In article et, Keith
writes:

I had the pleasure of watching the documentary by Michael
Moore called, "Bowling for Columbine". In the opening segment
Michael goes into a Michigan Bank and gets a free shotgun
for opening a CD account.

Keith:

I bought the DVD. Actually, it was a Winchester .270 cal. bolt-action
rifle.

In the documentary he discusses
the fact that the tenage mass killers bought their ammo at Kmart
and obtained guns at gun shows.

Both perfectly legal activities, assuming they were old enough to
legally do so, but I think Harris and Klebold had assistance from an
older woman. What was illegal and immoral, however, is the manner
in which that ammunition was used. How is K-Mart at fault for the
misuse of a perfectly legal product which is otherwise safe (except to
violent criminals) when utilized in it's intended manner, using the
well-known safety practices associated with it's proper use? The
fact that K-Mart was willing to acquiesce to the extortionist pressure
placed upon them by Mr. Moore only serves to make one understand
why their organization is going down the tubes. They were engaged
in perfectly moral and legitimate commerce in the sale of firearms and
ammunition, but chose instead, to allow themselves to be used as
a scapegoat for the villainous actions of those who misused these
products. I have personally purchased firearms and ammunition
from K-Mart, and it has never occurred to me to shoot up a high
school with them. Is K-Mart just lucky that I'm not a violent criminal,
or was there something different about the Marlin Model 60 and
336 rifles and the .22 LR, .30-30 Winchester, and other ammo I
bought from them that caused it not to be used to kill innocent
people?

The thought occurred to me, Why in the hell can a teenager in America buy a
weapon of mass destruction with no test or license, but to pick up a
microphone to talk he needs to obtain a license from the federal government?

The truth is, he doesn't. Bootlegging is a big problem in radio. However,
like criminals who commit violent crimes with sporting firearms, it is not
the inanimate objects (firearms or radios) at fault - but the responsible
human agent who utilizes them in an improper manner. No amount of
licensing can prevent the misuse of guns, cars, radios, aircraft, or any
other potentially destructive item -- and the world is full of them. It is
up to us intelligent human beings to use these things in a proper,
moral manner. We can either decide to accept this challenge and
take the responsibility for our actions, or simply sanitize our lives of
anything that could possibly hurt us. The choice is ours. If you choose
the latter, you can start by throwing away every bar of soap in your
house. After all, if misused, a bar of Kirk's Coco Hardwater Castile
can be just as dangerous as a .22 cal. rifle.

I
can understand for a vehicle, but isn't it time to do away with Ham Radio
licensing in a nation in which 12,000 people are murdered by untested and
unlicensed gun owners? Just a thought.

What of the over 2 million people who are saved from violence each year by
the legitimate use of firearms? Or the untold thousands who benefit from
the emergency communications services provided by legal, licensed
radio amateurs? In the case of guns, the liberal media, which has an
agenda to remove the personal power given to the people to defend
themselves from violence, never allows the truth to see the light of day.
However, the benefits of amateur radio are well-known and occasionally
given publicity which does it some good. The problem of the over
12,000 victims of violent gun crime can be readily addressed by simply
enforcing existing laws, and treating criminals AS criminals and not
using the inanimate object (the gun) as the scapegoat for human
behaviour. In the true manner of a person with a liberal, socialist,
freedom-hating agenda, Mr. Moore carefully left that truth out of his
documentary. It is up to us to be intelligent enough to see through his
lies of omission, and learn the truth. The same applies to code testing,
or any other licensing requirements in the ARS.

73 de Larry, K3LT