Space Guns

Hi,

>> is a null issue if all the inhabitants are gay.
>Would that be discramation agiast hetrosexuals?

Most definitely. But it could still be sucessfully argued as necessary.

>>Astrogenes!
>>What do you think?

Science has already named them "Homo sapiens technologicus" or "Homo
technologicus" depending on the degree of difference to current humans.
Science-fiction generally call them "Spacers".

>I have very strong feelings about the way Mars has monopolized the interests
>of the space advocacy community

Here! Here! I second that :]

>spending over $500 billion to get to Mars

It's not worth wasting time discussing the financial costs of any space
endevour until it is time to undertake it. For the following reasons:

(1) This is an internet discussion, it's cross-national.
Which dollar are we talking about? US, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand,
Eastern Caribbean, Bahamian, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brunei, Cayman
Islands, Fiji, Guyanese, Hong Kong, Jamacian, Liberian, Namibian,
Singapore, Solomon Islands, New Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago or Zimbabwean?

(2) Any figures are quickly made irrelevant by inflation and so cannot be
used in the future as a source of reference.

(3) Any figures are purely theoretical. An educated guess, subject to a
multitude of unpredicatable factors.

(4) Who knows if we will still use money when it comes time to colonise space

(5) So much time is wasted arguing about financial details when so many
other important issues can be discussed.

>Shall the citizens of the Habitats have the right to bear arms in
>order to prtect their property and to counterbalance the power of
>their government?

OMG NO! The "right to bear arms" is the biggest problem with the US as a
society. The second is their continued use of imperial units. The third is
their unending desire to clap at everything.

The government of a space habitat may need to impose restrictions, for the
survival of the colony. It cannot have citizens with guns to disagree with
those restrictions. As such, the US model with "the right to bear arms"
could not be successfully used in space colonisation. The government would
be overthrown and the society degrade into anarchy. Groups would then fight
for domination over the others. Supplies would be cut off in protest and
the colony would fail.

>Many countries, most with low violent crime rates, have low levels of
>gun ownership.

Australia has very restrictive gun laws and a very low violent-crime rate
(relative to the US). We could get it even lower if we made sex compulsory
:]

>Nazi Germany had extremely strict gun-control laws

Yes, and they were very nice to each another. It's everyone else they had a
problem with. So your example argues against your point, not for it.

>I could see the NRA fans loving the idea of long range skeet shooting

Don't forget, on a low gravity planet you could shoot yourself in the back
of the head LOL

As far as I'm concerned. Only the military should have firearms. Even the
Police should be restricted to non-lethal weapons, like tazers (sorry to
those with pacemakers :)

>Watch David Cronenberg's recent film _eXistenZ_ and think again ;)

I have it on DVD and it's awesome. It does your head in a bit. Have you
seen "Donnie Darko" it's better. It'll really do your head in!

My 2 non-US cents worth
Michael
http://www.geocities.com/alt_cosmos/index.html