Roger Fuller (fullerfamily@sprintmail.com)
Sat, 4 Dec 1999 22:28:33 -0500
With Mr. Truitt's postings anyone reading them would
>believe that the average American is a gun-toting, wild-eyed,
seegar-chewing,
>Republican with a love of John Wayne and apple pie. (snip)
I can't speak for any other American but myself, but John Wayne was a draft
dodger in WW2. He sure wasn't a typical American of his day.
(What people prefer to believe from movies and the media is their own
affair.)
Of course, later, there were many Americans who dodged the draft during the
Vietnam
war, such as our president, but it didn't seem to hurt him or his pals.
What did Talleyrand say? "Treason is mostly a matter of dates." :^)
>I prefer to base my view of the average American
What's an average American? For that matter, what's an average Briton?
>on the people I have met
and
>know, both in re-enacting and out. Most would find his comments distasteful
>to say the least.
I might not agree with a given individual's views, but he or she has a right
to hold them.
>Yes, many Civil War re-enactors hold weapons, but they
are
>RESPONSIBLY holding weapons.
ACW reenactors hold the monopoly on safe firearms handling? Say what?? News
to me- and
to the guy who got a bullet in the neck at Gettysburg last year...and to the
gun crewman who lost his hand at a Shiloh event a couple of years ago, too.
>I'm glad I never met any WWII re-enactors out
>there.
I am not a WW2 reenactor, am not interested in becoming one,
but those Brit., Dutch, American and Canadian WW2
reenactors I have met in my time seemed pretty responsible people. I didn't
see any raving ideologues among them, just a love for history and truth. And
yes, I'm speaking of their actual nationalities. Some my family, however,
are German and are utterly horrified by the idea of anyone reenacting _any_
war of
_any_ era, no matter whether it's a Roman centurion or a Redcoat or the Red
Army.
There are some other relatives who are from Dresden, in the former East
Germany.
While they were visiting my wife's relatives in the UK, they came to the
timeline event at Kirby Hall and left very quickly. I haven't spoken to them
since, but they hate- and I do mean hate- the sight of both red stars and
swastikas, both of which were in evidence on some uniforms there.
You can't please everybody- but if you can take people's sensitivities into
account, that is half the job done. We should all strive to do that on this
forum, too.
>
>My interest in the Civil War encompasses an Infantry impression, therefore
I
>use an 1842 Springfield. I applaud our Firearms legislation; I see no
reason
>for anyone to be holding anything more than a single-shot weapon. Your
>re-enacting of a later period with semi-automatics and automatics may be a
>reason for your dislike of the laws.
"Don't disarm me, don't disarm thee; go and disarm that fellow there under
the tree.".....
Wait until your government sees fit to ban muzzle-loaders as well, and I
wonder what you might say then. Would you now feel totally safe because the
govt., in its infinite wisdom, has taken away yet another area of hitherto
legal activity merely because it can? Remember, the govt. knows what's best
for you... (What lovely German word comes to mind? "Schadenfreude?":^) )
First the UK govt. banned automatic weapons, then semi-auto
weapons, then large calibre pistols, then. small calibre pistols, (have I
left anything out?)
then...well, I'd start to get a bit worried, but maybe that's just me.
A propos of nothing, did the UK govt. ever compensate anybody for their
confiscated private property (firearms)?
In our case in the USA, a nutter recently got hold of a black-powder ACW
repro pistol (Uberti Navy) and took hostages in a Pennsylvania mental
hospital. He shot two people with it, before the horrid crime was
over. Within a day, a Pennsylvania Congressman, and Missouri Sen. Richard
Gephardt-
a periodic presidential contender- held a press conference on the steps of
Liberty Hall
in Philadelphia, (where the US Constitution was signed, by the way) and
called for the registration and eventual banning of all black-powder
firearms.
ALL black-powder firearms.....not just pistols, revolvers, but muskets,
too...guess
whom that new legislation would affect?
Yep- you got it- AWI, F&I, ECW, ACW, Fur Trade reenactors in the USA....and
forget about foreigners coming over to participate in those Gettysurg
reenactments, too.
And we still won't be safe, because there'll always be
sword-wielding, bomb-throwing, poison gas spewing criminals who laugh at
such laws, if they even pay any heed to them at all.
We reenactors may delude ourselves into believing that our respective
governments will look at us just as living historians, instead of knife-,
pike-, sword-, mace-, matchlock-, flintlock-, caplock-, pistol-, cannon-,
rifle-toting nuts, but
in my experience with the govts. of Canada, USA, and the UK, we all look the
same to them: potentially dangerous individuals, who are closely monitored.
We are tolerated only as long as we bring in lots of tax and tourist
dollars/pounds to
historical sites owned by governments and corporations.
>Fair enough, but if you want to use
>those types of weapons, move to another country.
Hmmm... this is analogous to what the right wing wackos in the USA told
those long-haired young people in the Vietnam era who didn't want to die in
a far-off war: "America- Love It As It Is, Or Go the Hell to the USSR...."
Someday your own statement might be told back to you by your govt.,
but, by then, you won't be able to do a thing about it.
It does not matter whether the boot on your neck is a left boot or a right
boot- it's still a boot....
>
>My understanding of American culture is based on the Antebellum period, the
>War Between the States itself and the Reconstruction period. Could be that
>yours is based on the invention of the hot dog and the St. Valentine's Day
>Massacre.
That is as imperfect a picture of the USA as would be an understanding of
the UK based solely on the British Empire, the English Civil War, the Raj,
the invention of
spotted dick, and the massacre at the Somme, July 1916.... there's a lot
more to British history and culture than just those examples.
>LOVE the 'arrogant' bit. Surgeon heal thyself.
I think the discussion is getting a wee bit too nationalistic and personal
on both sides.
For the record, I do support the US Constitution, not just
the 2nd Amendment, but all of the Amendments. (Too many people I know only
support the parts that directly favor themselves and their views....) I also
know that
the US Constitution is no longer law for me the minute I leave the US
border, and I do not shove my views down others' throats.
I am also a member of the NRA (horrors! run for your lives! :^) ), but I do
not wear cammo, nor do I shoot down children in the streets or schools, and
I do not vote for wacko politicians on either side of the fringe. I am not a
member of a cult or anti-govt. group.
Nobody I know personally in the NRA or any other such organisation I have
met is. I don't
agree with all of the NRA's positions, but who else in the USA speaks en
masse for law-abiding, responsible firearms owners? Not our
politicians...I'm sure not all of those people who
voted for Labour in the last election agree with everything Tony Blair or
Jack Straw is doing either- but they voted for them anyway. Does that mean
that British voters are evil, too?
Most people's perception of the NRA and gunowners is issued to them by
Hollywood and the news media, who have their own political axes to grind.
Beware of such superficial judgements. (Speaking of superficial judgements,
wasn't it somebody in the Guardian newspaper who referred to reenactors as
those "sad people who re-stage battles" or some-such, recently? Does that
sound fair? No? )
And, I don't demonise those persons who are not members of the NRA or
firearms owners...... (With some of the statements I've read on this forum,
no wonder I haven't mentioned my membership until now!) Subsitute the word
"black", "gay" or "Jews" for the acronym NRA or for the word "gun-owner" in
some of the statements I've read on this forum and some might come off as
more than a tad bigoted... I guess it's OK to hate, as long as the object of
hate is fashionable to hate.
Whatever happened to freedom of thought or speech? Is that permitted only
for those who are of like mind?
Europe is different from the USA, yet no nation has a monopoly on
insensitivity, callousness, ignorance or jingoism. I've seen and heard
moronic statements from both sides of the pond.
Let's take the high road on this forum, folks. It's called "Histrenact". If
you hate guns and gunowners, go to talk.politics.guns. If you want to
discuss
particular legislation on all sides of this earth that could have an
impact on historic reenactment, fine. Just do it in a civilised manner. If
some of you still want to categorise and pigeon-hole others by stereotyping,
well, you
show your own ignorance.
YMH&OS,
Roger Fuller
3/95th Foot (Rifles) (Nap/War of 1812)
HM 40th Foot, Light Coy (AWI)
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