tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13629499.post9175892061692959160..comments2023-07-14T17:41:21.090+08:00Comments on Blackstone's World Without Walls: Brad Blackstonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18001866738761391331noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13629499.post-31038723817815206832009-04-07T09:17:00.000+08:002009-04-07T09:17:00.000+08:00Thanks, Woody, for your comments. It's always inte...Thanks, Woody, for your comments. It's always interesting to hear how others view the American scene.<BR/><BR/>On the idea of America being more violent in the past, I wonder about that. I guess it depends which "past" were talking about. I'm not sure that the chance of being murdered in the year, say, 1809 was any greater than it is now. (Were studies done then that could produce data on the chance of being harmed by a gun? I doubt it.)<BR/><BR/>What I do know is that my fear of gun violence as a child in Ohio in the 60s was not the same fear that people today hold. (Of course, at that time we worried about nuclear annihilation.) <BR/><BR/>Things changed fast though even on a personal level. I was at a party in college where a drunk guy suddenly brandished a gun and began threatening to shoot one of my female friends. I had just gone to the toilet, and when I came back into the main room of the party, I found my friend on her knees pleading for her life. Eventually, someone grabbed the gun from the would-be killer, and my friends and I left.<BR/><BR/>Many years later, when visiting Oakland, CA, with my family, I experienced another gun incident, with a disgruntled shop clerk waving a pistol first at my wife and then in my face. So there are guns out there, no doubt.Brad Blackstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18001866738761391331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13629499.post-15242921454884816012009-04-07T03:48:00.000+08:002009-04-07T03:48:00.000+08:00The root of this issue is the arguement of cultura...The root of this issue is the arguement of cultural preservation versus modern civility. <BR/><BR/>It can be argued that it was important to keep guns at one's side in the past for self defence. This may be because America may not have been as well policed in the days of the "wild west" as it is now. People had to defend themselves against "raiding red indians", real-life bandits and a whole slew of wild animals. I think it can safely be said that America was much more dangerous in the past than it is now for the average person.<BR/><BR/>In modern America, with proper laws and constitutions having been set; with a police force backed up with all the scientific knowledge, technological support and readily available manpower, the average citizen does not face as much danger going out into the streets. I feel that this is an old mindset than need to be addressed by the country as a whole. There are other viable alternative methods of self-defence.<BR/><BR/>Yes, a gun can be an effective self-defence weapon but the other edge of this sword can wreak devastating consequences. Comparing a gun to a knife or blade, both of which can be used for self-defence or attacking people, it is evident that the lethality of the gun far surpasses that of the others. <BR/><BR/>In the case of an attack, I think that it would take much more nerve for a person to try to stab someone than pull the trigger on someone. At the very least, the victim has a greater chance of evading a melee attack because of the close proximity needed to deliver the blow and the slower speed of the attack.<BR/><BR/>In the end, the gun-toting Americans need to have a change in their mindset and see that a modern society where guns are much more strictly controlled can be much more safer. Self-defence can be enforced through defensive martial arts or even better, violence and be reduced by equipping people with the diplomatic knowledge and skills to solve conflicts.Woodyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03860861612072006305noreply@blogger.com