Re: Kiddie exercises his right to bear arms

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003, cor wrote:
> Charleton Heston will arrive promptly to
> rally support for the NRA in WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah.
>
> He did it after a six year old boy shot a classmate in
> Flint, Michigan
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/662631.stm
>
> and he did it too when two teenagers went on the rampage at
> the Columbine High School in Denver, Colorado, killing
> 12 of their fellow students and a teacher before taking
> their own lives.

This account of Mr. Heston's activities is wrong on both counts.

Anti-gun radicals are not bothered with facts.  Their minds are so filled
with hate and anger that no amount of rebuttal will change them.  They
believe trashy propaganda flicks such as "Bowling for Columbine" with all
the fervor of anti-Semities who believed "Jud Suess" 60 years ago.

But what about the dear liberals which support the anti-gun cause?

Liberals lined up to see Bowling for Columbine just like "good Germans"
lined up for Jud Suess.  The question is if they believe it the way the
"good Germans" believed Jud Suess.

Liberals claim that they don't believe propaganda, and that they carefully
research the facts for themselves.  Here is the opportunity for liberals
to shine and show that they are indeed the defenders of truth over
propaganda.

Let's see liberals debunk these slanders against Mr. Heston, in the name
of promoting truth over propaganda.  The facts are out there and are easy
to find.

I have little fear that liberals will rise to the occasion.  None the
less, let's give them a chance to show that they are better than what we
think they are.

Here are some questions to start their inquiry:

1) When did the shooting in Flint occur?

2) When did the rally in Flint occur?  What was going on at the time?

3) What was the NRA doing in Denver?

4) What was the city of Denver's role in arranging for the NRA to be
there?

5) Why was the NRA in Denver so soon after the shootings at Columbine High
School in Littleton?

6) When was the NRA's appearance in Denver scheduled?

7) What did the NRA and Mr. Heston do as a result of what happened at
Columbine?

8) Did Mr. Heston raise a musket and deliver the familiar "from my cold
dead hands" at Denver?

**************************************************************************

[Answer the previous questions before reading the final two questions,
since it contains spoilers for the early questions.]

9) If the NRA should not hold a political rally in Flint during the normal
campaign season, because of something that happened eight months earlier,
does this mean that other groups should also be muzzled?  Is the First
Amendment a dead article?

10) In a gesture of mourning for the victims of Columbine the NRA
cancelled all optional activities at the annual meeting in Denver, but
still conducted the business meeting and annual elections.  The NRA is a
congressionally-chartered non-profit corporation, with by-laws that
require annual elections (not to mention laws that impose requirements
upon such entities).  What would have happened if the board and officers
of the NRA had attempted to cancel the business meeting and elections?

-- Mark --

http://staff.washington.edu/mrc
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.