-Caveat Lector- ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Claremont Institute Precepts: Out of Proportion Date sent: Mon, 24 May 1999 16:20:28 -0700 The Claremont Institute--PRECEPTS | | May 24, 1999 Visit <http://www.claremont.org> | | No. 167 In a strange week, the little is made large, and the large minimized. The United States Senate has decided to put a stop to gunfire in schools. They have done this by requiring that child locks be provided when new weapons of certain types are sold, and that background checks of those purchasing guns in some situations be made. Now, in America there are and have been for a long time more guns than there are people. After this law is passed, this will still be the case. The existence of many guns in our country is old, but this rash of the shootings in schools is new. Simple common sense would suggest that we look elsewhere for the cause. Many who object to these new controls on guns say that a better method would be to regulate by some means what is shown in movies. Violent movies--also common for a long time--apparently are thought to be the cause of this rash of shootings in schools. Both these proposals have in common that they pay little attention to the local and particular facts either in Colorado or Georgia where the shootings have happened. They also have in common that they propose to regulate the vast majority of the people who had nothing to do with either event and are never going to shoot anyone for any reason-- unless it be to defend themselves or other innocent parties. They also have in common that they touch upon, perhaps infringe upon, the first and second articles of the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is important. Look for a moment at the facts in Colorado. There, two young boys were permitted for a significant part of their upbringing to live in a culture of torture and death. They were permitted to run a little factory in their homes to manufacture murderous weapons (which cannot be banned, unless we ban pipes and fertilizer and ammonia). They were permitted to keep weapons in their bedrooms without comment from their parents. The principal of the school, who is full of praise for himself and his colleagues for their handling of the situation, did not notice that these two young men were threatening their fellow students with death and manifesting strange behavior constantly. The local police did not respond to multiple warnings from neighbors that these young men were dangerous. We have some correspondence in our office from a parent there in Littleton, a parent who had children in the school on that day. He is astonished at how the school authorities preen themselves on their fine work. These local facts in Colorado suggest where the real problems lie. Children cannot be raised by national bureaucracies. They must be raised by people who know their names. The best people to do this are their parents. After that, the best are their teachers, and after them, the principal, and after him, the local authorities. Most of the people who occupied these particular stations in Littleton are now being celebrated as heroes. Of course they have suffered, and so sympathy is due to them. On the other hand, without doubt they are the people nearest the problem. Is it wrong to say that a father, a grown man, should have exercised his power to forbid an adolescent to make and keep weapons and to threaten his schoolmates with death? Even if we forget for the moment the purposes of the Constitution and the limits it places upon government action, we can still see that the solutions we are adopting are no solutions at all. If we want to prevent our country from becoming a barbarous place where no one is safe--and where everyone is unarmed--we must work very hard to restore the authority and responsibility of the family. Nothing short of this will help, not even a little, and some of the measures being enacted into law will actually make the situation worse. Bad government imposes a terrible cost. Right now in America there is no party willing to address the real problems before us. The leader of the day has abused his overwhelming power in relation to a young girl barely of age. He is no model for a situation like this. Those in supposed opposition to him reverse themselves literally from day-to-day in fear of opinion polls. If these people will not do the duties they have assumed under the Constitution, we should get new ones. Happily, there is an election next year. We must find the courage to look at the facts as they are. Claremont Institute Senior Fellow Edward J. Erler has written a fine op-ed, "A Modest Proposal on Gun Control," which brings a little sanity and clear thinking to the question that grips the nation. I invite you to read it on the Claremont Institute's website at <http://www.claremont.org/publications/erler1.cfm>, or go to our home page at <http://www.claremont.org>. Sincerely, Larry P. Arnn President, The Claremont Institute ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1999 The Claremont Institute To subscribe to Precepts, go to: http://www.claremont.org/subscrib.cfm , or e-mail us at info@clare mont.org . To be removed from this list, go to : http://www.claremont.org/remove_public.cfm , or e-mail us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . For general correspondence or additional information about the Claremont Institute, e-mail : info@c laremont.org , or visit our website at : http://www.claremont.org . Changing your e-mail address? Please let us know at : [EMAIL PROTECTED] . For press inquiries, contact Nazalee Topalian at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or (909) 621-6825. The mission of the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy is to restore the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life. The Claremont Institute | 250 West First Street | Suite 330 | Claremont, CA 91711 | Phone (909) 621-6825 | Fax (909) 626-8724 A<>E<>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Universal Declaration of Human Rights + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
