That was not it. A dude from the past came to in a SF world.
Maybe.
You may well be right. Neither are high on my ‘re-read frequently’ list. A quick search through the text of Puppet Masters makes it clear that everyone carries, but it is accepted as a simple fact of life.
“Where in the deuce did you find that?” I asked-and well I might, for neither one of us had bothered to dress when we came out. The area was very deserted and often it did not seem worthwhile to take the trouble; it was my land.
So I was much surprised as I would have sworn that the only gun Mary had with her was the one she had carried in her sweet little hand.
“It was high up on my neck, under my hair,” she said demurely. “See?” I looked. I knew a phone could be hidden there but I had not thought of it for a gun-though of course I don’t use a lady-size weapon and I don’t wear my hair in long flame-colored curls.
Then I looked again, for she had a third gun shoved against my ribs. “Where did that one come from?” I asked.
She giggled. “Sheer misdirection; it’s been in plain sight all the time.” She would not tell me anything further and I never did figure it out. She should have clanked when she walked-but she did not. Oh my, no!
Heinlein’s problem was that he thought the “Good Guys” were pretty much of a like mind (his), and so his societies run pretty much in a way that just wouldn’t work in reality.
Sounds like For Us, the Living - Wikipedia
Every felony conviction would be a life sentence, since, once you get out of prison, you could not go anywhere without breaking the law.
Felons were excluded.
I dont see anything about guns. But I asked in the “Ask me” CS thread.
I read the linked article but it didn’t say anything about the plot. How did everyone owning guns work out in that fictional scenario?
Mixed; there were a couple of legitimate self-defense uses but also some irresponsible yahoos.
There doesn’t seem to be any increase in homicides in open carry states (and there are 31 of them now, with 10 sorta kinda. But no sharp decrease either.
There has been an increase in gun accidents and gun thefts however.
I mostly don’t remember; I haven’t seen it since it aired in '86. I only remember one scene were a couple of out-of-town thugs were getting ready to rob a grocery store, but then bailed on their plan when they noticed pretty much everyone in the store was packing.
If you’re bored and have 90 minutes to kill, it’s available on YouTube:
I’ll point out that besides all the other issues the result will be racist and sexist, since due to our bigoted law enforcement system a third of black men have at least one felony.
Also, you’ll likely end up having people using the bizarre defense for murder of “He was unarmed so I shot him.”
I’ve seen people genuinely push for everyone to carry a gun, so no, it’s not obviously sarcastic. Poe’s Law applies.
My wife and I are (regularly) appalled at news stories about very young children shooting themselves or their siblings with unattended handguns. How can a 3 YO child even hold, much less fire, a full-sized handgun? It’s obviously possible, since we see the stories. Still, hard for us to picture.
I can’t imagine the increase in these types of incidents if handguns are even more prevalent and readily accessible.
My Wife and I live pretty remote. The good news is any person thinking about intruding into a house around here would have to be crazy. People that live remote, generally can defend themselves.
The bad news is any person thinking about intruding into a house around here would have to be crazy.
I don’t CCW, but I’ve been a shooter since I was ~10 years old. My wife thought that perhaps she would like a gun. OK. I take her shooting. Single shot bolt action .22. We both decided that this is not a good idea. It takes a lot of training. At least for some folks. My wife being one of them.
I was in ‘town’(it’s real small) 15 or so years ago thinking about this. The liquor store owner also owned a gun store. I asked the liquor store owner if they had any Lady Smith 38’s (perhaps a good choice for my wife) the owner said no, but said, “I have one though”, pulled it out of her purse, emptied it and thrust it into my hands.
I’m now standing in a liquor store, at the cash register with a gun in my hands that the owner gave me.
Alarms go off in my head, this is a very, very bad idea. I drop the gun on the counter and back away.
Most handguns only weigh between 2-3 pounds and the trigger pull on a double action revolver is between 10-15 pounds. It’s quite easy for a toddler to pick it up and pull that trigger.
The only way I could accept requiring everyone to go around armed would be if all firearms (no exceptions) were required to have non-attached triggers. There is nothing is the second amendment that would enjoin such a legal requirement.
And computers come without keyboards or mice, and books and newspapers are blank…
They aren’t dangerous to yourself or others. Heck, if magically compelled to mandate everyone carry a gun, I’d also mandate that their barrels be filled with metal and their parts welded solid first to make them outright unusable.
What decade are you living in? The vast majority of computers sold today are notebooks, which do not lack those things. Not to mention phones.
To bring this discussion back down to earth, if everyone was required to carry a gun then everyone would have to be required to go through an intensive firearm safety course, including range time, and pass. Additionally they should be required to keep themselves proficient by going to a range at regular times and be graded by an instructor.
Said safety courses would also include a factual discussion of firearms, and arms in general, so as to dispel a lot of the nonsense spouted off in the discussion about firearms.
Personally, I think it’s a bad idea.