[Danzig]

i think some people either missed my point above, or don't care. the amount of people killed by guns each year in this country is a lot smaller than i think most believe. you see violent crimes splashed all over the news, and everyone thinks it's a common problem. a far bigger problem would be automobiles, or alcohol-or a combination of both. by far, the #1 killer of our teenagers, our greatest resource-car accidents. but people are so enthralled by what weapon some guy wants to own? yes, there is a criminal element out there, and yes, they can be quite deadly-and i think that's the key to why people get so hysterical on this issue. it's randomness, and we all want control over our lives-as well as the lives of others. allowing people to choose what currently legal weapon they own takes some of that control away, and perhaps injects some randomness in your life. half of people who die each year die of either a form of cancer, or from heart disease. so, we eat the right things, take the right pills, see the right doctor, and hopefully die in our beds of old age. the life expectancy in this country is the high 70's still, isn't it? but a bullet can take all that away. like i said above, over half of all deaths by guns were suicides. there's also the stat that most murder victims know their killer-usually a domestic dispute.

my father was a policeman in washington d.c. for 20 years, from 1964 to 1984. i think everyone would be hard pressed to find a bigger cesspool of humanity. he always worked outside, never attempting to move past the rank of sergeant as he didn't want stuck in admin or behind a desk. he saw riots (and was in SOD-special operations division, the riot squad) such as after martin luther king jr was assassinated, and of course all the vietnam war protests..he actually was once flipped off by shirley maclaine. he had sundays and mondays off, and usually worked from 4pm to midnight, or the graveyard shift. in other words, worked during the hours when crime most often occurred. for years he was known as the stolen car king, as he could remember tag #'s readily....at any rate, you guys have watched the cop shows, the movies, you've read the papers and watched the news. you know about dramatic chases, bank robberies, and shootouts. from all the info you have garnered-how many times do you suppose my father fired his service revolver in those 20 years? i'll come back later and see if anyone has bothered to guess.