Charlton Heston dead

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Flowers and peace signs would have worked, yes. Not actual flowerd or actual peace-signs mind you, but the simple desire for peace. No one during the Rwandan Genocide had that desire, and that's why history will remember it for what it was.

And you wonder why Canada wouldn't go to Iraq?

When the concept of the "Right to Bear Arms" was formulated, assault weapons, which serve no other purpose than to inflict speedy, massive damage, and probably death, did not exist.

With my clean record, I can walk into a store in another state today and buy a Glock without any problem at all. But how can the seller of the gun be certain that I am not the next lunatic about to snap and mow down everyone in sight? How can anyone presume to know that I am skilled enough to point the thing at the random mugger that may scare me into pulling it out, and not hit the people standing nearby?

The bigger question is, why should someone like me even need a Glock? To kill rattlesnakes, maybe?

There has to be an intelligent balance between having access to basic weapons to protect one's home and family, and having gun ownership completely unregulated - there ARE grey areas.

The problem with this issue is that it has become so all-or-nothing; the NRA is consistent in its position that there be no moderation whatsoever, and that no limitation be placed on the purchase or use of any type of gun. Heston, even before his illness, never showed any inclination to even consider sensible regulation in any form.

The guy can rest in peace, but the cause to which he was so devoted needs to be kicked around a little bit.

Hear, hear!

Thank you, slowmutant
Your comments on guns are well put!

I watched Bowling for Columbine. Even Michael Moore hit on that Canada has more guns per capita than the US but still has only a fraction of the gun related homicides. Guns aren't necessarily the problem.

Our right to bear arms really isn't any other countries' business.

Not the problem? Guns are sure as hell not the solution.

It's the culture differences between the US and Canada that make the difference, I think. Up here, there isn't that kind of major firearm fetish. Canadian films rarely feature guns. Ditto for Canadian TV. (Canadian film and TV are both sh*t, but that's a different story.) Given the phallic shape of the gun and it's raw destructive power, sex & death could not be closer in the subconscious mind.

If your brother is legal to buy the gun of his choice,I don't care if he does so. Every point that I made about the City of New York disarming their citizens, while giving free run of the City to various strains of Organized and street criminals through rampant Police and Political corruption is still correct. Are you going to ignore that? Or the fact that New Yorks laws have only disarmed the law abiding people.

a) I only mentioned a Glock as an example. I think Glocks are pretty amazing, as are many 9mm semi-automatics. I actually am interested in guns. However, I would rather people not be able to lay their hands on them so easily, and without accountability.

b) I also mentioned that I have a problem with the BANNING of guns in NYC, because it created more problems than it could ever have 'cured', so I'm not sure why you think I hold my state's laws up as a model, simply because I live here.

c) Nevada's gun laws are complex, and I'm flattered that you are interested in my opinion , but which part of it are you for or against? Do you, across-the-board, support their gun laws, or are you against them?

d) I am not interested in selling gun theory, or even bushels of clams, to Sarah Brady.

My point remains, I would like to see the NRA drop some of its noisy sloganeering and become a group that is more capable of having reasonable discussions on how to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals. Pretty simple, huh?

Pertinent to this thread, Heston has always come across as a menacing and narrow-minded zealot, which has not made the NRA look great to a large number of people; to others, you among them, I imagine, he is (oops, was ) a hero.

You really should not let my opinions on gun safety bother you so much - they matter not a whit. You are going to keep believing what you like, and I will continue believing what I think is right.

The reason that the NRA (past member) has adopted such an all or nothing attitude has more to do with the way they are attacked and demonized by groups opposed to them. If you want to see unreasonableness, go check out the Brady Campaign or Handgun Control. To them, anything with a semi-automatic action or removable clip is an "assault weapon". Getting on the NRA for not giving an inch is like getting on the Israelis for being paranoid. When the stated goal of your enemies is your complete and utter destruction (or the destruction of your way of life), not giving an inch seems a lot more reasonable. Quite frankly, guns seem to bring out the unreasonableness in people on both sides of the debate. Personally, I do tend to base a lot of my voting on the gun issue, because I view it as easier to teach some Neanderthal the need for social services, than to educate an anti-gun zealot on why they are wrong.