From dhenwood at panix.com Wed May 5 08:17:48 1999
So Jordan, how many guns do you have?
I'm not sure that's germane to the discussion.
I mean: how many stocks and bonds do you have?
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I only really even bother to bring it up on a list like this because I'm frankly surprised that, given such a high level of sensitivity to issues like class, race, civil rights, and the like, the subject of guns brings out the worst in some people. We've seen lots of 'redneck' characterizations, US-centric myopia ("It can't happen here!"), urban-coastal (largely racist) fear mongering, wholesale discounting of history, and a very curious almost helpless look to government to Do The Right Thing.
Brett (though he misunderstood my reason for asking him to buy a gun) points out rightly that gun ownership is not a prerequisite to having an informed opinion in favor of gun control; likewise, gun ownership is not a prerequisite for having an informed opinion against gun control hysteria.
/jordan