From: "JohnL", [EMAIL PROTECTED] The following is an article printed in the March 2001 edition of .Net magazine - which is printed by Future Publishing. The article is titled "Mugged by Ben Hur" I have cancelled my subscription, and a copy of my e-mail to the editor is attached. Their web site is at www.netmag.co.uk - and you can e-mail them at mailus.netmag.co.uk. Mugged by Ben Hur Our US columnist, Lawrence robinson, speaks out on guns and the NRA. The street suddenly exploded with excited, morbid crowds Hysterical women surged forward in a frenzy, screeching in almost sexual ecstasy, screeching and fighting the police and paramedics in their attempts to reach the body. One fat-breasted woman with stringy yellow hair broke through the tape and dipped her handkerchief in the blood, clutched it to her sweaty chest and ran off down the street... That's how John Dillinger died. While I like the idea of grief crazed women flocking to my corpse. It's certainly not how I Imagined I'd go. Not gunned down In the street by a dope fiend at 3 o'clock in the morning But then who said I was ever going get to choose? At the time of writing, it's 20 years to the day that John Lennon was so wastefully shot in New York. Lennon is dead, yet Charlton Heston, celebrity spokesperson for the National Rlfle Association (NRA), lives. Implicit proof that God Is no more. There are enough guns purchased In the US to fill the Grand Canyon, the Great lakes and the Mediterranean, and still have enough left over to dam the Amazon, start a small war with China and play a fun-packed game of hide the AK47 with every kindergarten class in the nation. And that rabid NRA gunslinger still complains that it's a breach of his Second Amendment right to bear arms if he has to wait 24 hours for a licence to install a rocket launcher on his patio. I have no proof, but I suspect he dines on the bodies of small children while jiggling on a rocking chair hewn from human bones. But, like I said, I have no proof. The NRA Web site (www.nra.org) is one of the scariest out there. The glitzy graphics and polished copy can't disguise the vile message Implicit in every pixel. It's very rare that I find anything complimentary to say about AOL, but it seems the company has drawn the wrath of the -~ NRA by firing (no pun intended) two employees at its Ogden, Utah centre for bringing rifles to work Apparently, AOL didn't feel comfortable having employees wandering round its property armed to the teeth like Colombian bandits. The NRA, on the other hand, advocates that every God-fearing American citizen should, never leave home without a semi-automatic weapon slung over his shoulder an Uzi on his belt and a couple of Magnum 45s stuffed down the front of his undershorts. "Look at the crime figures," they scream like acid-drenched rats. "America's a frigging dangerous place." No kidding Charlton. How about someone stuffs a shiny revolver in your ear and then you recite that sickening maxim 'Guns don't kill people, people kill people'. The gun helps, pal. Pressing an empty hand against your head cuts down on the chances that your brains are suddenly going walkabouts across the pavement. I was going to research some statistics on gun violence and street crime In the US, and ' perhaps even write objectively about the Second Amendment In order to lend this column the merest hint of journalistic credence. But then, everyone knows that guns and crime are a major problem in the US, and that the Second Amendment is as relevant to the Internet age as dunking witches and communicating via carrier pigeon. Even Charlton Heston. And besides, the NRA view on guns Is so sickening that it deserves a purely emotive response. I was held up at gun point a few nights ago in Venice Beach, California, walking from a party with a friend. A car pulled up in front of us and two guys, their faces covered with bandanas Jesse James-style, Jumped out and pointed silver handguns at us. They only wanted cash and became very angry when my friend produced just a single dollar bill. I suddenly thought about the German tourist who was recently shot and killed by muggers In a nearby, but busier and better lit, neighbourhood. I looked around. The street was empty It was foggy. If they decided to shoot us, it would be hours before anyone found our bodies. Thankfully, the $83 in my wallet was enough to appease them and the guns. went back Into their waistbands. That, It seems, Is the price of human life in a country where guns are as prevalent as cars. $42 a head. Maybe the NRA should mention that on its Web site. www.netmag.co.uk My reply as follows, The Editor - .Net Magazine Dear Sir Having been a reader and subscriber to your magazine for the last 3 years, I was absolutely stunned to see you publish and give credence to the article by Lawrence Robinson. What an absolute load of rubbish - hate filled anti-gun propaganda with not a shred of supportive fact. Is this the level your magazine has sunk to - that of the gutter press?? The men that mugged him were card carrying members of the NRA - and they both held guns legally on permit ??- I think not. We are fed up with this constant vilification of the shooting sports by association with the criminal use of firearms. It suits the public and yourselves to be objective enough when a handful of gold medals are brought back from the Olympics. Still, what are we to expect from a bunch of rabid paedophiles - sat in front of their monitors masturbating over child pornography (I can also follow the same line of logic as you.) It's no wonder you don't have time to check what you publish. I have cancelled my subscription forthwith. John Lynch Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________________________ T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less. Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose. http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01
