I am so pleased at what a civil discussion on gun ownership we've had

[Catherine]

and I am closing my contributions with a suggestion that any of you read the wikipedia entry on Yoshihiro Hattori ( if I were more capable I would link it, but-there you have it-I'm not!).

 

Because we have an AFS student from Japan at my house right now, it touches me more perhaps. Truly, I cried reading the story to think of the terrible pain his family, and the family of his killer, have suffered, because of the killer's actions.

 

I hope that any of you who keep loaded and accessible guns will read it.

[Peek a Boo]

here ya go :)

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Hattori

 

i really do think that was horribly tragic, but we could also read TONS of stories about lives that were saved due to the ease and readiness of having a firearm handy.

 

we could examine variable after variable, but considering there are so many pros and cons on both sides, it would still boil down to personal conviction.

[Phred]

Do this for me. When you think of the past... cowboys or Romans or the King Leonidas at Thermopylae do you think of them mostly armed? I do.

 

Now think of the future. Does your picture of what the future will be like include weapons on every individual? If so, why? If not, why?

 

Just wondering...

[Danestress]

Do this for me. When you think of the past... cowboys or Romans or the King Leonidas at Thermopylae do you think of them mostly armed? I do.

 

Now think of the future. Does your picture of what the future will be like include weapons on every individual? If so, why? If not, why?

 

Just wondering...

 

 

That's a great question! I'm keeping this in mind for dinner party discussion someday - I'm really curious what people will say.

 

When I think about the past, I know intellectually that in some times and places, people had weapons (items used primarily as weapons, I should say, since many things can be used as weapons that aren't really designed primarily for that purpose).

 

I generally don't imagine women as armed, which is half the people. I generally don't imagine slaves, serfs and peasants as armed. I'm sure some were, and some women as well, but I think you were asking about how we visualize these things. I tend to think that arms were mostly carried by those with a certain level privilege and status. I know that was the case in some cultures - in others it probably wasn't. Obviously America's history is different in this respect - I do imagine many Americans in history as armed.

 

When I imagine the future, I do see people as armed. I am sort of fatalistic. I would love to imagine everyone living in peace, but I don't, really.