Re: GUNS was Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] PSUB Fatalities...View Ports...Shatterproof

["Dan J. Rice" <dan.j.rice@sherwin.com>]

Okay, It's a tragedy when someone thinks his own son is a burglar and shoots
him.  And it's a tragedy when someone is in a hurry to leave home and runs over
his own child in the driveway.

My point?  These tragic instances contribute little to the overall reasoning
which should guide our decisions about whether or not to own guns, or drive
cars, or build subs.  Unfortunately they are too large a part of the public
discussion of the issue.  Emotion plays a part in discussion, but it should
follow, not guide our thought processes.  There is a logical fallacy (what it is
called I do not now recall) regarding arguing from particular examples.  I'm
sure many examples of people using guns to save life and protect property could
be given to counterbalance stories of tragedies.

Personally if I were going to keep a loaded gun around the house to protect it
from burglars, the FIRST thing I would do is sit my kids down and tell them,
"Don't come home late sneaking in! I have a gun. I don't want to mistake you for
a burglar!  Ring the doorbell. Turn on the light. Call ahead.  Honk the horn.
Wake me up. If you do you won't be in trouble.  If you try sneaking in, you will
be in trouble, and maybe worse."  Just loading up the trusty revolver and
waiting to hear a noise is not a responsible way to implement your 2nd amendment
rights.  When my dad gave me my first .22 rifle (for my 8th birthday) he made me
earn the right to keep it in my room.  I had to take a gun safety course (with
my mom) and convince him I knew how to handle a gun safely and responsibly.   I
think I was 11 before I convinced him.  But he and I took the gun out plinking
many times by then.  It is a fond memory of a positive activity that I did with
both my parents.  Daddy was not a gun nut, but he believed every child should
learn two things, 1) How to swim. 2) how to handle a firearm safely. (He wasn't
a swimming nut either.)

Safety is a key issue.  Education and communication are the best way to work
toward the goal of safety.  But freedom is an even bigger key issue.  Freedom is
risky.  I am willing to work to reduce the risks through education and
communication, but I do not want to give up my freedom in an attempt to
eliminate risks.  That would open up to even greater dangers I fear.

Some day some politician is going to worry about the safety of people who are so
foolish as to think they can build and operate a submarine.  He will attempt to
pass legislation making it difficult for people to engage in this risky
activity.  He will know better than we do what is good for us.  We will object
and show how concerned we have been with safety.  The politician will no doubt
point to some few examples of people who were not so careful and who perished,
thereby completely justifying his attempt to take away the freedom for
individuals to build, own and operate personal submersibles.  Well maybe they'll
overlook us, we're a small group.

Dan