Finally back to take a look at the board, and I've got a few things to say, that is, if my right to free speech isn't compromised.
Taking care of a small issue first - sensing a lack of respect for a feminine presence on the board, particularly for one so un-martial as to choose the name of a 1960s supermodel. I specifically choose not to mention my training, my style(s) or my skill level because I don't feel that any of this has any relevance to a debate, although I do notice that several people bring this up in their posts. You can learn from a novice as you can a master. Youth and intelligence are not mutually exclusive.
Take a look at this and tell me that guns in the hands of the untrained are a super idea!
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/031111/w111152.html
I'm not anti-gun. I like guns. I've been around them all of my life. But in Canada, when you're NOT using a gun, it has to have a trigger lock on it, it has to be in a cabinet and locked up, and the ammunition must also be locked up in a separate part of the house. I suppose the idea is so that by the time you get your gun unlocked and together, you'll realize that shooting your husband's lover isn't such a cool idea after all.
You're talking about killing human beings, not shooting haystacks or tin cans. The fact that you can be so glib about shooting another human being makes me more afraid of you than I am of that stranger walking down the street. Martial arts is supposed to be about body, mind and spirit - do we teach the skills to kill without teaching compassion to temper them? Buddhism teaches that every living thing has the same needs and desires as every other living thing. By that logic, if I am on a bus on the way home, can I safely assume that the guy sitting across from me is thinking about raping me when we get off? Or is he probably thinking that he misses his mom's spaghetti and that he's tired from work?
If you prefer a Christian perspective, the prayer of St. Francis is another example - "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred let me sow love, where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy." Not, where there is the possibility of danger, let me sow 10 rounds of bullets in somebody's ass.
If you're agnostic or atheistic, easily obtained statistics will tell you that Canadians own more guns per capita then Americans, and we have about 3% of the American murder rate. This isn't to say that Canadians don't get mad and want to kill people; anyone who says that hasn't watched enough Montreal/Toronto hockey games. Maybe it's because we don't walk around with them in our purses, glove compartments, desk drawers, pillowcases, night tables, kitchen cupboards... or maybe we just can't remember where we put the keys to the gun cabinet.
With all due respect Panther, my response to you on protecting yourself from the government is simply that you have a very undemocratic political system (not that Canada's is any better, because ours is probably equally bad, if not worse). And if it hasn't been updated since 1776, then you should start writing letters to Congress and your other elected representatives and begin campaigning for government reform. Better yet, run for office yourself and change it from the inside. Of course these days, dissent can brand you as a terrorist (or worse, unpatriotic and a wussy pinko communist) so you might want to check out local anti-terrorism laws before you start waving any signs.
Looking south, I see a culture that markets fear. Fox News seems particularly bad for this - all of their broadcasts prominently feature rape, murder, abduction, assault, break-ins, new diseases, killer bees, etc. They report every single fearful incident, but they neglect to tell you nice, normal everyday things because that's not what people want to see. People tune in to know how many murders happened so they know how many bullets to buy the next time they're in WalMart. Fox doesn't care about the 50th wedding anniversary of Joe and Jane Smith or the annual Girl Scout cookie sale, because that's just not scary enough to report.
I respect your opinions as gun-toting American citizens because I can understand why you feel the need to arm yourselves. But I don't feel that need. I am aware of the risks and choose not to walk alone down the street at night. I don't walk anyway and pack a Glock 9 in my purse so that I can shoot people in case they make threatening gestures at me, because frankly, I'm not prepared to point a gun in someone's face, pull the trigger and watch their brains fly out the back of their head. Maybe that will be the death of me, but then again, maybe it won't.
In debate, the point is not to bully someone into your point of view, but simply present your own viewpoint and your reasons for supporting it. The winning side is not the one who convinces the other side of the virtues of its own opinion, but rather the one who presents the best argument. In order to have a debate, you must have a contrary position TO debate; that is what I am providing you with. If you choose to censor what I have to say, then you're going to have rather dull discourse.
Now that would be justice.
