I am also, I suppose, a Liberal. But I also own a WWII Infantryman's friend, The M=1 (Garand) 30=6 rifle. (the horrid "Semi=automatic-asaul;t rifle") It is not for burglars or anything like that, I hold a 5th degree black belt. (shotokan) But, that's not for burglars either. I live in a city where there is virtually no serious crime. No one locks their doors at night (unless they're from NYC) Our Polic Department is peopled by the most even tmepered bunch of people you' d ever meet. You have to really work hard to get arrested. We have more cops than we need, year round, because our main industry is tourism. They have from Labor day to the next Memorial day to save up their "Cool" because they work their asses off in the summer time

I DO NOT BELONG TO THE NRA, ALTHOUGH I USED TO. I cancelled my membership when it became apparent that they were just another extreme right arm of the Republican Party. Their agenda is, not to convince lawmakers of the folly of restrictive gun legislation, but it is to elect Republicans to office. Their are some very convincing arguments again gun legislation, mostly the fact that breaking the law is what criminals do best, and they will be armed while the rest of the population is disarmed.
Insdtead of spending some money bringing reasonable argumentsw to the attention of lawmakers, they worked their little devious asses off getting Bush (who it turns out isn't such a boogeyman, after all ) elected as president.

What do I do with my M-1? Every now and then when I get really fed up with $19,99 price tags and "buy one get one free", but wait, that's not all". etc etc etc, I take my M=1 out to the Tiverton Rod and Gun Club's rifle range, load up the old M-1 and shoot holes in pieces of paper with circles drawn on them.

What about rhe Karate? I teach "bad-assed" kids in the Providence Rhode Island Public Schools how to kill with empty hands, and, like magic they quit being bad asses. Their grades go up, they think a lot more of themselves, they quit mouthing off to their teachers, they form strong friendships that would ,previously, have been virtually impossible. Like between hispanic and black teen agers. What my master, Linc Martin, who is big black and mean looking (and once was a mean s.o.b.) and has a 6th degree in shotokan, 7th degree in Kempo and black belts in Aikido, Judo, Jiu Jitsu and Kung-Fu, and I are doing in Providence is the one thing I've done with my life that I am proudest of.
Our data is available to any educator who wants it. THE RESULTS OF KARATE TRAINING ON BAD PEOPLE NEVER MAKES THEM WORSE. NEVER. IT ALWAYS HAS A POSITIVE EFFECT. GO FIGURE.

Sincerely
Jody Gibson