Posted on 11/24/2001 7:45:03 PM PST by Drew68
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:49:35 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
After Sept. 11, the gun lobby is working hard to capitalize on a nation's fears about personal safety. At Tactical Edge, a gun shop and shooting range in West Palm Beach, Fla., the rafters are plastered with bullet-chewed posters of Osama bin Laden, created by visitors who made a $10 Red Cross donation in exchange for the privilege of taking aim. The Store is located just a few miles from an apartment where several of the suspected Sept. 11 hijackers lived. In the weeks following the attacks, some combination of fear, panic and rage sent local residents flocking to the shop, driving guns sales and overall business up 60 percent. Many of the visitors took a moment to sign their handiwork. "Eat that, sucker," reads one bin Laden poster. "Courtesy NYPD," reads another, created by a New York City cop on vacation.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.com ...
Once again, instead of supporting the need to defend ones self, Barnes and the Brady Bunch can only trot out the same useless, false drivel that has not worked in the past and continues not to work in the present.
9/11 awoke a nation of wafflers to the reality of what "safety" really means. It means you and you alone are responsible for your safety and that of your loved ones and cannot rely on the police.
Haven't we gun-owners been saying that all along?
Yeah, I know I should have probably posted a BARF ALERT! considering all the Brady BS the article cited, yet I was suprised it appeared in Newsweek at all. This is what I found interesting.
hmmmmmmmmmmm With all the gun owners here, you would think Miss Manners would fit right in.
They used to claim 43 times as much. I guess the statistics AIN'T so clear.
... Robert A. Heinlein wrote that an armed society is a polite society. The common perception is that armed societies were polite because an act of rudeness might evolve into a duel, as portrayed in Dumas' The Three Musketeers. The real reason, though, is the mindset and psychology that come with responsible weapon ownership. The knight's sword was a symbol of his duty to protect weaker members of society and behave chivalrously, e.g. with respect and courtesy to women, elderly people, and so on. The sword was the soul of the Japanese samurai, a constant reminder of the samurai's duty and code of behavior. The sword was a symbol of taking responsibility, not only for one's self, but usually for others ...
Since politeness based on good breeding is not readily apparent, maybe a little fear is appropriaate.
The real message here is that the destruction of the WTC was the ultimate proof to all of us that we can't count on "the government" to protect us from all threats. If Americans as individuals project this to something more tangible, and controllable, it may manifest itself as a need for pro-active protecting of ones personal safety...with a gun. Which is a rational and admirable goal.
When they are pulling numbers out of thin air, it is easy for them to forget which bogus number they used. Remember when it was always fourteen children killed every day... Now I think the number is closer to ten or twelve.
Stay Safe K68 !
Don't worry, God help the man that threatens my safety! BTW, what does that quote mean?
The number was up 3X in October over the previous months.
It's good to see people start taking responsibility for their own safety.
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