Summary
IN March, 1996, I was one of those who had a lot to say in print about guns and their place in the world. It came easily enough. Like Derrick Bird, Thomas Hamilton was impossible to explain, but his weapons, their obscene purposes, their persistent allure, seemed to me to say everything about a species forever in need of protection from itself.
That part was, still is, simple. Guns exist to kill, I wrote. Death is the only relevant function of their design and fundamental, if such is your taste, to their pathetic aesthetic. It seemed to me then, as now, that almost every excuse for the private ownership of firearms was puerile. With so many dead children in Dunblane I was in no mood - few were - to hear about collectors, or law-abiding sportsmen, or "self-defence".See the full content of this document
Extract
The Persistent Allure of Guns
It was not a controversial view. The wrenching shock that ran through Scotland, the feeling that caused people to hold their children close, that made the TV hypnotic and the world dark, created a wholly rational reaction. Precisely because Dunblane was without precedent, a danger never guessed, risk had to be extingu...
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