Re: [Pen-l] Obama remarks

["Jim Devine" <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

David B. Shemano wrote:
> Serious question regarding the Obama remarks regarding guns and religion.  I think it is hard to dispute that there is a general right/left dispute over gun ownership, but why?  Is there something in Marxism that speaks to gun ownership?  Is there a relevance of gun ownership to economic class?  I really have a hard time conceptualizing why there is such a strong correlation between opposition to gun ownership and other left-wing views.

I'm feeling a bit ambiguous about this (since cleaning and oiling my
Uzi is so tedious).[*] Keeping my answer narrow, I think that liberals
have over-sold the benefits of gun control and the same time pro-NRA
conservatives have made gun ownership almost a cult. I don't think a
marginal change in gun laws (or their enforcement) would have a major
effect either way. Crime wouldn't go away -- since its roots are deep
and it's so easy to steal with a fountain pen -- and we wouldn't see a
new totalitarianism. I think liberals would do better if they
toned-down their anti-gun rhetoric and even their legislation. Not
having new gun-control legislation wouldn't have much impact, even
from a liberal perspective.

It is also my experience that when conservatives see Black people with
guns (the Panthers, the Deacons), they suddenly become pro-control.

I worry about controlling the guns of the police and armed forces. The
LAPD gets away with murder, as it were.

[*] ¡Charleton, Presente! to be serious, I don't like guns very much.
But that doesn't mean I want to impose my dislikes or likes on
society.
-- 
Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own
way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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