I was riding along in the car with my half-friend that was talking about gangs in our neighborhoods like it was some big game. "Some kid from ___ got shot by the kids from ____ so now they're going around shooting people in broad daylight for no reason." I wish I could capture that moment and show you just how much he felt it was like a game, but it's impossible on this current medium. So here we go.

What matters to me most in life is life. Through all my talks of utopianism and bettering the world etc. etc., I have always kept in mind to tell people that no matter how smart and strong you are, someone weaker and stupider can always kill you. We share the same bodies. Before I begin, I'd like to say this RC is basically for the North Americans only, but the European (and asian?) folks can certainly read this also. And hello, Australia. I envy everything but your giant spiders and jellyfish.

Now in the older days, our weaknesses weren't so bad. Wars were fought on horseback and archers were there and oh it was just wonderful. Sure they had disease, but generally, let's say - victorian era, it was nice. So, guns. It's not the fact we have the guns, that's not the problem. It's the fact that people over the past 20 years have gotten stupider and more instinctive. Black culture, literally, black culture, has been the worst thing to happen to not only North America, but the world. It's now cool to be in gangs and abuse drugs. Sex? Absolutely, go for it, we don't have Christianity bothering us anymore.

And with black culture, among lust and terrible music, has come violence. Before, we could ignore it. 1998 Eminem was a big guy and everyone in their little teenage angst listened to him, grr, angry, killing people. But even then, you don't realize it's reprogramming your subconscious. It's so easy to act on impulse and instinct, that with people getting stupider, who wouldn't? (author note: utopians)

So now we deal with guns. There are two sides to the argument: we should have guns, we shouldn't have guns. Amazingly, after all my travels of the internets, and that silly thing called real life, I have found the answer.

We should not have guns.

Before, alright. 1950, people had guns for protection. It wasn't like this... you could walk outside at 10PM for a walk and not feel threatened, you could walk past teenagers and not be insulted or spit at.

I'm going to list arguments and counter-arguments because that's the best way I feel to do this.

"We should have guns to protect us against the government rising up and making everyone slaves." (think V For Vendetta)

If the government rises up and decides to just *plummet* into communism within a day, your pathetic 9mm you have isn't going to go through anyones' armor. The most you could use the gun for realistically is killing another person who has gone crazy with looting and shooting to defend yourself. The government has stocks of tear gas waiting to be used, and if it gets really out of hand, you know they'll bring in more advanced weaponry. An M16 against you firing at a soldier (keep in mind you might not even mentally be able to fire; you don't know until you pull the trigger) is going to leave the soldier with two holes in his armor, maybe you'll snap his neck if you're close enough, and you most certainly dead. Your guns are worthless. High-powered weapons, however, would surely be better suited. And your house will be the first they knock on to confiscate such weapons, and you'll be the first person in a crowd of civilians that they shoot.

In the incredibly unlikely event we *plummet* into communism, so many alternatives could be used to defend yourself. You can make a bomb for under $20, archery sets are everywhere along with crossbows. Do you think all those hip hoppers would really go around shooting each other with crossbows? Or how about them assembling their own bombs? Oh, that'd be a day to live!

This is of course just assuming we would ever get to this point, which in a world like this, simply is not going to happen.

"It's my right of freedom, amendment #2, blah blah."

One of the few times I'll say to just give up your freedom for safety. Land of the free, right? But you can't go on foot to get milk through a ghetto neighborhood because it's not safe. Yeah, really free.

"I like marksmanship."

I'm not going to pretend AirSoft or paintball have the impact of real bullets, or the powerful feel of real bullets. But they are solutions, and gun enthusiasts in the UK seem to be absolutely fine with it, and in Europe, there's even a league!

"INVADERS are going to come and kill us all!"

Hello and welcome to 2008. On August 6th, 1945, the world saw the power of atomic weapons, which have only gotten more powerful. We have radars to detect any plane within 20 inches of where it shouldn't be, we've got chemicals in the water of major cities, and -get this- people are actually worried about the enemy physically coming in and killing us all. Just, drop from the skies and take us over.

"I want to hunt!"

Half of hunting is finding the damn creature you want to kill, and that'll never end. Drink a few beers, go out with the boys, wear orange if you feel like, yeah, you're huntin' now. So you've got the creature in your sights, and then - you pull a trigger. You're a hunter, yay! Load it up on the truck and bring it home, if you heathens even know how to cook it properly. If there were no guns, you could easily use a bow and arrow, and crossbows would be likely to be around too. You wouldn't even have to worry about cleaning the bullet out. On top of that, you can take your hand, stick it down your pants and see if you have anything down there. If you do, you can use a plethora of weapons to get the job done. Slit its throat, beat it on the head; you've got the advanced intelligence!

"No matter what you do, guns will be here."

Yeah, in the hands of the most elite criminals. If guns aren't sold in a country, that means elite criminals are going to be charging elite prices for them, and ammunition of course. If you get involved with an elite criminal, it's your fault. Loans, bribes, whathaveyou. It sucks for America because Mexico and Canada allow guns, which make them easier to smuggle in, but also in that case, we still at least don't have them just lying around peoples' homes.

"If tons of people have guns, the crime rate will be really low, like that town in Kansas."

Wake-up call here folks: that town in Kansas is full of white people. Yeah, sorry. No ghetto rats there either, I can guarantee it. They're all responsible cowboys and you know it. Pretty much the worst argument I've ever seen in a gun debate is suggesting that everyone carries a gun with them at all times. It's the worst because one, it's going to cost tons of money to equip people with guns. Two, it's extra baggage needed. If I go to the store for milk, I shouldn't need to carry a gun. One of my friends said he'd carry a gun with him all the time if he had one, and that's a huge turn-off for me. If I had one, I admit I'd put one in my glove compartment of my car, but I wouldn't be swinging it around everywhere. Lastly, it's the worst argument because humans can sometimes be volatile. If you're hot-tempered, you don't have a mental disease that makes you that way. That's just your nature. Now come to find out your girl's been cheating on you with your best friend, and you're super duper angry, and you're carrying a gun, and shoot them both dead. Hah boy sure is a good thing you had that gun to send yourself to prison and also kill two innocent people in the process. (if you don't blow your own head off) ( I would )

Closing statement.

As far as I'm concerned, John Lennon would still be alive if not for guns. Mr. Chapman would've had a lot more difficulty running up to him and stabbing him. Had he chosen a crossbow, he'd have to reload after the first shot (I'm not sure if they made the fancy crossbows back then) and he could've been stopped easier. Don't forget, though it's a tad more trivial now, that crossbow arrows have longer flight time than guns. Crossbows also aren't as concealable. Pantera's "Dimebag Darrel" would still be alive, there's no way that fan would've climbed onto the stage to stab him, or smuggled a big ole crossbow in.

A lot of pro-gun people can't defend the statements I crushed up there and thus say, "The problem is not that we have guns, it's that we have guns not being used properly.". In a magical, wonderful world where no one would murder someone with a gun, that'd be grand. Typically their statements range from kids not being parented well, to crazy people not being allowed to have guns. That's all well and good, but it only proves it more that we shouldn't have guns in the first place, because we're not responsible, and some people are just damn stupid, or have a bad temper. Congress will sometimes raise the jail sentence or seriousness of gun-related crimes, hoping that it'll deter people or keep them off the street longer. Yeah, that's great, but the person they attacked is still dead. And hell, what's with the sentence being lower for not actually killing them? So since they're such a shitty shot, they somehow don't deserve to be in prison as long? (or, I believe, dead)

Another pro-gun statement that isn't stupid is making sure the guns get in the right hands, as half-stated above, except with crazy people. Again, in a perfect world, crazy people wouldn't kill others with guns. But this is reality. No matter what you do to limit them, (and their rights, might I add) if someone wants to kill someone, they will. That could also be said about every weapon, and it's just the way our world works. If you want to kill someone, it's so easy. Not getting caught is very difficult but I'm just saying. I should also say there was this one website that was very repulsive and stated that out of all our schools in America, out of one year, only six adults and eleven people were killed by guns. Only, they said. Only 17 lives down the tubes for freedom. This should show you the mentality of most pro-gun people.

Well, I'm done. All thoughts as always can be sent to "vael@thisdomain".

Darn tootin',
Vael Victus