[Leica] Gun Control

[jon.streeter at cox.net (jon.streeter)]

The Second Amendment is not about duck hunting.  The idea that citizens are 
"permitted" to own guns for government-authorized purposes should chill the 
blood of any people who value their freedom.

The greatest threat to safety all people face, as has always been the case, 
is from their own governments.

The Founding Fathers, who understood this, put in writing that the 
government was foreclosed from abridging a natural right that exists 
independently of laws and governments.  That the US has over 20,000 gun laws 
is testament to the discomfort governments feel with an armed citizenry.  

A low crime rate is, on the surface, a worthy goal, but it is sometimes, if 
not frequently, achieved at the expense of freedom.  

Benevolent government is an oxymoron.  Governments with very strict gun 
control -- few guns owned, all guns registered, guns locked up in police 
departments to be checked out for approved uses -- are attractive to 
would-be despots who, as Hitler put in writing, cannot stay in power with an 
armed citizenry.
People throughout history who have traded freedom for security have found 
this out the hard way.  

Once freedom is lost, it is difficult to regain.

America does not have a culture of violence.  It has a culture of freedom. 
Movies are not reality, and audiences can tell the difference.  There has 
never been a reliable study to show that watching movies with violent themes 
and content makes people emulate the characters in those movies. 

Hollywood, that is, the entertainment industry, is in business to stay in 
business.  Movies are produced to appeal to a worldwide audience -- a 
worldwide audience, mind you -- based on the experience and judgment of 
people who stay in business by producing a product consumers want.  Judging 
by the amount of money American movies bring to this country, not ti mention 
the extent to which China shamelessly pirates American movies, the American 
business people are supplying the worldwide audience with a product they 
value.

America is unique in history in several ways, most of all in that it began 
as an experiment by people who were aware that they had created something 
destined for greatness.  In considering what is the most important thing a 
people can possess, freedom must be number one, for without it nothing they 
care about will matter to a government which rules over them, not personal 
safety, not the environment, not women's equality, not religious freedom, 
nothing.  

Boast about how safe the streets are in your various countries.  Today.  But 
tomorrow, when you have ceded your freedom to a government that has promised 
you security?  

Don't worry, America will, as always, be here as a shining example of 
liberty, and may well, again, send your rescue squad.  

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

----- Reply message -----
From: "David Ching" <davidhhching1 at yahoo.com.sg>
To: "photo.forrest at earthlink.net" <photo.forrest at earthlink.net>, <lug 
at leica-users.org>
Subject: [Leica] Gun Control
Date: Sat, Dec 15, 2012 9:18 pm


I suppose you use your hammers more often than guns. Or had improper 
training. Hence the smashed fingers.

By the same logic, as you are more careful as you are with guns, you are 
less likely to shoot yourself or others by accident. Same goes for the 
hammers.

BTW, guns are permitted by the authorities in Malaysia, Thailand and several 
other Asian countries for wild-life hunting especially in farmed lands. Will 
you really need guns to protect yourself from other humans assuming all the 
two-legged do not own guns? But only to get rid of dangerous animals? 

Despite certain civilians being allowed to have guns under strict rules, 
there has never been incidences of mass killings amongst the civilian 
populations here. Obviously guns are too easily available despite all 
measures of gun control in the USA.

Interestingly it was the armed civilians of pre-Independent America who got 
rid of the English. But today, who are the armed citizenry of America trying 
to get rid off. The drug lords, the mafia, the school bullies? Arm the 
peace-keepers only. Let them do their jobs. Disarm everyone else, except 
farmers and the like.

And let the rest of us shoot our cameras in peace. 

For the sake of our children, bite the bullet. 

David Ching

H.P. Tel. no.: +84 904684321 (Vietnam)
                    : +65 92321098 (Singapore)

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