Flutterby™! : Gun control

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Gun control

2002-12-18 14:41:24+00 by Dan Lyke 1 comments

On my recent trip to Hong Kong I was reminded of how good it is to be an American. I mean, in a total Lee Greenwood with Nashville twang "Proud To Be an American" way, with it so obvious that so many people in these remarkably different cultures wanted to live where I did. Then on the flight back from Tokyo to San Francisco I sat next to a man from the Netherlands who's settled in California who praised the U.S., especially foreign policy, up one side and down the other. "You came to Europe, you did the job that needed to be done, you went home. That's not Imperialism." Now I actually think that our reconstruction in Germany went far beyond that, but let's just say that despite my disputes with the Bush administration, and despite my perpetual cynicism, I think really highly of the United States.

So with that flush of patriotism in mind, I want to rekindle some controversies by encouraging y'all to go read one of the best arguments against gun control I've ever read, with some great pull-quotes:

And why is it that of all we produce and all we exult, the only things that seem to have caught on in Europe are McDonald's and Baywatch? That says much more about you than it does about us, and none of it good, I'm afraid.

Via Curmudgeonly Skeptical

[ related topics: Politics Travel Guns McDonald's ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment made: 2002-12-19 15:00:37+00 by: Elton

Pretty persuasive. I myself was all in favor of gun control in my youth, but have been gradually sliding to the other side as my politics have become more libertarian. I'm an American living in the Netherlands now and have had gun control arguments with friends here; I'll probably forward this link to them -- not that I expect it to reverse their opinions, but just to show them that there is an intelligent foundation to the pro-gun debate.

Tangentially, I just saw "Bowling for Columbine" and found it to be funny, terrifying, interesting, at least occasionally inaccurate and clearly very biased. Makes me wonder what Michael Moore's goal is -- seems to me he is always preaching to the converted. I think he's a good film-maker but he'll never convinve me of anything until he can at least present the illusion of looking at both sides of an issue.