Text 31433, 172 rader
Skriven 2009-04-18 16:17:01 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
  Kommentar till text 31418 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: Crazies (was: Piarates)
===============================
18 Apr 09 11:51, Robert Bashe wrote to Roy Witt:

 RB>>> If you want my honest opinion, I think there would have been an
 RB>>> even greater bloodbath, with people unfamiliar with weapons
 RB>>> shooting God knows what in all directions.

 RW>> I think that's an ignorant point of view. People who're licensed to
 RW>> carry firearms don't do so without knowing how to handle a firearm.

 RB> Ignorant? Maybe. Who says you're "licensed" to carry a firearm if you
 RB> have one?

Mine was issued by the state of Texas.

 RB> Or that you know how and when to use it?

The state of Texas. (I already pointed out to you the criteria for getting
such a permit)

 RB> I went around our family farm in north Texas with various handguns
 RB> (.32 automatic, .25 automatic, .38 revolver and several others)
 RB> around 20 years ago, shooting at various rocks and bottles (and
 RB> snakes), missing almost everything. The only problem I ever had was
 RB> buying ammunition, but since my folks were known in the area, there
 RB> was no real difficulty. Buying .22 ammunition was no problem at all.

I did the same as a 12yo, although I lived in a small town of 28k. The
local Hobby Shop not only sold baseball gloves, bats, sports uniforms,
model trains, model airplanes and cars, etc., they also sold firearms and
ammo.

I could buy .22 ammo and 12 gage shotgun ammo when I was 12yo. I had to
wait until I was 16yo to buy a firearm, but then, I didn't need to buy
from them as I had plenty of friends whose parents provided them with
firearms.

So, I owned a 12 gage shotgun when I was 12yo, but traded it for a .22
rifle because the shotgun was overkill on cotten tail rabbits and
squirels. My family was grateful for the .22 as they didn't need to
worry about biting into a shot pellet anymore.

 RB>>> As you should be aware by now (I've said it often enough), I like
 RB>>> to collect and play with guns too - I grew up with them and for me,
 RB>>> they're tools. But you can't assume that in the general public, and
 RB>>> I'd rather take my chances with a rare (here) shooting spree than
 RB>>> with a horde of armed people who know just enough about a gun to
 RB>>> pull the trigger.

 RW>> Also an ignorant point of view. See above for the reply...

 RB> Roy, you seem like the computer expert who is trying to tell a modern
 RB> teenager how to write a batch file. As far as I can see, you're
 RB> simply assuming too much.

If you could see what you're writing from my point of view, you'd know
better. My interest in firearms didn't stop when I attained adulthood.

 RB>>> So who is responsible for public safety? If _your_ government isn't
 RB>>> doing it's job, I would suggest applying some pressure to _get_ it
 RB>>> done.

 RW>> What good would that do? Are they going to be your bodyguard every
 RW>> where you go and aprehend someone in the act? Far from it. They'd
 RW>> rather wait until the shooting is over and then show up to pick up
 RW>> the pieces.

 RB> The whole idea is that things should never come to that point.

Wishful and idealistic thinking. It will get and stay worse for a long,
long time before it gets any better. If it ever does.

 RB>>> Roy, you're the worst advertisement for anyone contemplating a move
 RB>>> to the US I can think of.

 RW>> I'd be afraid like you, if I were as ignorant about gun laws and how
 RW>> people react to shootings as if they're no big deal, when a country
 RW>> has laws that don't allow everyone to have a firearm.

 RB> The difference is that _I_ know how to use guns. Most people don't.

That doesn't say much about your knowledge of the gun laws today. Those
who are licensed do know how to handle a firearm and do it very, very
professionally.

 RB>>> The way you write, the place must seem like the Wild West reborn to
 RB>>> anyone who hasn't already lived there.

 RW>> The wild west has become the new age cities with gun violence that
 RW>> would scare you out of your wits.

 RB> Reading some modern US novels set in big cities (New York, Richmond),
 RB> I'm inclined to believe you.

Keep in mind that those cities have very restrictive gun laws. You, as an
ordinary citizen can't get a license to carry in New York, but most rich
people can. The same was also true of Washington DC; only Congress
critters could get them. Both of those cities are high in gun crime.

 RB> This is certainly not the USA I left or that existed during the time
 RB> I lived in Texas and Okalahoma - or in Boston, for that matter.

Texas and Oklahoma are civilized compared to the places you mention.
Houston and San Antonio have high crime rates because of the Black and
Hispanic gang influence.

 RB>>> You make it sound like everyone's gunning for everyone else and
 RB>>> standard American clothing should include a bulletproof vest.

 RW>> That's probably not such a foolish idea as you make it seem.

 RB> Foolish? If things are that bad, even visitors should be warned.

I believe they do. i.e. Nancy and I were warned about going to certain
parts of Chicago when we visited there in 1985. Being a former
state resident, I knew that already, but didn't take heed. We walked from
the lakeshore hotel we were staying in, down Lakeshore Dr to the Wriggly
Building. That was a no-no according to the hotel clerk.

Anyway, that part of the city is double tiered and I found the Billy Goat
bar I used to visit when I was in Chicago years ago. It hadn't changed
much and we got to see the SF 49ers (my team) beat up on the Chicago Bears
as we had a sandwich and beer. To our surprise, we ran into some fellow
Californians who were visiting from L A...(we took a different route back
to the hotel)

 RB> My son plans to visit New York this summer (in a group). He's
 RB> handicapped (autistic). Should I warn him of anything specific?

Stick with the group and he'll be fine as long as they're only out in the
daylight.

 RB> As an aside: I had a German girlfriend in the early 70s who visited
 RB> New York on vacation and wrote me she'd walked back to her hotel
 RB> through Harlem. I wrote her that "God protects little children and
 RB> Germans". The thought of a single white woman, at that time around
 RB> 23, walking through Harlem, curdled my blood. She didn't
 RB> understand...

Perhaps she wanted to see what it was like to be in a city of criminals.

Bill and Hillary Clinton have offices there.

 RB>>> I _know_ it's not like that and really object to the negative image
 RB>>> you project of the States.

 RW>> Or the negative image you say your sister has because she's afraid
 RW>> to walk the streets after dark in Cincinati.

 RB> I have no idea whether she's right or wrong in that sense, Roy. All I
 RB> know is that the situation in the States is apparently much different
 RB> than it is here.

There are places in San Antonio where even I won't go after dark. That's
not an exclusive to SA, because there were places in San Diego I wouldn't
go after dark either. In that area (SD), the shooting started at sundown
and went all night, every night. If I was there during the daytime, I made
a point of leaving by the backway, where one didn't have to run the
gauntlet to get out of there. And I was armed.

                R\%/itt

PS - Having lived here only 4 years, I noticed when we moved here that the
local TV news was reporting a lot of shootings. Moreso than what the local
TV reported in San Diego. It seems like it's never ending in SA...even
prominant restaurant owners (loved by everyone) are shot for no apparent
reason.

Meanwhile, I have no qualms about going anywhere in this community.


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