Letters to Collie's Bestiary

If you would like to comment on my website or any of my papers, or give me your reply to the little informal gun-related survey I've got, I'll be happy to put your comments up! Please note I do not shorten the letters unless I've noted such within square brackets, and I do not spellcheck or otherwise alter them. Letters are posted in a mess -- they used to be chronological, but I got messed up -- sorry! Still, many MANY thanks to all you nice folks that took the time to write to me! ;-)

Click on the name of the article to go to that article. Click on the 'here' at the end of each title to go to the letters concerning that paper.

• Anti-Gun Propaganda and Controlling Violent Crime letters are here.
• The "Milwaukee By Night" letters, from the review in the TWH zine, are here.
• Letters concerning the issues I mention in my paper Techniques of Oppression: Anger, Bigotry, and Minorities are here.
• A letter concerning my Quotes pages is here.
• Letters concerning my website in general are here.

I have not sent out very many interesting letters, but for those of you that are curious, here are some of them.

Date: Sat, 01 Nov 1997 18:24:14 -0800 From: Jeff Chan (webmaster@rkba.org) Subject: Re: Your page on gun information Sorry for the lenghty delay. I've been swamped at work lately. I've added a link to your site from my FAQ: http://rkba.org/indiv.html Looks great! Jeff C.

From: melissa sloan I LIKED IT, IT WAS VERY INTERSETING. YOU ARE REALY GGOD TO THINK, AND KNOW WHAT GUNS ARE FOR, ME I KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT GUNS, I KNOW THAT YOU ONLY USE THEM ON ANIMALS, NOT PEOPLE. REALY INTERSETING THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR THOUGHTS ME MELISA

From: Charles Norris III Subject: Gun control article. Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 09:50:59 PST I read your paper and can only say this. PREACH ON BROTHER!! Next April my home state of Missouri FINALLY gets to vote on a concealed carry law. I pray it passes. After 12 years in hte Navy I know how it feels to have to depend on others. The nation depends on me and my shipmates to be there when "it" goes down. We, unlike some of the police departments in our great country, are here when called. I do not want to have to wait on any police, if I should ever need them. Keep up the good work. Wars are won one battle at a time. CHUCK NORRIS

From: Mark Adams Subject: Survey Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1998 23:40:16 -0600 Excellent web pages! I spent at least an hour reading your speech and rooting around. Very well written. In the "Anti-gun Obfuscates the Issues" section, I think you were looking for "AR-15" rather than "AK-47" for the weapon that is virtually identical to the Colt Sporter. The AK is of Russian design and manufactured worldwide, from China to Bulgaria to Egypt. The AR-15 is the "Colt Sporter" fully equipped with bayonet lug and the ugly flash suppresor. I opine that the AK-47 gets lots more bad press, mainly due to its availability and cheap price. Now, be advised that they equipped many hundreds of thousands of AK-47s with thumbhole stocks, which effectively eliminated the pistol grip. This weapon was also known as a "Sporter". I appreciate your candor and effort. You are absolutely correct when you say the anti crowd uses emotion. For this reason I take my anti or undecided friends shooting, if they will go. When they are done, they will usually toss the emotion and say, "hey, that was fun". We have to get them relating to firearms for what they are, machines with no conscience or soul. Only the operator can conjur malice towards men. As my grandfather says, "A hunk of iron". Thank you for your effort and your patriotism. Mark Adams.

From: Robert Eick Subject: Good report Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1998 08:26:54 -0800 Hey, what can I say. You have covered it all quite well. I really get mad at the TV reports about gun violence and the desciptions they give as to what kinds of weapons were used in a given story. It seems as though the only picture of a rifle they have/show is the AK47 type. Keep up the good work. Bob E.

Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 14:00:56 -0500 From: David Root Subject: Your Report page Hello A GREAT paper, way to go! David Root

From: Walter J. Hunkeler Subject: help Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 20:12:05 +0100 Hello over there, I'm writing you from Switzerland. We begin to have the same problems with anti gunner here to. Sice the wall falled down, everbody forget what socialism looks like. We are heading to a dictatorship here in Europe. (We have quite a habit to elect those kind of people here). I like your qutation of Adolf. "1935 will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future. --Adolf Hitler" In order to publish it here (We are a country with 4 official languages, among wich (Swiss)German), I would need the quotation in german language. Could you find it for me? Many thanks and good luck! Walter Unfortunately since receiving this email I have discovered the 'quote' was made up. More information on this can be found at the RKBA site, as well as more excellent (and verified!) quotes.

Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 01:07:22 -0800 From: John Rudin Subject: Gun Control Paper You have a great talent. Your paper is both visually and intellectually attractive... and I have a new bookmark! Footnote #20 seems very appropriate for the ex-citizens of Kosovo. Thanks for sharing your efforts. John Rudin

From: Leadwipe Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 02:23:33 EDT Subject: gun laws That is the most refreshing essay I have ever read concerning the "myth" we call gun control. I only wish the public at large would read your essay, and stop getting their information from biased newspapers. What was the feedback you received? Pro? Con? I would love to know. Pete and my reply... It's overwhelmingly pro, but I'm not surprised... from what I've heard the URL gets passed around through pro-gunners. I ask everyone that writes me the same things, incidentally: 1) if they could tell me where they found the URL (which is how I know it's being passed around by members of pro-gun beliefs), and 2) if they would be willing to allow me to reprint their letter on my responses webpage. May I? :-) If you want to really impress folks with a quick, short piece of information, BTW, I highly recommend Suter's writings on truth, and falsehood in the anti-gunners' propaganda. Most of the stuff in the bibliography is excellent, but that paper is the most concise collection of deliberate gun control misinformation and the actual truths that I've seen on this issue. Oh, and poor professor Lott's website is sadly informative also, about malicious media misinformation. Keep spreading the word... let's keep the truth out there. :-) --laughing collie Collie, Yes, of course you may reprint my letter. I found your website by looking under the topic "gun control" and randomly clicking on sights. Some of the selections though, were anti-gun. So, maybe its possible that their is a pro gun sentiment out there. The media would have you think otherwise. Good Luck, Peter and again... Thank you! Re the media... in my admittedly biased opinion, they rank only slightly higher than politics. Heh... yes, I chose the title to the paper deliberately... it lets me slip my brand of thinking into the pro-gun control web searches. Don't tell... :-) --laughing collie

Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 10:06:42 -0500 From: [Name deleted, as permission to reprint has not yet been received] Subject: your site at unilab.com Hi 'collie' Found your site when looking for a copy of the Rossi/Wright/Daly research. It looks like you don't have an electronic copy of it either. Even Peter Rossi doesn't, so I guess I have to buy the book. I'm a sort of libertarian, sort of economic conservative, sort of social liberal, and based on that schizophrenic background I'm forced to constantly rethink all my political positions due to internal conflicts. Needless to say the Littleton incident has left me in a quandary. I'm a strong believer in the constitution and believe the 2nd amendment is unambiguous, that does not make me strictly pro RTKABA, rather I believe that IF guns are to be restricted a constitutional amendment is required. ( I've never accepted the concept of 'balancing' the S. Court sometimes applies). That if is where most of my consternation lies. I personally don't like guns or own any, but most of the serious research I've found documents both the deterrent effect of legal weapons, and the difficult if not impossible task of eliminating illegal ones, particularly in an open society such as ours. So, I'm sort of reluctantly 'pro-gun'. Curious on what your opinions on gun registration would be. I believe the situation in Littleton reflects a lack of accountability. There are some things that children should not have unsupervised access to, i.e. guns, cars, explosives...... We have strict accountability for automobile ownership. A car is registered and the last legal owner is at least financially responsible damages down by the vehicle whether or not that person was operating or in control of the vehicle at the time the damage occurred. What are you views on a similar system for guns? i.e. if you buy a gun you are ultimately responsible for that guns use by you or anyone else until you legally transfer it. I know the NRA has its reservations in this regard, as a fear the govt. would use the registrations to round up and remove guns. While that may be a possibility, I'm comfortable enough that a free press reduces that likelihood of that occurring. On the other hand registration and strict liability might convince otherwise careless people to keep guns properly locked up and also to think twice before making a weapon available to a Klebold or Harris. I'd be interested in your thoughts on this and in particular research or papers that discuss this area in regards to efficacy, constitutional issues, and implementation. Also, might I suggest you change the background of your web page from the revolver. If you are trying to reach people of indeterminate political orientations on this subject, or anti gun inclinations, the emotional impact of the background is a definite barrier. My reply can be found elsewhere on my site...

From: TPeter Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 15:26:38 EDT Subject: I just read you speach - looked through references Just thought I would express my gratitude for the work you have done. It gives me a lot to think about. I will be comunicating with you again and share some of my experiences, which may or may not be helpful to you or our common cause. Thank You Tony Peter and another from the same writer. I gave permission, of course. From: TPeter Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1999 15:06:44 EDT Subject: Use of your article Your speach is excellent. It is particularly frustrating to me that most people that really need to read it, have not even seen it. I would like your permission to upload your article into the "Files" section of the Compuserve Firearms Forum, Political Forum, and Issues Forum. The speach would not be modified and you would obviously be listed as the sole author. Thanks (to give you some idea of where I am comming from, I am attaching an MS Word document I wrote on the subject of anti-gun propaganda) article link to be provided as soon as I get the URL

From: Coinneach Fitzpatrick Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 16:39:08 -0600 Subject: Gun control report Collie, First off, I agree with everything in your report. As a very vocal gunnie, I'd be a fool to not agree with you. :) However, and you've probably been made aware of this already, the Hitler quote at the beginning of the report is a UL. The Urban Legends Reference Page at snopes.com has a very detailed report on this quote. What you might want to note is that the Gun Control Act of 1968 is taken, nearly word-for-word, from the Nazi's Gun Control Law of 1938 [NB: emphasis mine]. Regards, Coinneach Fitzpatrick "If you love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." --Samuel Adams, 1771. As it turned out, his quote was also an urban legend, which I pointed out to him. We had a good laugh over it. :-)

From: Lawrence Sanders Date: Sun, 04 Jul 1999 00:19:17 +0000 Subject: Your web page. Collie, I must tell you sincerely that I admire, applaud and respect (highly) your efforts. An incredibly wonderful site, and one that should be a front page column in every newspaper in the country. I wish I could shake your hand and over a cup of coffee, speak with you at length about what seems to be a common passion, Freedom! Best of luck and thanks once again for your efforts. Semper Fidelis, Lawrence Sanders

From: David Root Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 02:14:34 -0500 Subject: Your Report page [deleted information on where the paper was found on-line] I do a lot of research on the subject of the constitution and the second amendment and how it applies to the people of today. It seems that a lot of people have lost sight of the fact that tyrants have not changed, even in two hundred years, and that they only wait for the opportunity to present itself and then they are more then willing to take control of others by whatever means they are able. It struck me as strange today that so many well educated individuals, especially members of the press, are so for gun control when history has taught us that first goes the right and ability to defend ourselves and then goes the right to free speech usually followed by the extermination of all those informed enough to see what has happened ( the highly educated wish for the utopia of Carl Marx, but they are the first to be "re-educated " or eliminated by the people who would exert control over other's lives). Good luck in your studies and let us hope that all of our rights are intact for another two hundred years ( I am sad to say that I fear they will not be, but we can hope). David Root

From: The Phantom Date: Subject: Greetings! Just found your page while on a search for the home page of Dr. Edgar Suter, if any such exists. You might be interested in my research at http://www.psn.net/~thephantom/ I have abstracts and commentary on many of the works you cite. Please post a link to my site if you find it useful. I will be linking yours. The Phantom

From: Ben Kosse Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 22:29:04 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Regarding your gun control paper Nice work. I haven't finished the entirity of it, but it does a very excellent job of pointing out some rather obvious fallacies and (thankyouthankyouthankyou) citing references. Would you mind if I copied it over to my site? I'm working on creating an advocacy site to go along with my personal page. I have now gone and seen the entry page to your site (I found it via Google) and, believe it or not, it's the same with me. I began believing very adamantly in gun control and have since disagreed with my prior beliefs. I think we just might get along very well. :) And by the way, your home page takes a right HUGE long time to load and the photo page is worse. I'd suggest thumbnails on the photo page and I can give your front page images a good workings over to help your time. Hrm, I'm not sure I agree with you on the term limits issue. :) I will start off by saying that 2 terms in the house is only 4 years which is less than 1 term in the senate and the already existant 2 terms in the presidency. Almost by requisite, you have to have more terms allowable in the house. I'd love to discuss the issue with you, though. -- Ben Kosse The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently. -- Nietzsche

From: Ron Binns Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1999 19:37:19 -0800 Subject: gun control webpage Thank you for your informative, well written, thoroughly researched article. I have bookmarked your page, as I expect to refer to it repeatedly in the near future, as I am currently engaged in a running disagreement with one of the sailors who works for me, a young man who is a strong proponent of gun control. He does, however, show a willingness to change his views when presented with documentation that his views are misinformed. I now have a one-stop source of information to work with. Ron Binns

From: John Rudin Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 23:03:11 -0800 Subject: Re: Anti-Gun Propaganda and Controlling Violent Crime Your paper, Anti-Gun Propaganda and Controlling Violent Crime, is a wonderful essay. I periodically return to it for an emotional recharge and to hone my rather dull intellectual arsenal. The depth, clarity and style puts your paper at the top of my list for anyone trying to understand the tragic and misdirected "Gun Control" debate. You/Your Paper are on my list of national treasures. Thank you again and again. John Rudin

From: John R. Lott, Jr. Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 23:28:18 -0600 You have my permission to post the piece from the Wall Street Journal. I don't know if you have seen my book More Guns, Less Crime, but here are some other op-eds that are based on the book: Needless to say, I was both stunned and delighted to get a note from Dr. Lott! The op-eds are elsewhere on my site, for better readability.

From: Randy Hill Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 00:40:11 -0700 (PDT) You may be right on some of the points you present but consider what I have to say about way we should have the right to have arms. First I would like to give you some the facts I have research and they are facts. First I'm sure you have heard of the Kingdom in Seattle will we out voted blowing it up 3 or 4 times before the government said will we are going to do it anyway. Or like that tab bill were you could not only pay less on your tabs on your car but also vote if the government could pass tax's laws with out us saying it was ok. Will I tell you what happened first they said to the American people you couldn't do this? So you know what happened to that law the government said you can have the tab part but not the tax and changed the bill. So they would have control over passing tax with out are say. I'm not kidding you that are really true. And what was this country founded on no taxation with out reputation way has everyone forgotten that. Getting to the gun part did you know that kids to day are killed more in car crashes then shootings? But I don't see the government banding cars. More kids get killed from cancer then from shootings, now really ask your self why is no one banding siggerits. Plus its even been said by cops cops that if the people gave up the right too bar arms it would be a mistake cops. Know I'm not saying the government is all bad you know in those future movies like aliens and all those Science fiction what do they say the cooperation sent us not the government but the cooperation I mean think about it all these movies coming out saying the government is bad and evil. Cooperation's fund those movies and way because cooperation's want too be number one in the people's eyes. Who will the people turn to I wonder. I'm an 18-year-old boy that has seen this stuff going on and no one else has. I would love to have a gun less society but as long as there is people in power that stand to gain from others peoplessuffering it will never happen.

From: Bill Rumbach Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 18:04:21 -0600 Subject: Ms. Collie, What a breath of fresh air to read the views expressed in your writings. Being a pro-gun sorta' guy and a father of 3 daughters, I'm making this site "mandatory" reading for the girls. Keep up the great work! Best Regards, Bill Rumbach

Comments on the "Milwaukee By Night" Review This arrived (much to my surprise) from the book's author. We ended up having a rather pleasant chat via e-mail, in fact. ;-) From: Dustin Browder Subject: Milwaukee by Night Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 08:42:16 -0700 I just read your article on Milwaukee by Night on the "Women In Gaming" home-page. I am the author of this lovely work and I had to respond. In short it seems that you hated being forced into a specific plot and you were cool with the open-ended background material. As to being forced into a specific plot I have only three defenses: It is somewhat inherent in any written module where the writer has no idea what direction the plot will take when the game is actually played and when the GM bought the module so he doesn't have to think about the plot. Player control wasn't as big an issue 5 years ago as it is today. I was very young. What can I say? You are absolutely correct. Vampire of all games should be open ended and under the control of the players. I don't know now what I would have done differently but I certainly would like to take back the encouragment to the GM to push the players around. I haven't played this way in years and I never was as cruel with my own players as I described in the module. I remember that at the time I had a somewhat open format that described basic concepts but didn't really force the plot and this was considered a little dangerous by my editor since the module is supposed to be a kind of "free-ride" for the GM (he did after all pay good money for it). Still, I am sure that with some time an open-ended format could be created that would allow the players to have freedom and allow the GM to have his "free-ride". Don't let the mistakes of my youth turn you off to Vampire. It really is a great game. -Dustin P.S. I had for a long time been very proud of this module (it was my first published work). I can now see how flawed it really is (I haven't read it myself in years). While the loss of a cherished memory would seem to be negative, I would rather see it is as a sign of how much I have grown creatively. Thanks.

Shortly thereafter I received this missive. Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 13:55:14 -0500 From: Joseph A. Buono Subject: Milwaukee By Night Review. Hello. I found your review on the Women in Gaming site (no, I'm not a woman, but I try to keep up on all aspects of gaming, as I have written a supplement for ICE before, and may dabble in writing again someday). My friend and I read your article through, and discovered that you've rather eloquently described the problems that occur in nearly ALL of White Wolf's V:TM modules. It does seem as if the modules are not game supplements, but stories that PC's must endure. I am going to open a dialogue with White Wolf on this and other topics, and I wonder if I might send the bookmark to your page along, in the hope that they modify or abandon their module specifications. I hope to see you review more products, and I will be watching for them. Please keep up the good work. Joe Buono.

Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 23:13:53 -0500 From: George Warren Subject: racism hey there. i reading this paper and need to clarify; racism is the combinantion of prejudice with power. racism is allowed to exist today b/c it does so largely on an institutional basis, in structures built with prejudice so that even if the people w/ instituional power are not prejudice, the instituional effect is still racist. racism and bigotry are not the same thing. audre lorde does not have any responsibility to listen to a white woman's rage. white women often find black women "harsh" b/c to follow black women's lead and truthfully subvert their white male counterparts would be giving up their own postions of power. for as much work as the feminist movement does in fighting sexism, it is afraid to acknowledge itself as a middle upper class white movement. so, it is offensive to criticize lorde for refusing to pay homage to this woman's rage. this white woman is an oppressor (just as white folks doing antiracism work are oppressors), and should not be treated any differently. this is not to invalidate the white woman's anger, but she needs to talk about that with other white women. black folks have been through so much and continue to face this shit every day. it is insulting to expect them to listen to "white rage." i'm writing from another account. if you have any response, send it to [address deleted] thanks, todd. oh yeah, i'm a white guy.

this is in response to a letter I wrote in regards to a Salon article I read by this individual. Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 12:46:45 -0700 (PDT) From: [name withheld by request] Subject: Re: Fwd: Black & White & read all over Hi Collie, Thanks a lot for your response to my article. It probably won't surprise you that I've gotten a very negative response from students in the department (though this isn't exactly right, since only one person has actually contacted me about it, telling me that vast numbers of others are "so angry [with me and the article] they don't know what to do"--though not one of these has bothered to contact me, or Salon). So I guess I've been visited by the spectre of a negative response from the department. I encouraged this person to write her own article for Salon, or even just to send an email to the editor outlining what she thought was wrong with the article, but she refused, as apparently have the silent majority--as I am led to believe--of her supporters. So far all the responses that have come into Salon have without exception been very supportive and it seems that lots of people have stories to tell similar to yours and mine. The mere fact of being despised doesn't make us right, of course. But our classmates might be reminded that both totalitarianism and plain old mediocrity have always had mass support and that anyone who has ever asked too many questions has been dismissed and demonized by those who clutch desperately to the status quo. (Dismissing and demonizing is a contradictory response, but this may make it all the more psychologically appealing to them--they can reject us with the whole panoply of their mental and emotional capacities--it doesn't matter to them if the basis of a dismissal (that someone is insignificant) is incompatible with the basis of a demonization (that someone is threatening). It seems powerfully clear, moreover, that challenging the received ideas by which a group defines itself in opposition to others (or, for their more resistant ears, Others)--as I believe you and I have tried to do--is the best way to defend liberty and justice. The alternative--to silence or ignore voices of dissent which speak out on behalf of equality--which is favored, I believe, by many of our classmates and unfortunately your TA, serves to establish a cultural context in which violations of liberty and justice become palatable--indeed, in which patent violations of justice are transmogrified in the popular imagination into the image of justice itself. Thanks again for writing. [name withheld by request] ps. Why not pitch your story to the editor of Ivory Tower?

Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 12:02:23 -0600 From: Paul Subject: Not enough time to read it all... Collie, Great work on an interesting homepage. Of course, it just so happens that the Bible (M.Div.), Art (B.F.A and M.F.A.), being a perpetual student of something (obviously), ethics, and roleplaying (since 1980) are all interests of mine, as well. And you know that feeling that you may have been transplanted here from an alien planet? Well... been there; done that. I didn't have enough time to read much on your page... I enjoyed your covers for TWH, and look forward to reading more of the work you've posted. If you don't mind a little rambling... I've been getting my feet wet in several creative projects lately (after a loooooong dry spell) and one of them is a homespun RPG system. I'm interested in walking on the wire between diceless and mechanistic RPGs (not an easy task), but I like what I've come up with so far. Could you tell me a little about the games mentioned on your site? I've never heard of The Wild Hunt or Interregnum. Perhaps a little more digging into your work will answer my questions, but I just thought I'd ask. I'm not sure if I love working on the game as much as I'd enjoy finishing it, but looking at other games is usually an inspiration to keep working at it. That's all for now. Any info you could send my way would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for giving me an interesting diversion (your page), and I hope the holidays are treating you well. Until later, take care. Peace, Paul Kimmel -- There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness". ~(:-/)

Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 00:07:22 -0600 Subject: your site is so stupid From: "enola" what is so funny about a freezing dog on a pic, your site is stupid and you won't catch me on it again my reply... and no, enola did not write back to me. ;-) I'm not sure why you think the photo was supposed to be funny, but in the interests of defending the name of a lovely and kind Swedish collie breeder, I'll point out this URL to you: http://www.stormtiger.org/collie/_graphics/credits.html If you scroll down a bit you'll find the breeder's name, and can go and see for yourself on their site that the collie was not freezing, but rather had been playing in the snow. Might I suggest next time you take a moment to reflect before you make assumptions? :-)

Date: Sun, 4 Apr 1999 09:56:04 -0500 Subject: Fwd: Some More Quotes From: Elizabeth McCoy For various and sundry reasons, I was looking for quotes, and found the best selection at your web-pages... Thanks. (And in return, I do the horrible thing of sending you some of the *others* I found, for your amusement...) (I've got another whole batch of 'em, if you want to see those, too...) BTW, it's been a while -- HI! Hope you're doing well!! --Beth, busy with her job... (And sick, whee. And up far, far too early on a weekend.) [quotes deleted, as they were added to the Library of Quotes pages]