More Editorial Difficulties...
Here, an enthusiastic and very polite contributor from the US sent me in a lighthearted piece on the good-natured frenzy, which is the start of hunting season. He painted a picture of cheery, family trips into the woods. People took their holidays to take advantage of the season; they drank beers and had something to talk about with their neighbors. They painted their camouflage designs on their cars, faces, children.
It was an amusingly jolly tale. We were even assured that the animals had long since left, so there was no point, or harm, in all this activity.
I couldn't print it.
The notion of using a gun as a central part of your community[base ']s leisure time isn[base ']t just alien here in Ireland (and in most of the EU) but is anathema. We[base ']ve seen the kind of lasting problems that occur when you get a community used to thinking of guns as a normal part of everyday life. But at least they weren[base ']t seen as fun things to do.
So I wrote back to the contributor and he took it well, given that I[base ']d said that guns and the death penalty both were the main pieces of evidence pointed to n Europe by people who wanted you to believe that all Americans are bloodthirsty savages.
As I say, he took it well. And he sent me a different piece on moonshine.
In my defense, I did say I said that if he wanted to address the gun question directly, I[base ']d have an open mind about running it. And he said he might.
I just couldn't run a piece that took guns being good for granted.
5:45:27 PM 
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