Regardless of their actual conduct, the *perception* of the NRA outside
the USA is fairly uniformly unfavourable. Having lived in two countries
with fairly strict weapon control laws, married to someone from a country
with even stricter weapon control laws than either the UK or Canada
(Japan), I can report that the *perception* is that in a civil society
one does not, as a general rule, need to carry arms. Observers from
outside the US are, I suspect, nonplussed by the advocacy of weapons
ownership within a policed society subject to the rule of law. In the
UK, where for the most part even the police are not armed, the apparent
desire of ordinary civilians to own firearms seems quite inexplicable.
I am inclined to believe that Milner's line reflects in some measure that
sentiment. SB is, after all, a *British* series, and the authors will
tend to see things through British eyes.
Here again, I'm not judging one way or t'other. Having spent the last 18
years playing various forms of traditional martial arts, my home is
packed with an odd assortment of knives, swords, pole arms and so forth;
I'm no position to criticise anybody.
--PHJD