[extropy-chat] Guns

[Charlie Stross]

On 30 Nov 2003, at 18:10, Mike Lorrey wrote:
> Firstly, most states limit the ability of teenagers to obtain and/or
> use firearms without supervision. Secondly, studies have shown that
> teenagers who regularly use guns in family activities like hunting,
> competetive shooting, etc. exhibit far fewer psychological problems and
> far less criminal tendencies than the ritalin addled, video game and
> MTV benumbed, goal-less couch potatoes one typically finds in a non-gun
> owning household. Your stereotype is a myth, and a rather offensive one
> at that, but I understand that it is one that the yellow-baiting
> european press likes to promulgate with regularity, because being
> prejudicial and racist against white country dwellers is entirely okay
> in leftist circles....

Mike, I've been off this list for nearly two months.

I've just come back on.

The first post on this topic that I've read is Alfio's, and the second 
is your response.

I'd like to make two observations:

Firstly, you appear to be indulging in exactly the same stereotyping 
that you accuse Alfio of. I make no judgement over whether he's 
stereotyping too; but you're not doing yourself any favours by making 
wild over-generalizations about (a) foreigners and (b) people from 
social backgrounds you don't approve of.

Secondly, and this observation applies to Alfio also, a wise man once 
remarked: "do not waste time arguing with a pig. You won't learn 
anything useful, the pig won't learn anything useful, and all you'll 
succeed in doing is annoying your bacon." I see no sign that this 
debate is being pursued by parties with an honest willingness to adapt 
or moderate their views on the basis of new evidence. Beliefs about gun 
ownership seem to be deeply rooted to an almost religious extent, and I 
think they belong on an extropian list to exactly the same degree as 
discussions of the relative merits of one invisible holy friend over 
another.



-- Charlie