<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4611.1300" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Dianne Hofstetter wrote;</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    "<FONT face="Times = New Roman" size=3>To many, if not most of us living in the US, it _IS_ new.  = It has not been <BR>in our consciousness as a nation to live in fear that our = flight is likely <BR>to be hijacked, or that we could be killed in our offices on = Tuesday <BR>morning.  We have felt relatively safe, as long as we have = avoided going <BR>down dark, unlit streets at night in bad areas of big = cities.  It may not <BR>have been realistic, as you point out, but that is they way = it has been in <BR>our country--until last week."</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    I kinda, somehow = know what you mean, Dianne. But I'm sorry, I don't really feel that way at all. I = refuse to live in fear; I go about my daily life the same way that I have for the = past ten years, not looking for trouble, and not finding any either. I don't go = into places like dark alleys, or bad parts of the city either, but if I had = to, I wouldn't worry too much. You see, I live in a State were the Government = has allowed me to carry a gun in my vehicle, and on my person. In the ten = years that I've had that right, I've never allowed anyone ( other than a law = enforcement officer who pulled me over for a minor infraction, and then only out of courtesy) to know that. That means that I've never abused the right, or = the responsibility that goes with it. The most realistic scenario for me = today, is that I may have to stop a "hate-crime" from being = committed.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Gee, I guess we're = not all a bunch of Neanderthals after all....</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sorry Gang, but that's just the way it = is in the real world.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Flame suit isn't = needed in this case; I'm right. Period.</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV></FONT> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kevin Ramsey<BR><A href="mailto:ramsey@extremezone.com">ramsey@extremezone.com</A></FONT><= /DIV></BODY></HTML>