(np gun control spam)(gratuitous Pollyannaish reductio)

[mikebailey at speakeasy.net]

David Morris reasonably objected:
> I understand your line of thought regarding relinquishing power to the
> government, but that is a part of what government is for. In the end
> everything is a balancing act, and maintaining balance is a constant
> effort, not a "once-and-for-all now it's done" thing. BTW, Co was not
> the "government."

Gosh, I feel so lucid this morning - it's probably deceptive
(wasn't one of Castaneda's Don Juan's 4 great enemies "clarity"?)
but, here goes...

a) special case: in a concealed-carry state, to ban guns in a 
porous-bordered area within the area is to fail to recognize the
ease of seepage

b) general case: government is a Bad Thing: imposed as a guard 
against one or more dangers, it becomes a danger itself

c) who will enforce the new anti-gun edicts?  Blackwater Security.

d) may as well get ready for it.  Me, I'm practicing proactive
non-threatening stances and facial expressions.

> 
> But really, NRA folks are saying that if EVERYONE on campus had been
> carrying guns they could have taken out Cho before he'd killed those
> 32 people. This is absurd logic. Are we supposed to set our
> standards of everyday behavior by assuming that a murderous rampage by
> a deranged psycho is likely to occur at any given moment? I'd say
> making rules based on extremely outlying possibilities is a bad idea.
> 

making rules for other people is a bad idea, that's what I think.
Unless they request it.  My personal rule on government is that
those who are willing to impose their views by force lose credibility
for those views to the extent of the force they're willing to use, and
lose opportunities for better methods of persuasion each time
they appeal to force...
 
a pragmatic corollary is that, confronted by many people with
their own arguments against this principle, and (most definitely)
by widely varying implementations of the practice of violence
(some are implemented with principle, some less so, for instance),
I don't dispute their disagreement at all, but instead try to keep 
myself and those I love out of the line of fire, while
personally establishing bona-fides as a non-violent entity.  
Among friends, I dare to recommend this course of action as satisfying.