I thought I would start by linking to the site that gave me the idea to start a weblog. Eric Raymond’s blog. He is a well known open source software advocate, and libertarian. Libertarianism is a political ideal that I find myself particularly attracted to – it asks for minimum state intervention. One of the things libertarians are interested in is abolition of gun control. They believe that gun laws simply disarm the victims of crime – making them easy targets. I agree. It would require a particularly dim view of humanity to suggest that if everyone carried a gun people would go around killing each other on every whim and fancy. Rather, violent criminals being a tiny minority of society would find themselves overwhelmingly outnumbered. For an evocative example of this kind of thinking, read Eric’s essay Arm the Passengers. It makes perfect sense. I would strongly recommend reading everything else he has to say, too.
Real Time: Fri Aug 2 14:14:12 2002
I usually agree with you on many things but I have to strongly disagree on this one. You are describing America against the UK. I think the facts speak for themselves when you look at how many more armed robberies, deaths by shooting, accidental shootings etc, even if you adjust for the population difference.
Practically if I was armed and on a plane and shot at a terrorist, even if they were not watching, I would most likely hit something or someone else as I have no experience of using a gun.
You are describing Anarchism fluffed up to be called something a little more palatable.
Please do comment against this as I am dying to hear your own thoughts and arguments on the matter rather than the thoughts of some idiot who wants to play Cowboy.
Mike