<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML> kelley wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE><<all of this reminds me of a book i leafed through a year ago or so, something about the culture of fear in the US.  this incessant fear about all sorts of potential harms that one can encounter--some cultural obsessive compulsive disorder i swear -- and the answer is more rules, more regulations, more laws.>></BLOCKQUOTE> Sorry if I gave the impression that my son and I (and the cat) spend our days huddled in terror behind our doors lest we run into some dementoid with a gun.  We don't.  Well, the cat does, but it's the clattering, clanking garbage truck she's afraid of. <BLOCKQUOTE>and <<not saying that it doesn't happen, but i've only ever seen two people drinking while hunting.  and i worked in diners for a long time and served a 100s of hunters their eggs and toast just before they headed off to try and get themselves a buck.  i'm fairly certain every single one was sober.>></BLOCKQUOTE> I should hope so too, at breakfast time.  Good for them.  Many years ago in England, I used to accompany my father and uncle on Saturday in pursuit of rabbits, partridge and pheasants ("going shooting" is what we quaintly called it), and, if they were sober when they started out in the morning, they were three sheets or more by the time they emerged from the pub after a two-hour lunch.  I still can't figure out how I survived those afternoons. <BLOCKQUOTE>and <<but why don't you ask yourself who you think is holding that gun.>></BLOCKQUOTE> At the risk of appearing obtuse, I don't quite understand your question.</HTML>