On Mon, 25 Oct 2004 07:24:26 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Sun, 24 Oct 2004 20:28:08 -0500, Prometheus
calmly ranted:

Again, I've seen all the stats. I'm not disagreeing with the
principle, but with the overblown rhetoric. The "they're gonna take
away mah gunz" folks are not always looking at the sane aspect of gun
ownership- they're often pushing for a personal right to fill up their
lawns with claymore mines and mount an anit-aircraft battery on the
roof. Call it hyperbole if you like, but I was raised by militia
supporters, and they and all their friends used the same damn
arguments. They were dangerous people with a high level of mental
illness, and I'm not going to defend that kind of loonyness.

There are certainly a few loonies out there, but sanity prevails
for the vast majority of the US population. A handful of loonies
and the rabid anti-gun critters really are few in number. How many
people have your militia friends killed so far? (My guess would be
zero, as most loonies just look that way and don't follow through.)

A couple, but not gun-related. A few have been jailed for shooting
*at* people, but not hitting them.

the right questions. I dare you to do the same research.

I own a handgun. And a shotgun. And a rifle. Even some knives, too.
Your dare is a little weak- sometimes it takes a little courage to
look at the reasonable side of things, rather than just assuming that
"they're" out to get you.

? Who just brought up paranoia? If you want that, the assault gun
ban was that kind of trash, pure and simple. I looked at the issue
and then jumped to the reasonable side of the fence, P.

Agreed. It was trash. I'm really in a quandry here, because I'm
really not on the opposite side of the gun-control issue here- I just
don't want to see Bush re-elected over such a relatively small
issue... the original post was smashing Kerry and declaring that he
was going to the race is close enough that the NRA vote could push it
over, and then we might *need* our guns if he keeps up his jingoistic
cowboy antics. I don't support Kerry either, but I believe that if he
is elected by a slim margin he won't treat it as a mandate- while Bush
will accept any lead as a message straight from God that he is
supposed to ram his agenda down everyone's throats. I've voted
straight-ticket Republican since I was 18 years old, and I've worked
for several political campaigns as a sign-stapler, neighborhood
canvasser, etc. and I've very dissapointed with the way the
ultra-religious right wing has hijacked an otherwise decent party and
turned it into an engine of social oppression.

The whole damn thing sickens me.