166 lines
9.0 KiB
Plaintext
166 lines
9.0 KiB
Plaintext
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GUN CONTROL AS CLASS WARFARE
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by Rosemary Fury
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Opponents of gun control are in big trouble. They will lose the
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battle against gun control unless they drastically change their
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tactics. There are two fundamental reasons for this impending
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defeat. First, the liberal/conservative split over gun control is
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likely to give way to a \class\ consensus in favor of restrictions
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on weapon ownership. Second, gun control opponents have failed to
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enlist the support of those people most injured by such
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legislation.
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For decades, the debate over gun control has been divided
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along standard political lines of left vs. right. Advocates of gun
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control have surprisingly gained the support of the liberal
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political base with a conservative-sounding argument: i.e.,
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restrictions on handguns will reduce violent crime, thus aiding
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the cause of "law and order." Their opponents have appealed
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largely to a conservative audience with God-and-Country rhetoric
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about our "Constitutional Rights." The popular conception of the
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issue is one of a political struggle. As we shall see, such a
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conception is dangerously flawed.
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Gun control got its start in this country as a racist measure
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to disarm Blacks after the Civil WarÑto prevent them from taking
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revenge on their former owners. Restrictions on weapon ownership
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are still racist today. Blacks and minorities suffer at the hands
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of both racist groups and redneck cops. The Black Panthers formed
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in the 1960s specifically to counter police brutality in Oakland
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County, California. Studies show that minorities are
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disproportionately the victims of authority, whether it's Mexicans
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drowned in Texas, Cubans and Haitians beaten up in Miami, Blacks
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gunned down in Detroit, or Orientals abused in Seattle. When
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courts turn a blind eye at brutal police departments, denying gun
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ownership to minorities is tantamount to denying them self-
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defense.
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It is also true that Blacks and other minorities constitute a
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large percentage of America's poor, and it is the \poor\ who stand
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to lose the most from gun control. Rich people can afford to live
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outside dangerous urban areas and maintain well-armed, high-paid
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suburban police departments to protect their lives and property.
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But for the poor person without the means to flee the ghetto,
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handguns are the cheapest, most effective form of self-defense
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available. A couple hundred dollars (or less) is a small price to
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pay for the security of one's family and possessions.
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Gun control advocates argue that handgun ownership damages
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the ability of inner-city police forces to protect their
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residents. But to the ghetto-dweller, as we have seen, the police
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look more like enemies than defenders. Urban police departments
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are not paid to protect poor people. They're paid to protect local
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merchants and their property, and they're paid (unofficially) to
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protect various organized crime operations. Understaffed and
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unresponsive, the police can't possibly provide adequate service
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to all their citizens. Under gun control, big-city residents would
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not only be unable to defend themselves against organized
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criminals, but would also be incapable of helping to defend their
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friends and neighbors.
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Gun control advocates loudly call for disarming average
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Americans, but do they want to disarm the police? Certainly not!
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\Their law-and-order rhetoric is just thinly disguised support for
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Big Brother\. In fact, they look forward to a society where the
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government has total control over the population. Under such
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conditions, no one could step outside official bounds without
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special permission. Gun control would give the police a free hand
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in abusing people, while the ruling class could compel the masses
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to conform to their wishes.
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While gun control opponents are quick to proclaim the
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importance of an armed populace to our national defense, they
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overlook the importance of gun ownership as a deterrent to
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oppression by \our own\ government. High taxes, restrictions on
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travel, government surveillance, business regulations, etc., are
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making domestic slaves of all of us. All that stands between our
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present narrow freedoms and total bureaucratic control is the
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determination of Americans to resist repression. Traditional ways
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of controlling government (elections, political pressure, etc.)
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have become increasingly ineffective. Gun ownership helps draw a
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bottom line beyond which authorities tread at their own risk.
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Some people have a lower tolerance for repression than
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others. Tax resistors, Black Panthers, environmental activists,
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and others have already hit their bottom line, and have used the
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force of arms to repel the invading state. While they have
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suffered for their defiance, they still send an important warning
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signal to the bureaucrats, thus making life a little safer for the
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rest of us. Without gun ownership, there would be no \ultimate\
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check on the tax collectors, conscriptors, and regulators that
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populate our federal government.
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A common argument leveled by advocates of gun control is that
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handguns are most often used in domestic disputes, where family
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quarrels end with gunshots. There is no disputing the statistics.
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However, the conclusions drawn from them are highly vulnerable.
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Proponents of gun control assume the desirability of limiting gun
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usage in domestic disputes. Do we really want to do that? "If it
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saves lives, then it's worth it," the line goes. But are these
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lives \worth\ saving?
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Women have been the victims of domestic abuse for centuries.
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Because of our relatively weaker physical stature, we have been
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virtually enslaved by men (women are still considered property in
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many of the world's cultures). Handguns are the great equalizer.
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More and more cases have come to the courts where women have
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"murdered" their abusive husbands. Gun control advocates deplore
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this, but why shouldn't we defend ourselves against such abuse?
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Why should the lives of violent bullies be spared? So that they
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can continue to destroy the lives of the defenseless? Gun control
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would make it easier for wife-beating and child abuse to continue
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unchecked. I would rather see such brutes dead than see women and
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children with no alternative to submission.
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Gun ownership is vital right. Handguns are an essential form
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of self-defense for the lower class of society that doesn't have
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the personal armies and suburban fortresses of the upper class.
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Private gun ownership serves as a powerful check on police and
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other pigs who terrorize minorities, on the expansionist desires
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of foreign governments as well as the encroachments of our own
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state, and on the ability of men to systematically abuse and
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exploit women and children. Gun ownership gives people the real
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option of resisting an authority that becomes too oppressive to
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bear. As such, it is a valuable tool for ensuring personal
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freedom.
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In short, gun control is \class\ legislation. It is an
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attempt by the elite rulers of society to disarm the weaker class
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and make them submissive to their will. In the near future,
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leading liberals \and\ conservatives will likely set aside their
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minor political differences for the benefit of their combined
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class interest, and enact legislation restricting the ownership of
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weapons of self-defense. They will succeed in this, too, unless
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opponents of gun control expand their base of support to include
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the traditionally liberal constituency of the underclass: the
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poor, minorities, and women. These groups have the most to lose
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from gun control, and the most to gain from the right to
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unrestricted gun ownership.
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Published (prophetically) in 1983 by
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Loompanics Unlimited
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P. O. Box 1197
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Port Townsend, WA 98368
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(Latest catalogue $2.00)
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Reprinted as a public service by
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The Company of Freemen
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\Rosemary Fury is an editor of \The Spark\ (P. O. Box 528, Port
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Townsend, WA 98368), a newsletter of contemporary anarchist
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thought. It's about time gun rights activists looked toward
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anarchist and libertarian ideasÑthey alone seem to have a complete
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picture of what's going on with the conservative (Bush,
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Dukemejian) and liberal (Metzenbaum, Kennedy) alliance to disarm
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all non-statists\.
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven
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& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845
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Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766
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realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662
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Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699
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The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK
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The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674
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Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560
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"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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