Re: Elections 2012 -- Carrion My Wayward Son!
Although I've never owned a gun and most likely never will, I recognize [that many people don't have a practical understanding of the issue because they are too inflamed with prejudice].
Said elsewhere:
> to a "gun" owner, typically gun = hunting rifle = utilitarian value added.
> to an urban "gun" control advocate, typically gun = pistol = violent crime
The two sides can never really agree until we re-define the term "gun."
In my direct anectodal personal experience, the more familiarity people have with "guns" at an early age, the more respectfully they treat "guns." One of the best things we could do would be to have every five-year old in the country fire a gun: the noise and recoil would be so daunting, it would leave a profound impression. To me it makes very good
practical sense to have the use, cleaning, care, and storage of guns be part of
every elementary school curriculum throughout the United States.
First of all, this would help bolster our national defense: if we have to cut back on military spending, we need to improve our military preparedness in other areas. I think having every high school student undergo military training would be a great unifying element our society sorely needs. How important are our political differences if an implacable foe is dedicated to our annihilation? We need to band together to survive as a nation.
Ironically, the more prepared we are collectively to defend ourselves, the less likely it becomes that our enemies will want to engage in an all-out trial of strength in a "survive-or-perish" contest.
What nice unintended consequences!
We have people who are tangibly reminded through everyday behavior that what unites us is greater than our differences, that there are bad people in this world who wish us harm and we need always to be vigilent, and we are in better physical shape and more optomistic in general because we know we have power to control the outcome of our lives.
yes, I suggest universal military training for every youth in this country at an age-appropriate time, sort of like a "Peace Corp" except its a "Peace through Defense" Corp. I also suggest universal training in gun safety starting in elementary school would be the best remedy to out-of-control gun violence: teach respect while the mind / person is still malleable and impressionable.
The very
worst time in a man's life for him to fire a gun for the first time is during adolescence ("think this through with me...."). So either "teach your children well" or wait until adulthood or never learn at al.
The first time
I fired a gun was at father / son night at the rec center....with my son.
One of those "throw-away" moments in life that stick with you.....
for two years we lived in a small town in Wyoming. One night at the local bar two folks were reminiscing...."do you remermber the murder?" "yeah, when was that..fifteen years ago?" that town had more guns than people. Most of the people hunted to support their subsistence living. The ungulant population
had to be culled every year to prevent over-grazing and subsequent mass starvation. it was a beautiful practical example of the "circle of life": absent natural predators, state wildlife commissioners would determine how many hunting permits to issue each year for each different ungulate, people would bring home a month's worth of steak, and the herds would be at optimal population level for sustainable existence.
City people have no clue.
Country people have little clue of the obverse.
