Sorry to get political, but a couple of weeks ago this news tidbit caught my eye.
Around 10:45 p.m. an armed robber entered an Alcoholics Anonymous center in Columbia, S.C. The robber brandished a handgun and ordered the people inside the center to “Gimme what you got.” One of the AA visitors, who is also a Right-To-Carry permit holder, drew his gun and fired at the armed criminal, striking him multiple times, ending the robbery. The robber was taken to a local hospital where he died. (The State, Columbia, S.C. 04/13/09)
Guns and booze. Always a winning combination. A recovering alcoholic with a gun. What if he weren’t recovering and he brandished it while drunk?
The following week on the BBC World Service, I heard a lengthy protest against gun control by a typical NRA mouthpiece. Here’s what I don’t get. If the NRA’s position is that gun control doesn’t work, then why fight it? Prove the point by letting every piece of gun legislation pass, then sit back and smile smugly when gun violence goes up.
Actually, I know why they would never take this tack. It’s because they really believe that if they compromise at all, then gun ownership will be banned outright, and the government will turn into a dictatorship and they won’t be able to form a well-regulated militia. But of course we already have a well-regulated militia. The National Guard.
Hi Doug! My goodness, both of those stories are awful. Personally, I never wanted to own a gun but have used a borrowed one at a target shooting facility with a friend years ago. I prefer a video game gun to a real one though. It’s only safe if it’s locked away, but then I had 2 uncles who were very gun-safe and ended up commiting suicide with a gun. I have no need for a gun but appreciate the police and protective agencies and armed services that do.
Getting political is actually sort of a fallback position for me. I’m having some eye trouble, and every moment at a computer screen is painful, sometimes excruciating, especially with my nifty new little Acer netbook, which is why I haven’t done much blogging lately. The more entertainment-oriented posts, which often involve audio and/or video capture, are much more time consuming than banging out a political rant.
My view of guns is based on something that happened to somebody I knew in college. His name was John D., but everybody called him Ernie.
After graduation, Ernie worked managing a record store in Springfield, MA. He didn’t have health insurance. His roommate, Steve G., owned a hand gun. Ernie’s rule was the gun could not be in the house.
One day, Ernie was sitting on the couch when Steve came in the room with his gun, and said he was going to clean it. Ernie was not pleased. Steve was a joker who had broken his back doing something incredibly stupid during freshman year (Dennis knows who I’m talking about), and I never did understand why Ernie let Steve be his roommate.
Steve held up the gun and said, “Hey, don’t worry, it’s not load–” BLAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The bullet went through Ernie’s leg, just below the knee. It could just as easily have gone through his stomach, chest, or head.
Steve was somebody who I felt should never have had a gun, and Ernie is somebody I would have trusted with a gun — but, of course, he didn’t want one.
And then there’s this. My wife knew the guy in this story who was shot. She served on an advisory board with him at our HMO (former HMO, sorry to say). He didn’t show up for a meeting, and here is why. He’s more or less OK now.
Doug,
You don’t need to apologize for getting “political”…it’s your blog and politics is part of what makes you YOU!…Paul
I hate guns, period. Yeah, everybody hunts around here, but the vast majority is at least intelligent enough to keep them under lock and key. There is an exceptionally high rate of young people in the obits around here, almost invariably young guys in their early 40s on down. Most of the obits say “He loved to go hunting with his sons and/or buddies,” which of course suggests the deceased owned gun.. Once you pull that trigger, there’s no taking it back. Sorry, now I’VE gone off on a political rant!