[ILUG] rant: geeks with guns...

[Paul Jakma]

On Tue, 29 Aug 2000, Jimmy O'Regan wrote:

> non-lethal, and the right to bear arms just in case you feel like
> overthrowing the government is a pointless thing to enshrine in a
> constitution, because it's what people are going to do anyway.

and if you feel you need guns to protect yourself from the
institutions of the land 'just in case' then either:

- something is wrong with way your institutions are setup,
- you are a paranoid maniac from whom society should be protected,
or
- you do not live in a true democracy.

the 'i need guns cause i might need to defend myself against people
with guns' is the Cold War mentality. And that leads to an arms race,
insecurity and paranoia.

a decent society should not need the threat of gunpower (no matter
how subtle) to keep it stable.

regards,
-- 
Paul Jakma	paul at clubi.ie
PGP5 key: http://www.clubi.ie/jakma/publickey.txt
-------------------------------------------
Fortune:
Rube Walker: "Hey, Yogi, what time is it?"
Yogi Berra:  "You mean now?"

now i'd better stay off this thread or i might be lynched when i go
to work in the morning. (but if i had a gun....)