ubernoir wrote:
I am so shocked by this discussion. It is so unbelievably alien to anything, to any mind set or experience I have ever had as a European.... It seems a very strange idea of freedom. Like living in a bunker, "no one can get me now!", I'd rather walk in the fresh air, walk by the river, have a little faith, enjoy life rather than live in fear, not seeing enemies in every shadow, where every stranger might be a killer or a rapist, but seeing ordinary people with lives and hopes not threats. Where is the peace of mind when you need an AK47 as a comfort blanket?
If its any consolation I don't think the views on this thread accurately represent a cross section of Americans. Barely 20 percent of us own handguns. A lot of the people on MemeStreams are southerners, and southerners are more likely than people who live in other regions to own a gun, but gun owners are not in the majority even here. Certainly only a very small percentage keep their guns as close at hand as many on this thread seem to. Crime, in some American cities, is oppressive. I certainly think its oppressive in Atlanta. Its a sad think that I feel less safe in my adopted home town that I do in almost any other city that I travel to, but that is the case. I'm always looking over my shoulder when I ride Marta, while I've recently ridden subways in Barcelona, Munich, New York, and Paris and not been the least bit concerned. However, I don't own a firearm. I don't think carrying a handgun would make me feel safer. I generally prefer to be aware of by surroundings and avoid situations where one is likely to become a statistic. On the other hand, to the degree that ownership of handguns is a deterrent, the fact that other people carry enables me to benefit from their presence. I don't think banning or allowing handguns is the solution to the problem. I think its one of those political footballs that gets passed around, like life prison sentences for failure to register as a convicted statutory rapist, that plays off of media sensationalism and makes people think that something is being done when nothing is being done. The problem is more complicated than that. Its a product of official corruption (which these political debates are a part, as are those thin blue line stickers on people's cars), a history of segregation, racism, and slavery that created a caste system which still persists, and suburbia's desertion of urban cores (which is fortunately a dying trend but more slowly here than elsewhere). These problems cannot be repaired with quicky legislation, and few of our leaders have the strength to form a long term vision to change the state of our communities. Most effective solutions are expensive. More police on the street (assuming they aren't corrupt) would have a greater deterrent effect than handgun ownership or any change in sentencing policy, but it costs real money, so it is almost never discussed. RE: Guns for Safety? Dream On, Scalia. - washingtonpost.com |
