May 8, 2003

• An acquaintance is in Palestine right now. Here’s what she’s got to say so far…
  
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  I haven’t quite figured out the etiquette to answering questions posed in comments of posts yet. Does one comment back in the original poster’s weblog, do a follow up comment under the original post, or make a new post?
  
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  In any case, gentlegiant asked question whether I think gun control is good or bad.
  
  I don’t have a really strong opinion about it, but I generally lean towards allowing people to carry what they want and demanding responsibility and accountability. The cops have guns, the military has guns, the criminals have guns. They are only a problem if they are used against someone.
  
  I think some anti-gun people are the sort of over-sensitive over-reactive paranoid types depicted in the NPR Reporter/Marine joke from the original post. A gun (especially a rifle) is a tool and it is how it is used that is a problem or not. I also believe in the general principle of “innocent until proven guilty” – don’t bar me from doing something because you think it may lead to me doing something bad. Until I have done something wrong, I have not done something wrong.
  
  The main type of control I’d like to see is tracking. I’d like to see manufacturers required to take ballistic tests and a computer database with searching capabilities so that any bullet found can be tracked back to the original gun and then that gun tracked to the current owner. I could go further into how exactly I’d like to see it run, but that’s basically it.
  
  Doesn’t stop those who are skilled enough to change their weapon’s ballistics or make their own weapons, but no law would.
  
  So, if someone wants to carry a gun, fine by me. If they are asked not to bring it into someone’s house or business, they need to respect that, period.
  
  If they threaten someone with that gun (at all) or hurt someone with that gun, they need to be held responsible. Them feeling threatened is not enough – if they kill a person, the dead person should still be innocent until proven guilty. If the deceased is not shown to be guilty of doing something that required them being shot (basically, they need to be an immediate violent threat), the shooter should be in a lot of trouble.
  
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  And to continue looking at the ten proposed steps to world peace:
  

  3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We’ll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where they are. France would welcome them.

  The key word here is illegal, so I’m generally OK with it. I allow for the option of them becoming legal aliens (with the standard applications and reviews). The France crack, of course, is unnecessary, although it is possible that some other countries may offer asylum to those who need it but we won’t accept.
  

  4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 day visits unless given a special permit. No one from a terrorist nation would be allowed in. If you don’t like it there, change it yourself, don’t hide here. Asylum would not ever be available to anyone. We don’t need any more cab drivers.

  This one gets under my skin for a couple reasons. First of all “Terrorist Nation” is a completely politicized term that has no real meaning. If we tried to apply meaning to it based on international/legal definitions of terrorism, two countries we’d have to ban are Israel and the United States. Secondly, under this concept, we might be saluting a Nazi flag right now as all those scientists who wanted to get out of Germany could easily have ended up making the atomic bomb for Hitler if they didn’t have another option.
  

  5) No “students” over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don’t attend classes, they get a “D” and it’s back home, baby.

  Hm. I can kind of see this one, although I’d back off on the age thing. If someone’s here on a student visa and they’re not attending to their studies, however, it seems reasonable to ask them to shape up or leave.
  
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  That’s it for today.

  • 7:21 pm
  • 1 Comment