medicineman
New Member
Here's basically mine:
In some minds, guns are linked to murder and other unlawful uses. Yet, they seldom view gasoline, matches, wire, kitchen knives or hobnailed boots as tools of violence. People are familiar with those everyday objects and know that they are not evil magic. The will to kill is the paramount ingredient in homicides. Absent that will, no weapon would lift itself to harm a human.
Conditioning by television or newspapers makes some view every gun as a tragedy in the making. Evening news often show a picture of a gun even when talking about a beating which involved feet and fists. Without a real-world basis for comparison, it is easy to assume that firearms are possessed of supernatural powers. After all, if our understanding of computers was based on Hollywood, wouldn't we all live in fear of killer robots and rogue mainframes?
Judicious use of complex tools separates humans from all other species. To throw away one of our main evolutionary accomplishments out of misguided fear would be akin to wishing away the well-developed brain to make births easier. The loss of functionality to us as human beings would far exceed any potential gain from such a trade.
In some minds, guns are linked to murder and other unlawful uses. Yet, they seldom view gasoline, matches, wire, kitchen knives or hobnailed boots as tools of violence. People are familiar with those everyday objects and know that they are not evil magic. The will to kill is the paramount ingredient in homicides. Absent that will, no weapon would lift itself to harm a human.
Conditioning by television or newspapers makes some view every gun as a tragedy in the making. Evening news often show a picture of a gun even when talking about a beating which involved feet and fists. Without a real-world basis for comparison, it is easy to assume that firearms are possessed of supernatural powers. After all, if our understanding of computers was based on Hollywood, wouldn't we all live in fear of killer robots and rogue mainframes?
Judicious use of complex tools separates humans from all other species. To throw away one of our main evolutionary accomplishments out of misguided fear would be akin to wishing away the well-developed brain to make births easier. The loss of functionality to us as human beings would far exceed any potential gain from such a trade.