Steyn is a Canadian living in New Hampshire. His conclusion is
>Americans "gun" culture or protecting yourself and others may be
>more civilized than Europe.
>
>Go ahead, burglar, make my day
>By Mark Steyn
>(Filed: 06/01/2004)
>
>
>"Mark Steyn may prefer American hillbilly culture to that of the
>Swedish nanny state," wrote Ann Widung of Eastbourne on our
>Letters page last September. She was dissenting from my
>observations on the remarkable passivity of bystanders at the
>murder of Anna Lindh. "You may criticise the Swedish police,"
>continued Ms Widung, "for being inefficient in solving murders,
>but I prefer to live in a culture of peace and solidarity to one
>of fear and gung-ho mentality. Better a nanny-state baby than
>Mark Steyn's 'citizen'."
>
>Well, it's true I subscribe to a gung-ho mentality, but I don't
>live in a culture of fear. In fact, British friends visiting me
>in this corner of northern New England from their crime-ridden
>leafy shires always remark on my blithe unconcern about "home
>security". I don't have laser alarms, or window locks, or,
>indeed, a front-door key. Like most of my neighbours, I leave my
>home unlocked and, when I park the car, I leave the key in the
>ignition because then you always know where to find it.
>
>I'm able to do this because - and this is where the gung-ho bit
>comes in - I live in a state with very high rates of gun
>ownership. In other words, if you're some teen punk and you want
>to steal my $70 television set, they're likely to be picking bits
>of your skull out of my wainscoting. But the beauty of this
>system is that I'm highly unlikely ever to have to blow your head
>off. The fact that most homeowners are believed to be armed
>reduces crime, in my neighbourhood, to statistically
>insignificant levels. Hence, my laconic approach to home
>security.
>
>Now I understand Ms Widung prefers her "culture of peace and
>solidarity". I think this means that, when confronted by a
>ne'er-do-well, she'd hold hands and sing What the World Needs Now
>is Love, Sweet Love. I wouldn't personally recommend this,
>because, if he wasn't in a murderous rage beforehand, he almost
>certainly will be by about halfway through the middle-eight. But
>each to her own. Still, Ms Widung must surely be dismayed by the
>number of her fellow nanny-staters who voted in Today's poll for
>a "listeners' law" that would permit property owners "to use any
>means to defend their homes against intruders".
>
>A "listeners' law" is, of course, a pathetic gimmick. Judging
>from the reaction of Stephen Pound, MP, the modish proponents of
>"direct democracy" believe in letting the people's voice be heard
>only so long as it agrees with what their betters have already
>decided. So, having agreed to introduce the listeners' choice as
>a Bill in Parliament, Mr Pound was a bit shocked to find the
>winning proposal wasn't one of the nanny-state suggestions (a ban
>on smoking, compulsory organ donation, mandatory voting) or the
>snobby joke ones (a ban on Christmas decorations before
>December), but the right to defend your home.
>
>One can easily foresee New Labour, having run out of anything
>else to regulate, introducing the smoking/organs stuff halfway
>through a third term, and even the Christmas decorations ban is
>well within the ambition of the more zealous council planning
>enforcers.
>
>So, reasonably enough, Today listeners voted for the only
>proposal they knew for certain the governing elite will never go
>for. Why, the People's Champion himself, Stephen Pound, dismissed
>it as a "ludicrous, brutal, unworkable blood-stained piece of
>legislation. I can't remember who it was who said, `The people
>have spoken, the bastards'."
>
>That would be Dick Tuck, a long-ago California state senate
>candidate, in an unusually pithy concession speech. It's an
>amusing remark as applied to the electorate's rejection of
>oneself. It's not quite so funny when applied, by Mr Pound, to
>people impertinent enough to bring up a topic that you and the
>rest of the governing class have decided is beyond debate. As
>used by Mr Tuck, it reflects a rough'n'tumble vernacular
>politics; as used by Mr Pound, it comes out closer to "Let 'em
>eat cake".
>
>None the less, the professional opinion-formers came down on the
>side of Mr Pound. The Independent's Joan Smith recalled that,
>when she spied a burglar on her porch, she had no desire to "blow
>him away". Nor do I, if I'm honest.
>
>But I do want to have the right to make the judgment call. You
>can call 999, get the answering machine rerouting you to the
>24-Hour Action Hotline three counties away, leave a message, and
>wait for the Community Liaison Officer to get back next week if
>he's returned from his emotional trauma leave by then.
>
>But that's the point: you're there, the police aren't. And, even
>in jurisdictions whose constabularies aren't quite so
>monumentally useless as Britain's, a citizen in his own home
>should have the right to make his own assessment of the danger
>without being second-guessed by fellows who aren't on the scene.
>
>And, once you give the citizen that right, he hardly ever has to
>exercise it. Take Miss Smith's situation: she's at home, but the
>burglar still comes a-knocking. Thanks to burglar alarms, British
>criminals have figured out that it's easier to wait till you come
>home, ring the door bell, and punch you in the kisser.
>
>In my part of the world, that's virtually unknown. In America as
>a whole, 12.7 per cent of burglaries are of "occupied homes"; in
>Britain, it's 59 per cent. Installing a laser system may make
>your property more secure, but it makes you less so. As for Ann
>Widung's "culture of fear", it's not American therapists but
>English ones who've made a lucrative speciality out of treating
>children traumatised by such burglaries.
>
>As I wrote in September, to expect the state to protect you is to
>be a bystander in your own fate. It's interesting that, during
>the recent security scares, the terrorists seem to have been
>targeting BA and Air France. They seem to reckon they've a better
>chance of pulling something on a non-US airline. I hope that's
>not true, and that when the next shoebomber bends down to light
>his sock, he'll find himself sitting next to some gung-ho Brit
>rather than the "peace and solidarity" type.
>
>You can have a nanny state if you prefer. But not for long.
"Aren't cats Libertarian? They just want to be left alone. I think our dog is a Democrat, as he is always looking for a handout" Unknown Usnet Poster
Heh, heh, I'm pretty sure my dog is a liberal - he has no balls. Keyton