives. These
days, kids are carrying knives (and sometimes guns) into school, when they
go shopping, wherever. ~ All with the thought that they need to be armed for
protection. Guns are a simple extension of that thinking. Going about your
life day to day while living in an atmosphere of fear is a terrible way to
live.

OK...I have 6 decades down and hopefully a couple or three to
go...grew up in wonderful Orange County, CA...Dismaland, you know, the
Tragic Kingdom. Pretty idyllic growing up...not so now, but livable,
yanno? I do my craft, do alot of photography, teach high schoolers
how to march (marching band) and on the side contract for a living.
Got a little education...went to war in lovely SE Asia and got to fly
helo-co-peters (shot more rounds in a minute than most people would
shoot in a lifetime...this is also where I had that epiphany I
mentioned earlier, yup.) and didn't own a handgun until 3 years
ago...'cause it helps me feel like I can protect myself and my
property.

Thinking smart and being careful is advisable anywhere. The need to carry
armament tells me there's something intrinsically wrong with society. That's
how I feel. Obviously, many disagree with me. It's their right to think that
way, but for Christ's sake, give me the same right.

There *is* something wrong with society, man, and *my* opinion is that
whatever it is, it ain't gonna run me down. There are a LOT of folks
like me, by FAR the huge majority who will never have to pull a
trigger at anything other than a man target or a tin can. Sure there
are those exceptions who "go postal and all," but I submit to you the
unrealized/underreported statistics of "protection" or "deterence" by
far outweigh those anomolies.

cg

BTW...you have points, surely...however,it's a grave usenet protocol
error to snip-out pieces of preceding posts (it's OK if so noted by
snip even though frowned upon). That practice could and does
produce missunderstandings for those reading a thread for the first
time...not to mention those who've written those (may be) relevant (to
them) words. Dig? You're a smart fellow...