View Single Post
Old 12-06-2005, 08:13 AM   #58 (permalink)
Chilek9
Upright
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by willravel
Guns are not tools. Guns are weapons. I'm not sure one can say that weapons (in the same way a gun is a weapon) have been around since before language. Where alcohol represents decadence or addiction, guns represent cowardly combat. Guns are the modern equivelant to blinding powders and poisoning. Apples and oranges.
Guns most certainly are tools. They are an inanimate object designed for different purposes (despite what others would say). Many are designed for target shooting and target competition, some for hunting, and, yes, some for killing. There are many implements that were designed for one thing and later made into a weapon (the nunchaku of Japan for instance). What makes a weapon a weapon is the intent of the user. Police can charge someone for using a weapon when they use a beer bottle. Why? Because of the INTENT of the user and the capability of the "weapon."

"Guns represent cowardly combat." Interesting phrase, may I inquire as to your line of thinking with that? As a law enforcement officer, I have always viewed it as the last line of defense of life. During my time in the military, I viewed it, and myself, as the instrument of government policy. I don't view a firearm as a representative of anything. It is a tool that follows the intent of the user and nothing else. Guns are the modern equivalent of bows and arrows, there is nothing "sneaky" about their use and it sure served our purposes when we needed to put Hitler out of business or hold Joe Stalin at bay.
Chilek9 is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360