Gnomon, I'm listening to you and others and I must confess I'm not sure I would behave as the purchaser did but I'm also not sure I am prepare to pass judgement on him (which I'm usually quite happy to LOL).
My point about the widow's background wasn't that she was affluent and so could afford being ripped off but that she likely had the resources and knowledge to properly be informed as to the guns value and she chose not to. That's part of freedom. The freedom to choose what do do, whether the result is in your favour or not.
Stealing is stealing regardless of the item or the relative wealth of the victim.
There is a man in California. At a garage sale he bought several boxes of photographs and negatives. He knew enough about photography and photographers to see they were all by the same artist and they were reminiscent of Ansel Adams work. He paid under $200 if I remember correctly. After over a decade of study and research this collection was declared several years ago to represent the entire output of Adams over about a decade, work that had been thought to have been lost in a warehouse fire 60-70 years ago.
The collection was valued at around 180 million dollars. Was the man who paid $200 for those photos a thief or even morally lacking? He could have informed the seller of his suspicions.
I also have difficulty with the female widow thing. Would the judgement passed be different if it was a 25 year old male black gun enthusiast who sold the guns?
Last edited by canvasback; 06/21/12 07:24 PM. Reason: Spelling
