Similarities between cigarettes and guns.

[zenmetsu 17]

I find the similarities between cigarettes and guns to be rather intriguing. A friend of mine who is a smoker and who has no interest in guns, recently criticized me for my willingness to open-carry at a political gathering, and this got me thinking.

 

150 years ago, people smoked all the time, oblivious to the harm that cigarettes actually caused to the smokers and those around them. 150 years ago, open carry was much more common as well. Crime rates were markedly lower than they are today because, I feel, people were happier in their lives and had not yet turned to crime in an attempt to make personal gains in society. Guns were not seen as merely tools of the criminal.

 

Since the truth of cigarettes has become common knowledge, people have started smoking less. As a result, smokers became a minority and people started to protest smoking in public due to the hazards of second-hand smoke inhalation. Laws were passed in many cities and states which banned smoking in public.

 

Likewise, open carry has decreased over the years to the point that when it is observed, the gun-carrying citizen is viewed in a sinister light. The media thus focuses upon the issue and thus attracts the public eye towards this "menace". Those who have never owned guns and have no interest in them will easily hop on the bandwagon and try to support banning of public open-carry.

 

Gun-toting non-smokers can have a similar view of smoking... they have no interest in smoking and see no value in it, so they may support such measures to keep public smoking to a minimum.

 

Fact is, in states where public smoking is banned, a smoker can sit in a crowd of people and carry a cigarette openly as long as he does not light up. Likewise, a person can carry a gun in public as long as he does not start shooting. The problem is that the media is making guns out to be tools of the criminal and nothing more. As this view is circulated and it gains momentum, the likelihood of open-carry becoming illegal is increased.

 

Once open-carry is made illegal, the public will have even less exposure to guns, likely only hearing about them or seeing them in the news reports covering armed-crime. This, in turn, sets the stage for a revocation of our second amendment rights with less public involvement to defend the right to bear arms.

 

Perhaps this argument can be presented to those who oppose guns and open-carry but are smokers. They are free to carry cigarettes if they do no smoke them in public. No reason to treat guns differently. If they want to ban open-carry of guns, then the open-carry of tobacco should also be illegal. God forbid that my kids see someone holding a cigarette and get the evil impulse to smoke!

[thehopping1 105]

Hmmm, interesting point. I smoke and carry guns. On one hand I do agree that cigarettes are a horrible habit and see how many don't want to be near it. On the other hand, guns DO NOT hurt people by simply being near them so I hope the public is not stupid enough to try to outlaw open carrying, it's just not the same.

 

On another note, the smoking laws are kind of ridiculous. I understand that people don't want to be near it, and I can't stand it when I'm eating, but I think the government should not have a say in any establishment's rules for smoking. I could see them making it so the establishment must have a separate ventilation system if they want smoking and nonsmoking sections, but the business should have the right to make it a smoking only building as well as a nonsmoking only building.

 

Either way it is up to the parents to make sure their kids are not smoking and shooting people, I think that gets over looked far too often these days.

[zenmetsu 17]

Hmmm, interesting point. I smoke and carry guns. On one hand I do agree that cigarettes are a horrible habit and see how many don't want to be near it. On the other hand, guns DO NOT hurt people by simply being near them so I hope the public is not stupid enough to try to outlaw open carrying, it's just not the same.

 

But cigarettes are harmless to those nearby until they are lit, just as guns are harmless until fired. Hell, cigarette smokers can even wave the unlit cigarette around and nothing will happen. Us poor gun-toting folks cannot do that!

[thehopping1 105]

lol, this is true. However I think kids are more susceptible to trying cigarettes than guns. Mostly because they are a lot cheaper and easier to come by, again depending on the parents. I was kinda screwed on both accounts because my dad gave me cigarettes as allowance when I was a teenager and taught me about guns when I was just a little guy. I think I got my first good BB gun when I was 10 or so and use to shoot the hell out of it.

[zenmetsu 17]

yeah, i got to shoot my dad's shotgun when I was in the 2nd grade... but i never got into cigs. I think most males are attracted to weapons at an early age, perhaps it is instinct as we are a hunting species.

 

The problem is that those who have never had a firearm in their youth were usually prohibited from doing so by their parents. As a result, the kid will either grow up to become a gun-nut due to years of pent-up desire... or they will become blind opponents to firearms because they trust their parents' judgement. The very same happens with cigarettes, but in this case there is no instinctive desire to smoke; it is merely peer pressure that is met later in life.

[Bvamp 604]

without any quotes, for specifics, I have had a gun in hand since I was a small child, and grew up around them, as if they were tools.

 

to me, a firearm is as plain as a hammer....

[Nailbomb 10,221]

without any quotes, for specifics, I have had a gun in hand since I was a small child, and grew up around them, as if they were tools.

 

to me, a firearm is as plain as a hammer....

Guns ARE tools... just as a hammer can be used to smash a skull, it can build a house. A gun can kill with incredible ease, and put meat on your table. Its final use is made in the mind of the user.

[Ryann 8]

without any quotes, for specifics, I have had a gun in hand since I was a small child, and grew up around them, as if they were tools.

 

to me, a firearm is as plain as a hammer....

Guns ARE tools... just as a hammer can be used to smash a skull, it can build a house. A gun can kill with incredible ease, and put meat on your table. Its final use is made in the mind of the user.

 

That's an interesting point. Never thought of it like that before, makes perfect sense to me...

[Reverendfranz 160]

i tend to use the power drill analogy, as in the hands of a child who isnt properly instructed, a drill can be just as likely to put a hole in someone as is a firearm, and they sorta have the same intuitive controls, but in the hands of someone who is safe, they can be excellent and invaluable tools, and you never hear ABC news having hour long specials about parents asking if there are any power drills in the house, or if they are locked up, before dropping your kids off for a playdate.

 

Its Hysterical, pure and simple.

 

As for smoking, once the government tells you what you can do to or for yourself, what else do you have, as far as personal liberty?

 

All things within the state, nothing outside the state.

[Paulyski 2,227]

I have noticed that people seem to have an intrinsic desire to feel as if their better than other people.

 

They will point out any & all perceived shortcomings in others to attempt to reinforce this notion.

 

Soon after will come a word that is used by the majority to catagorize the minority (the words usually end in "er"), this word will be used repeatedly & eventually have a dehumanizing effect. Other weak individules will come along & jump on the bandwagon in an effort to make themselves feel like part of the superior group.

The "inferior" group is then open to persecution from the "superior" group. The phenomenon of "Group-Think" often takes over at this point & we persecute each other seemingly out of boredom, or greed, depending on ones motivation.

 

Humans are a scared bunch. We do not seem to feel safe unless we are on the attack.

 

This simultaneous division & conglomeration of multiple group-think mentalities serve to keep the people divided, thus more easily controlled by a central government.

 

The solution;

Jesus said it best.

PULL THE LOG OUT OF YOUR OWN EYE, BEFORE POINTING OUT THE SPECK IN YOUR BROTHERS EYE.