From:    Dionysia Marqueza                      Area: THE_OASIS
To:      Sea Queen                               4 Oct 92 21:16:30
Subject: GUNS AND COMMON GOOD                   UpdReq 

SQ > MINE!"  I have YET to hear one of these paranoid gun folks talk 
SQ > about the COMMON good they hope to accomplish by stockpiling 
SQ > weapons, and ammo. No, I hear them talk about what they will get for 
SQ > THEMSELVES. Protection, food, safety, revenge. FOR THEMSELVES. Now 
  
        Cogent point, and one I have seen the basis for all too often. 
However... what seems like a jurassiac age ago, I spent some time living on 
an Indian reservation. Many of the people who lived on this rez were old, and 
in some cases, moderately infirm. In that the traditional family structure 
had broken down from young people leaving the rez in search of the "good 
life" (HAH!) these older folks were left to tend there sheep and pick up the 
odd bit of game to supplement already poor diets as best they could...which 
was amazingly well, under the circumstances, but tremendously poor by mnay 
standards. I spent a -lot- of time helping defend flocks from feral dogs (far 
more the enemy of the shepherd than -ever- Coyote has been,) and pot-hunting 
small game such as rabbits, birds and squirrels with the occassional prize of 
a javelina. All of this was accomplished with a variety of non-mechanical 
bows and a Ruger .22 pistol and a Sharps .22 rifle, with the firearms being 
the primarily used weapons. More often than not, it wasn't -my- family's pot 
that got the game, nor my sheep in peril. Likewise, I was not paid to do 
this: it it simple sense (for me, anyway,) that you do not let your neighbors 
and elders starve or lose their livelihood to a common menace. 
        I grant, I did not stockpile huge numbers of firearms: I had what I 
wanted (for the most part, anyway,) and was comfortable and competent to use. 
Ammo, however, I tended to get in the -hugest- portions I could afford, since 
the nearest town of any size was -not- near, and weather, roads and transport 
very uncertain. My ability to do any of this would have been *severely* 
limited and hampered by some of the gun control measures I have seen 
proposed. Mine is not as uncommon a case as you might think... so think of 
that kid on the reservation, when weighing the merit of firearms laws, please.
Dio 
        

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From:    Sea Queen                              Area: THE_OASIS
To:      Narthoniel                              5 Oct 92 00:29:12
Subject: THANX                                  UpdReq 

 > Hmmm...anything more?  No -- that's enough for now.  Be safe, Sea 
 > Queen.
 > 
      Thank you, Narthoniel. Your concern is GREATLY appreciated. I've been 
around the political scene too long to take most virulence too seriously.     
:)   I have no fear of harm from quarters such as these, or from minds that 
merely toe the line and quote the status quo. Ya know? I have nothing to fear 
from the good hearted freedom loving souls on here. Right?
 > Patriarchy:  The Great Phallusy
   HA! HA! HA! Too funny. Consider it stolen!
      Thanx again, dear.

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From:    Sea Queen                              Area: THE_OASIS
To:      Dionysia Marqueza                       5 Oct 92 00:35:44
Subject: Re: GUNS AND COMMON GOOD               UpdReq 

 > ability to do any of this would have been *severely* limited and 
 > hampered by some of the gun control measures I have seen proposed. 
 > Mine is not as uncommon a case as you might think... so think of 
 > that kid on the reservation, when weighing the merit of firearms 
 > laws, please.
      For this nation, it is an exception. Most of go to the grocery store for 
food. Most people who are hurting for food  apply for welfare, not gun 
liscences. As I'm sure you can well guess, guns for hunting necessary food is 
not what gun control is about. I, for one, can't see where a mandatory 5 day 
wait, like the Brady bill proposes, or a background check, or the requirement 
of safety testing in order to be liscenced (like a car), and prohibiting the 
sale of unregistered guns through the mail might all be places where we can 
prevent enormous loss of life, not to mention crime, without bringing harm to 
the people you mentioned.

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