Talk:Eric Raymond

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There is no Erik* Conspiracy <code> =) </code>

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Something should be said about ESR's gun thing. He's a staunch proponent of the constitution, including the right to bear arms. -- Amw

I wish when Eric writes that he would get to the point quicker. Then I might believe he has something important to say.

I also think there is something false with the belief that weapons are a good thing. This idea that owning a gun makes someone safer or provides increased physical security is pure fiction. Think of all the people who own guns and still get blown to bits at work, schoool or the mall. Did it help them? Guns malfunction, guns need ammunition, guns need training for proper use. Guns provide weak protection, like a missile defence system, because amongst many other reasons they are a waste of effort, time and money because an attack, indifferent to the defence, is still possible. Guns, missiles and other weapons dont stop contagion, change bad laws, or provide a real deterrance for criminals. What type of attack does a gun protect people from? - ABliss

I personally belive guns to be a bad thing, but that while anyone who might want to use them against me has them, I should be able to have them as well. At some point I hope humans have the clear thinking to destroy all their weaponry. The second amendment, as I understand it, is essentially for this purpose -- people who need fear the oppression of governments (all of us) should never allow the government to be the only ones with weapons (to enforce its will). crtn

I like your point but I do have an interesting note to add: if you watch Black Hawk down, one side note to the story is the very real-life battle between just two military personnel who personally fought and killed something in the realm of 200 well-armed Somalies with AK-47s and related weaponry. They died because they ran out of ammunition and might have killed many more. The average citizen does not have an AK-47 and would lose horribly against almost any military or governmental incursion. For this reason, I think the logic that somehow citizens being armed will protect us against oppression is perhaps flawed; the military's weaponry, tools, and combat training makes our arms inconsequential.

There is that, but the idea is that if a large enough portion of the population believes a government is unjust and takes up arms, they at least have some chance of resistance -- a government will surely defend itself, but the people should never allow themselves to be without defense from the government at all. crtn

Then again, when the guy got on the University of Texas tower back in the 1970s, he only shot a few people before the rest of the populace started shooting back. Webfork