>PS. As to the argument in this thread that Hungarians could better defend
>themselves against the Soviets in 1956, had guns been not outlawed -- well,
>folks, it must be real good stuff you've been inhaling.
To quote a now-immortal line: 'Vass _you_ dere, Cholly?'
I cannot speak to the accuracy of the perception, since I wasn't there in Hungary in 1956; but the person whose opinion I related _was_ there, and _did_ believe that even small arms would have made a difference, perhaps a crucial one.
In response to Brett's perception that not having guns may have actually saved Hungarian lives: that was one of the reasons Mihaly was so bitter: even a rock got a bullet in return, and a Molotov a fusilade; he lost a very large number of friends that way; only a half-dozen of the boys from his neighborhood survived without scathe. The Soviet military were taking no chances.