- Nov 14, 2010
- 20,274
Over-generalization ...
Sure there are/were statistical 'reasons' but you summed up the REAL reason at the end. Joe Cowpoke's 'tool' also served as an equalizer against the criminal element. Remember ...
You know, the bitch of the thing is that our society IS like the Wild West, in one very important area:
Gun violence.
No, seriously.
If you look at who is committing gun murders in modern times, it is by and large "marginalized" (economically disadvantaged, poor, whatever) young men who are in criminal gangs.
And, if you do the research, guess who was committing all of those horrible murders and getting in gunfights in the Old West?
Yup. "Marginalized" young men who were in criminal gangs.
Joe Cowpoke and Jane Farmwife, though they had MUCH more ready access to guns than the average person does today, weren't out killing people with them. For Joe Cowpoke, his gun was a tool - you could put down an animal with one if needed, or defend yourself from human or animal if you had to (being dragged by the stirrup by a runaway horse was every cowboy's fear, for example). For Jane Farmwife, the lever action or shotgun that was kept in the house was great for killing that night's dinner, or for taking care of the rattlesnake in the back yard.
The people that were killing other people with guns were criminals, almost exclusively.
Just like today.
Strange, isn't it?
Sure there are/were statistical 'reasons' but you summed up the REAL reason at the end. Joe Cowpoke's 'tool' also served as an equalizer against the criminal element. Remember ...