Robert Heinlein said this in his science fiction novel Beyond This Horizon. As much as I enjoyed Heinlein’s work, this is not just SF, it is fantasy.
The fuller quote is this: “An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”
First of all, it presumes a degree of foresight rather than acting on impulse or emotion, as is often the case. Even highly trained police officers do a poor job in a highly emotional active shooter situation – just better than civilians. And what if you’re drunk?
Second, were this true, the death penalty would be a deterrent. It never has been. (Even Heinlein dodged this in Starship Troopers, where his naive protagonist concluded that at least an executed killer wouldn’t kill again. That’s a cop-out that directly contradicts his assertion above.)
Third, the history of the US says otherwise. Even in places like Tombstone, Arizona (the home of the OK Corral), people were required to check their guns before coming into town. Look it up.
Fourth, what is to stop someone from deciding that they should just shoot someone from behind so they can’t shoot back? Perfectly logical, wouldn’t you say?
Fifth, what if they don’t care if they survive? How many “murder-suicides” have you seen? US estimates between 1000-1500 deaths per year fall in to this category. A person willing to die for their principles or who commits “suicide by cop” is hard to stop!
Finally, does our society look any more polite to you? It is commonly accepted that we have lost “civility” in our discussions. But gun sales are just fine – the US has the most civilian guns per capita of any nation in the world (if you exclude those required for military service, e.g., in Switzerland). Why, then, is the US the worst IN THE WORLD for gun deaths? More mass murders, more suicides, more homicides, by orders of magnitude more than other nations.
Robert Heinlein said this in his science fiction novel Beyond This Horizon. As much as I enjoyed Heinlein’s work, this is not just SF, it is fantasy.
The fuller quote is this: “An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”
First of all, it presumes a degree of foresight rather than acting on impulse or emotion, as is often the case. Even highly trained police officers do a poor job in a highly emotional active shooter situation – just better than civilians. And what if you’re drunk?
Second, were this true, the death penalty would be a deterrent. It never has been. (Even Heinlein dodged this in Starship Troopers, where his naive protagonist concluded that at least an executed killer wouldn’t kill again. That’s a cop-out that directly contradicts his assertion above.)
Third, the history of the US says otherwise. Even in places like Tombstone, Arizona (the home of the OK Corral), people were required to check their guns before coming into town. Look it up.
Fourth, what is to stop someone from deciding that they should just shoot someone from behind so they can’t shoot back? Perfectly logical, wouldn’t you say?
Fifth, what if they don’t care if they survive? How many “murder-suicides” have you seen? US estimates between 1000-1500 deaths per year fall in to this category. A person willing to die for their principles or who commits “suicide by cop” is hard to stop!
Finally, does our society look any more polite to you? It is commonly accepted that we have lost “civility” in our discussions. But gun sales are just fine – the US has the most civilian guns per capita of any nation in the world (if you exclude those required for military service, e.g., in Switzerland). Why, then, is the US the worst IN THE WORLD for gun deaths? More mass murders, more suicides, more homicides, by orders of magnitude more than other nations.
Sorry, Heinlein, you’re dead wrong on this one.