Owning guns in Hawaii

[PaulW]

Baseball bats and yo-yos were initially designed to kill? Well I learn something new
every day. Even Wikipedia doesn't know that.

Interesting that you use the word "phobia", which means irrational fear. My fear
of guns is rational, I know what they can, have and are continually doing to the
population. Your fear of home invasions, which are as rare as hen's teeth, is what
I would call irrational.

You seem to object to me not having a gun, even though it makes no difference
to your safety. You (ie my neighbors) having a gun does affect my safety, there's
more chance of me or someone I know ending up with a bullet in my chest if there
are guns on my street.

Nevertheless, as long as people follow the law, I have no problem with them
keeping guns in their house. We all have to die somehow.

I look at it this way: does introducing a gun into my house increase or decrease
the chance that someone in my house will die a violent death? I've weighed the
probabilities and decided that, at least in Puna, the answer is "increase".

I'd like to ask a practical question. If you have a gun in the house that's meant
to stop robbers and home invaders, then don't you have to keep it loaded? If so,
then doesn't that greatly increase the chances of accidents, especially if there
are children present, or hotheaded adults?

[Jon]

Baseball bat = club
Yo-yo = makes a great weapon for bashing in heads...

I have no objection at all to you not having a gun.
I do not fear home invasion at all, I am prepared for it, just like I am prepared for earthquakes, tidal waves and tornadoes and armed invasion. (yes I was a Boy Scout) By the way, hens have no teeth, but home invasions do happen... even here. The irrational part would be to think it can't happen to me. The last time I checked the burglary rate in Hawaii higher then the national average.

So introducing a tool set into your house means your car will brake down? Or a hammer means your roof will leak?... I guess if you bring in some Actifed, you will become a meth producer also...

40 years of gun ownership and I have never pointed a gun at another human being... I guess I am just odd.


No, a loaded gun does not increase the chance of accidents, not any more then leaving your car keys laying around. Again, I have had a firearm of my own since I was 7 years old and most of the people I know had them in the home all their lives. So, no children are not the problem. Parents are the problem, if you have firearm and kids, you have to teach the kids. Hotheaded adults are people that did not get the training they needed as kids... Most of those are taken care of quickly.





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I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
HBAT

[centipede]

We are not an endangered species, and if some people are so negligent, stupid, careless, ignorant, lazy, absent-minded, or potentially violent, and the behavior results in an "accident", it would certainly be a trajedy but it could also be viewed upon as a process of thinning the herd. Likewise for those who would refuse to defend themselves even in the most dire of situations; those who would rather drop to the floor and take a fetal position, or cower in a corner rather than even picking up a fork for defense against an invading predator. It's a cold-blooded and insensitive way of viewing the issue, especially if children or innocent bystanders fall victim, and anyone responsible for negligent or intentional violence against an innocent should suffer, in one way or another, every single day for the rest of their lives. Like many issues within the American concept, it comes down to individual responsibility and yes, we all die. The only mystery in this most unpleasant aspect of our existence is where, when, how, and why.

[Greg]

"Thinning the herd"- wow!

Fortunately the firarms debate is insignificant when it comes to this concept. I'm pretty sure the herd is "thinned" a lot more by fast food, sofas, and television sets.

I do have a fear of these, but I'll bet it adds to the longevity and the quality of my life.

no opologies for the hijack; these things happen.

punatoons

[Rob Tucker]

My favorite bumper sticker is:

Don't believe everything you think.

[centipede]

I agree, Greg. Too bad you didn't include substance abuse, one of the Big Dogs for thinning the herd. Hmmm. For our purposes, I guess fast food, sofas, and television sets could be classified as "substances" as well and hoo boy, are they ever abused.

Thanks, Rob. The cool bumper sticker is based upon a notion that just because things pop into our heads, it doesn't necessarily mean they're good or true. Depending upon the issue, it's usually more constructive to go with observation, not inspiration, but we need to sort it out and not be afraid to think and act because that's one of our greatest gifts and every once in a while, it's the nutty little notions that do pop into our heads that have provided some of the greatest contributions to our way of life.

[Jon]

Greg... if you are talking about the Human herd, it seems nothing really thins it out.

Rob? is that Trolling I read there?



-----------------------------------------------------------
I do not believe that America is better than everybody else...
America "IS" everybody else.
HBAT