Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
From: [a--y] at [SAIL.Stanford.EDU] (Andy Freeman)
Subject: Re: Interpreting the constitution
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1993 03:51:07 GMT

For psychology/attitudes, see Bruce-Briggs "The Great American Gun
War" in "The Public Interest", and Tonso's work.  (Leddy's thesis is
also somewhat relevant.)  Kates has also written some relevant stuff.
Details about gun control laws and effects are largely irrelevant to
that aspect of the discussion.  (That aspect is more interesting to
me, but it's hard to keep gun-controllers interested in that
discussion because the bigotry and intolerance of their position
bothers them.)

One of the opposition motivators is an intolerance of know-nothing
do-gooders, especially when they're trying to jail people.  Another is
the gun-banner habit of destroying any necessary good faith through
vindictively stupid laws.  (The 86 changes in the machine gun law are
a great example.)  Oh, and there's also the name-calling and the smug
superior tone combined with complete ignorance of relevant detail.*

-andy

* - It's amazing how many people will make arguments that depend on
technical details that they simply don't know and have gotten
completely wrong.  I realize that young males think that they're born
knowing how to shoot, drive/fix things, and make love, but you'd think
that adult males would figure out that they have to learn these
things.
--