From: frantz@netcom.com (Bill Frantz)
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 21:41:46 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Responding to Pre-dawn Unannounced Ninja Raids
Message-ID: <199607232114.OAA12350@netcom7.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At  3:38 PM 7/23/96 -0400, hallam@Etna.ai.mit.edu wrote:
>>I don't understand this conclusion.  One book people aside, it is generally
>>believed that humans evolved in an evolutionary context and they certainly
>>frequently use cooperative strategies.  Cooperation usually also involves
>>the ability to sanction misbehavior.  Unilateral disarmament is throwing
>>away your sanction.
>
>That depends on the circumstances. If you are arguing the case for 
>unilateral disarmament or unilateral reduction. In many cases there was a
>deliberated attempt to confuse one with the other. Unilateral 
>reduction can be the right move to make.

No argument.  I said disarmament.


>In the case of a minor nuclear power such as the UK unilateral
>disarmament may be the right move...

But still, the UK has available other sanctions.  That's why they are still
called the Falklands.


>... Burglars are not rational actors, and
>are more likely to have their behavior determined by drugs or
>alcohol than analytical game theory.

Burglars are among the most rational of thieves.  They try to maximize gain
and minimize risk by acting when no one can oppose them.  Even muggers, a
much less rational activity, try to pick on people smaller than them.


>The facts are very clear, if you have a handgun in the house it is
>far more likely to kill a member of the familly than stop an
>intruder. The NRA know this which is why they have lobbied for the
>CDC to stop research in this area - they do not like the facts.

Christmas trees make your house far more likely to catch fire.  However
many people have them because they provide other, hard to quantify, values.
 (BTW, my mother's retirement home does not allow them in individual
units.)  Guns have value besides home defense.  Just one off-the-wall
example: I learned to hold a camera steady by competitive target shooting.

Home defense is not the only reason to have a gun.  (Besides, I would
rather have a shotgun with a short barrel for close-up defense than a
handgun.  As the California police forces discovered when they (briefly)
changed from pump shotguns to "automatics", the sound of chambering a round
with a pump shotgun makes people focus very clearly on their situation. 
Frequently it avoids violence.)

IMHO handguns are much more useful when you need a portable defense.  Examples: 

1. The USGS will allow field geologists to carry handguns in bear country
after a rigorous training program.  

2. I have a friend who defended himself from a pack of feral dogs after
they attacked him and forced him to retreat to the roof of his car.  (He
killed three of the four.  The local rancher treated him to dinner for
ridding the neighborhood of a dangerous nuisance.)


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