Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesdmanley
no one is federally mandated to drive either ...
|
A while back, there was a discussion on a list I'm on, provoked by one of the posters. she'd been born and raised in NYC, and now lives and works in Seattle. Some friends had taken her target shooting, and she discovered she was pretty good at it and liked it. But she'd been raised in a household where handguns were Evil Things, and she was being a Bad Girl for using one and liking it.
Like most things, it's cultural, and I suggested she compare notes with someone from the rural midwest, where a boy might get his first shotgun at age 12 as part of a rite of passage into manhood. There are a number of distinct regional cultures in teh US, and attitudes toward guns differ in them.
Another chap on the mailing list ranted that only licensed, trained government employees should be permitted to own and carry handguns. I told him he wasn't thinking broadly enough. He should look at another commonly owned and used device that has been responsible for far more fatalities over the years than guns ever have, and advocate that only licensed, trained government employees should be permitted to own and drive cars...
______
Dennis