Book Review: Making a Killing

The Rabbi

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This book, by Tom Diaz, who of course is a former member of the NRA and gun owner, purports to be an expose of the gun industry. Since I work in that industry I thought it would be fun to see what he says.
His first point is that even though the gun industry invokes patriotism, heritage etc etc the real reason they exist is to make money. Lots of it.
I guess this is different from people in the computer industry who are out to bring world peace, or the banking industry which wants to bring harmony to all men.
His next and consistent point is that a lot of transactions go unrecorded and unreported in a shadowy secondary market.
This is perfectly true. Once the gun leaves the stream of manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to customer there is (save in a few states) nothing that requires notification of anyone else.
I have learned (from being in home schooling) that there is a certain ethos that cannot stand the idea that large numbers of people are engaging in an activity that cannot be monitored (and regulated and taxed) by the gov't. I can't explain why but if it can't be quantified in some way, it must be evil. Some people just see things like that. I suspect this is a major divide in this country: people want everything to be known and accessible versus people who are comfortable letting others do their thing.
It suggests why some people will never be won over to the pro gun side. Our differences are fundamental and go way beyond guns.
I think it is good to read anti literature sometimes to see what kinds of points they are making and arguments they are using. If nothing else, it makes us sharpen ours a bit more.
 
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Every time there is a food scare, some raw vegetable is suspected of causing:........... well most anything. The people you are talking about start moaning that we can not even trace the lettuce back to the farm and person that picked it.
I am not sure why we want to trace guns, I suppose that somehow, someway, this will reduce crime. Just as knowing who picked the lettuce will eliminate diarrhea.
 
I suspect this is a major divide in this country: people want everything to be known and accessible versus people who are comfortable letting others do their thing.

Rabbi, your post is right on target. My view is this: the "state control" mentality that's being established here seems to include the socialist view that people are, mostly, "economic units"; our worth is gauged by how much we can pay into the system.

That explains why countries with socialized medicine withhold certain treatments from the elderly. A recent case in England: an elderly man was refused an operation to save the sight of one of his eyes, on the basis that his other eye was still OK. A mindless, impersonal tyranny.

Louis
 
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