The right to bear arms?

--- In spacesettlers, "victoriatangoman" wrote:

> --- In spacesettlers, "Xenophile" wrote:

>> Besides, why steal my habitat when you can build your own, and not
>> worry about getting shot at or poked with sharp sticks?

> Because taking is easier than building. Look to history for
> instances of wars of conquest.

Building your own country from scratch was not an option for
Alexander or Ceasar.

>> In the process of taking my habitat from me by force, you're
>> liable to damage it so much that it will no longer be worth having
>> (if we don't blow it up ourselves just to spite).

> If they can pull it off by infilitrating into your Habitat with
> their guns and then rounding up all your defenseless people at
> gunpoint then they'll have a whole Habitat for themselves without
> having damaged it at all.

If they have infiltrated (and somehow brought a lot of guns into a
place that allows none) and have us all at gunpoint, then how is the
shotgun back at my house, the assault rifle under my desk, or the 9
mm I constantly wear on my hip ( ^_~ ) going to help me? You think
these guys are going to let me run back home, reach under my desk, or
get my hands anywhere near my hips? Can I draw, point, and move my
finger the 3 cm needed to kill a man, all before he (or his buddies)
can do *just* the 3 cm finger-movement? What am I, the Sundance Kid?!

> (Just jumping in as Devil's Advocate)

Thanks. I do appreciate your demonic advocacy and stinkbombs.

>> I'd have to take a closer look at Canada and Switzerland before I
>> could comment on them (the low violent crime rates might be due to
>> high levels of gun ownership, or to something else).

> Take a look at this analysis. He bravely addresses what is verboten
> in polite company. He does note that people tend to look at all
> factors except the one he analyzes.
>
> http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/001234.html

I'll have to give this a look before I can say anything. Its late
and its too long for me to read right now. I have to make twenty or
more paper ghosts still. Damn, I am so far behind on that. :(

>> I know that Japan has both strong gun control and low rates of
>> violent crime.

They also have lots of rape-themed porn (stick the word "hentai" into
any search engine), and very little actual rape.

>> But what you say about Britain and Australia also bears looking
>> into. Perhaps in some societies, strong gun control encourages
>> violent crime, while in others it does not. I understand that in

This seems to be the point of the link above, but then again, I
barely glanced at it (Almond Joy in this ghost, Butterfinger in that
ghost...).

>> Sweden, the teenagers have even more sex than American teens do,
>> and that would explain the lack of Columbine-type events in that
>> country. The teens have better things to do.

> I'm not sure what you mean by "even more" - I can't find any
> statistics on the frequency of teen sex, but I do know that
> American youth start earlier.

Yes. The "even more" refers to frequency, not nuber of partners.
Makes sense, as they don't have to go to James Bond levels of secrecy
to avoid being caught. However, my info on this is several years
old, and may have been wrong to begin with. But I suspect that it is
right. Personal prejudice, I guess.

> "Myths aside, more open cultures like Sweden have the lowest rates
> of teen pregnancy while the U.S.'s repressive atmosphere rewards us
> with the highest rate as well as the earliest age of first
> intercourse and the highest number of sexual partners. As a
> strategy, the consequences of "Just Say No" do not work
> effectively."

You're damned skippy! We put American teens in the position of
having to reinvent sex by trial and error each generation. Should we
be surprised that we get a lot of errors?

> http://www.skaggs-island.org/ca2020network/dubois&wright.html

ACK! An even longer article!! ^_~ Yes, I will read both of these.
And thanks. Information is a good thing.

> The Nordic countries generally acknowledge that teens have sex
> lives, that sex lives are a healthy part of the human condition,
> that growing independence requires a private personal life, that
> pretending your 16 year old daughter is chaste and has no impure
> thoughts is a farce.

I had the idea of writing an erotic story (blantantly pornographic,
to tell the truth) in which I would subversivly hide these "oh so
radical" bits of fact and logic.

> When I travel to the Holland and Denmark I'm surprised by the
> contrast in teen sexuality outreach in terms of media compared to
> the American "Just Say No" campaigns. The literature on the subject
> makes it quite clear that the Nordic openness and acceptance of
> teen sexuality leads to more responsible teen immersion into their
> sex lives. Later ages of first intercourse, lower pregnancy, lower
> STD, ...

Xenophile, Proud American (but this stuff is not what I am proud of)

> Perhaps the result of this is that many construe the "even more"
> sex as just more open acceptance of teen sex.

Possible. Are the Swedish teens *having more sex* than American
teens, or are the Swedish teens having more sex than American teens
*will admit too*?