Sent to Ben Wattenberg's issue roundtable TV program called 
Think Tank, broadcast over PBS.  http://www.pbs.org/thinktank/
__

Hello Ben,
I enjoy your program quite a bit.  It's refreshing to
see actual ideas discussed.

Regarding gun control, why is the "Open Society
Institute" interested in constricting freedom?
In what way is a society where individuals are
disempowered more open?  I believe in individual
freedom and attendant responsibility, and I strenuously
object on moral, ethical, philosophical and pragmatic
grounds to diminishing either.  A society that is less free
is incrementally closer to distopia, and the mindset
of a lack of personal responsibility for one's own
condition is the most efficient way to get there.

The relevance to gun control is that guns are the
safest and most effective tools for self defense,
and denying or impeding access to them makes us
more dependont on the government, which by case law
has no obligation to protect any individual from
crime (see Warren v. District of Columbia).  So
denying personal responsibility for one's own 
physical defense is not a very effective tactic
against crime.  One could argue that being defenseless
encourages crime by enhancing the safety of predators.

Thanks again for a thoughtful program.

Jeff Chan