http://www.gunlaws.com/DuquesneSpeech.htm
For some reason, Alan Korwin of gunlaws.com was invited to be the token gunnie in a room full of anti-rights sycophants.
One might imagine oneself in that situation, trading barbs and devolving into a screaming match. After all, he was in a roomful of antis who came to rejoice with anti-rights Supermen (Tom Mauser, Jim Brady, and statistician David Hemenway of Harvard who, for some reason, doesn't do demographics because he apparently doesn't want to find out much about who he says is doin' the killin'.)
He followed featured speaker Tom Mauser whose son was killed many years ago and has become a staple of these gatherings (Some years ago, I exchanged some pleasant -- on my end -- e-mails with Mr. Mauser. He didn't like me much)...
While addressing the National Symposium on Handgun Violence at Duquesne University, Tom Mauser displays the shoes of his son, Daniel, who was killed at Columbine High School. Mr. Hauser wears the shoes on special occasions.
Some Korwin snippets (about his tactics, not necessarily the most potent phrases):
Lots more.
Rick
For some reason, Alan Korwin of gunlaws.com was invited to be the token gunnie in a room full of anti-rights sycophants.
One might imagine oneself in that situation, trading barbs and devolving into a screaming match. After all, he was in a roomful of antis who came to rejoice with anti-rights Supermen (Tom Mauser, Jim Brady, and statistician David Hemenway of Harvard who, for some reason, doesn't do demographics because he apparently doesn't want to find out much about who he says is doin' the killin'.)
He followed featured speaker Tom Mauser whose son was killed many years ago and has become a staple of these gatherings (Some years ago, I exchanged some pleasant -- on my end -- e-mails with Mr. Mauser. He didn't like me much)...
While addressing the National Symposium on Handgun Violence at Duquesne University, Tom Mauser displays the shoes of his son, Daniel, who was killed at Columbine High School. Mr. Hauser wears the shoes on special occasions.
Some Korwin snippets (about his tactics, not necessarily the most potent phrases):
I’ve been studying persuasion skills for a long while now, and here was an acid test. Was it possible to address an audience like this and not get booed off stage? Could I manage civil discourse with the participants at the luncheon beforehand, maintain composure through the staging, and end up sociable at the afterglow dinner at a fine restaurant?
It’s my belief that the words exist in the universe to convince anyone of anything true, regardless of their predispositions. The trick is in finding those words, in the moment, and delivering them in a way that works, with the proper aplomb. You may not always find the words, but the words are always there. Think of it this way. What would Jesus say. The words are there. Could I find enough of them?
Their emotions had been played upon all afternoon, so I continued the trend. I told of a woman awakened to find a knife-wielding, ski-masked intruder in her home, and how she had to shoot him while crouched behind her bed, after having called 911. She had to keep firing until the big guy finally collapsed. The police arrived only nine minutes later. You could hear a pin drop.
Would you deny this woman her right to live, by taking her gun away? Isn’t the message, “If it saves one life...”? Do you have the moral authority, or a sense of self righteousness that says she must die because you think guns are bad? I pressed on.
The audience was mine. I had achieved my primary goal. Show a roomful of fearful anti-rights activists that guns are good sometimes, and not get yelled at for it. Bring reason and insight to a crowd, steeped in ignorance and fear, that sorely needed it. I had found the words, and the demeanor, and made the most of it. The university had done good finding me.
We can’t get to that world because of what I call the Four Horseman of Human Havoc -- Angry, Hungry, Stupid and Wicked. Oh, we might be able to solve Hungry someday, but the other three? And that’s the rub. Until there is a fundamental change in human nature, the good guys need the guns to protect themselves from the bad guys. That’s why you have all those armed people in the room, right? No one disagreed. If guns suddenly disappeared, the good guys would have to invent them all over again. That’s because Guns Protect You.
Which leads to a counterintuitive truth. We’re safer now than we were then when there were no guns. The ability to effectively project force keeps us safer. You couldn’t ride the highways back then, now you can. For all the crime you hear about, things aren’t all that bad.
Those of you who just want guns to go away, you don’t want to take guns away from the police do you? Heads shake no. Of course you want the police armed... and that’s a very pro gun position. You instinctively understand the value of guns. You just want someone else to hold it for you. But Jeff Snyder, in his landmark book Nation of Cowards, suggests it is unethical, immoral and politically corrupt to entrust your right to and precious gift of life to someone else.
Also, if you want to cut the “gun deaths” in half, recognize that many if not most are actually “war deaths,” killings in the war on some drugs. The government wages this war, encouraging armed camps, and they shoot at each other and themselves. Declare an armistice and stop the killing. You’ll reach your goal faster than fighting the civil rights lobby that protects the Second Amendment.
Ask a politician when we can declare victory and stop, or just declare defeat and stop, and you’ll learn it’s a perpetual war, like Orwell warned us about. The analogy to alcohol prohibition couldn’t be clearer. While the ban is on, the killings continue. Stop the war, the killings go away, even though all the problems caused by the vegetable products continue.
Lots more.
Rick