[Rhodes22-list]Guns and Politics

[Roger Pihlaja]

Gentlemen,

Most of our guns are kept unloaded in a locked gun safe.  However, I do keep
a loaded Beretta 96FS 0.40 S&W in a locked aluminum pistol case under the
bed for home protection.  The lock is a combination lock & only I know the
combination.  The Beretta is loaded with 165 grain Federal Hydroshock ammo.
It'll knock anyone on their ass without penetration, even at close range &
they won't be getting up.  I consistently score 3" patterns at 25 yards on
the range with this pistol.  If someone broke into my house, I wouldn't
hesitate to use this weapon on them.  Daniel & Gary both earned their rifle
& shotgun merit badges in Boy Scouts.  They are both excellent shots & don't
fool around when it comes to gun safety.  The boys have a key to the gun
safe & frequently use their shotguns & rifles for hunting.  The only person
in my family I wouldn't trust with a gun in my family is my wife, who is
clueless re firearms.

My reading of the 2nd amendment and the period writings of Madison, Monroe,
& Jefferson are that the 2nd amendment was intended to render the American
population safe from a government that breaks it's own rules.  As such, the
2nd amendment is really the most important of the original 10 as it enables
and safeguards that the rest of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights will
be obeyed by the governement.  Knowing there are 200+ million guns out there
has got to cause any overly ambitious politician a moment's reflection.  The
2nd amendment is really the ultimate check and balance on government power.
For all the trouble that widespread gun ownership causes, it's still worth
it.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium


----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Meltzer" <mjm at michaelmeltzer.com>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2004 7:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list]Guns and Politics


> The one I know, 280 million in the US, 200 million guns, but the stat is
skewed by multiple guns in the same household.
>
> MJM
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "CT" <ctscuba at aquaticworlds.com>
> To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2004 7:52 PM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list]Guns and Politics
>
>
> No country or locality has such a gun control law striclty and perfectly
> enforced, the closest I can think of other than my Saturday night poker
game
> is Singapore and England (both restricting handguns).  But there are also
> local jurisdictions that control guns.  Myself, I have a permit to carry.
> Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.  And the weapon behind the headboard
has
> one in the pipe.  I'm not a bad guy either.
> I don't know where your statistic of 50% of US households comes from...but
> it seems high IMO.  Certainly, more bad guys have guns than good guys.
> Unfortunately, the bad guys use theirs more.  As for the homeowner vs
> intruder stats.  You probably won't see those anywhere.  It's bad for the
> gun control crowd to advertise it...
>
> CT
>
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>
>