[458] in libertarians
Your first trip to a firing range...
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Amy Pritchett)
Tue Dec 6 15:18:16 1994
Date: Tue, 06 Dec 94 16:17:06 +0200
From: amyruth@MIT.EDU (Amy Pritchett)
To: vimrich@MIT.EDU
Cc: libertarians@MIT.EDU
I usually am a passive observer to the libertarians mailing list,
often because I agree with the intent but don't have that much time!
But I thought your letter about the trip to the firing range was
wonderful, and inciteful (freudian slip). W/ your permission I would
like to forward it to my dad (paper only, he's not computer literate).
He's a big person in the Canadian Association of Practical Shooters,
which runs a sport called IPSC (International Practical Shooters C.).
This sport is the rapid-fire target shooting with shoot & no-shoot
targets, using different hands, running through mazes while doing
it, etc. Internationally, this sport is only competitive at the
'Major' Level which requires the bullets to have a minimum energy
so that part of the skill is handling a gun with appreciable recoil.
Since bullets tumble near the speed of sound, accurate shooting in
the Majors requires mass-y bullets, like from a Colt 45, 9mm, etc.
In Canada, the laws about owning such guns were stringent but most
everybody thought they were fair. A permit to own handguns in general,
a permit to own the particular handgun, and a permit to carry that
handgun in the city/province/neighbouring provinces. They had to
be carried in a locked case disassembled, stored in a safe, and could
only be fired at a legal firing range. The IPSC shooters felt these
were good precautions regardless of the law, against both theft and
their eight-year old getting into them... When my dad competed
at the worlds in Britain he felt their reg.s were about the same.
Then Canada started examining stricter gun control laws. He was
interviewed by the House committee on gun control -- he went in prepared
for an intelligent discussion and soon found himself demonstrating his
quick draw.
Canadian laws are now far stricter than U.S. laws, including
forced registration of all weapons (new term, can't say firearms)
including my 22 rifle I got when I was 14. The prairie farmers
aren't to pleased -- dusty 22's behind the door left over from
adolescence are supposed to be registered at ~ $60Cdn each. IPSC,
as a sport, is doomed -- it seems every year more of their sport
guns are banned.
I am certain he will love your article - as do I. An emphasis on
individuals seeing both sides of the story will also promote less
rhetoric & more discussion.
-Amy Pritchett
