Dogman
25th August 2011, 10:52 AM
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/08/24/lorne-gunter-getting-gun-safety-completely-backwards/
Lorne Gunter (http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/author/lornegunter/) Aug 24, 2011 – 12:15 PM ET
Last Updated: Aug 24, 2011 12:27 PM ET
This is ridiculous, but oh so typical of gun banners — indeed of those who would ban most pleasures or recreations in the name of public safety or the “public good,” whatever that is. In the name of bettering us despite ourselves, they take leave of common sense and typically end up making the situation worse.
The City of London is giving 125,000 free tickets (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23980400-children-banned-from-shooting-events-in-2012-ticket-giveaway.do) to school children for next summer’s Olympics. But it is not giving any free passes to shooting events, the rationale being that Mayor Boris Johnson — usually a sensible man — has a push on to curb gun and knife violence and handing out free passes to see target and skeet shooting would send the wrong message.
Of course, letting school children see the world’s most disciplined and skilled shooters would have the opposite effect. It would demonstrate how responsible people use guns. It would show kids thats guns aren’t just used casually or even wantonly for street crimes — to rob a senior in an alley or enforce a drug territory.
Does visiting an art gallery encourage students to go out and commit graffiti vandalism? Does watching surgery on TV provoke them to slash passersby in a mall? And even if it did, would their criminal acts be the fault of the artist or surgeon? Would we ban painting and operations?
This is how out-of-touch those with banning instincts have become. They believe if kids are never exposed to potentially dangerous items or practices, they will never be prompted to behave dangerously. What rot.
There will always be bad people doing bad things with otherwise perfectly legitimate items — like people who drive cars drunk. So if kids are prevented from seeing cars driven skillfully, the only role models they will have are DUI drivers.
The same holds true with firearms. There is no way governments can successfully ban all guns, so one of the ways to impress upon young people the need to handle firearms safely and responsibly is to let them see the effort, skill and training needed to become a top sport shooter.
Of course, such logic escapes most public-safety fanatics, just as the need to teach kids to consume alcohol in reasonable ways and quantities once escaped the temperance prudes who banned all alcohol (unsuccessfully) because a few were incapable of handling it responsibly.
National Post
Lorne Gunter (http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/author/lornegunter/) Aug 24, 2011 – 12:15 PM ET
Last Updated: Aug 24, 2011 12:27 PM ET
This is ridiculous, but oh so typical of gun banners — indeed of those who would ban most pleasures or recreations in the name of public safety or the “public good,” whatever that is. In the name of bettering us despite ourselves, they take leave of common sense and typically end up making the situation worse.
The City of London is giving 125,000 free tickets (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23980400-children-banned-from-shooting-events-in-2012-ticket-giveaway.do) to school children for next summer’s Olympics. But it is not giving any free passes to shooting events, the rationale being that Mayor Boris Johnson — usually a sensible man — has a push on to curb gun and knife violence and handing out free passes to see target and skeet shooting would send the wrong message.
Of course, letting school children see the world’s most disciplined and skilled shooters would have the opposite effect. It would demonstrate how responsible people use guns. It would show kids thats guns aren’t just used casually or even wantonly for street crimes — to rob a senior in an alley or enforce a drug territory.
Does visiting an art gallery encourage students to go out and commit graffiti vandalism? Does watching surgery on TV provoke them to slash passersby in a mall? And even if it did, would their criminal acts be the fault of the artist or surgeon? Would we ban painting and operations?
This is how out-of-touch those with banning instincts have become. They believe if kids are never exposed to potentially dangerous items or practices, they will never be prompted to behave dangerously. What rot.
There will always be bad people doing bad things with otherwise perfectly legitimate items — like people who drive cars drunk. So if kids are prevented from seeing cars driven skillfully, the only role models they will have are DUI drivers.
The same holds true with firearms. There is no way governments can successfully ban all guns, so one of the ways to impress upon young people the need to handle firearms safely and responsibly is to let them see the effort, skill and training needed to become a top sport shooter.
Of course, such logic escapes most public-safety fanatics, just as the need to teach kids to consume alcohol in reasonable ways and quantities once escaped the temperance prudes who banned all alcohol (unsuccessfully) because a few were incapable of handling it responsibly.
National Post