If you don't know the eight steady hold factors, you shouldn't be packin'
The Swirling Epicenter is unusually aswirl this last week. The shooting at Pastor Ted's Church has gotten international coverage, the local talk radio is aflame with rhetoric about gun control and gun proliferation and who should shoot, who shouldn't shoot, who can carry and who can't carry. The ususal teams line up on opposite sides of the ball and the game is on. The problem is that I agree with both sides to an extent, but disagree as well. There has been a lot of discussion, even here on Joe, about other countries who have no guns and what Utopian societies they are. The other side quotes the founders about the right to bear and the need for a well regulated militia.
One of the scariest nights I spent in Vietnam was when our compound was attacked and more than half of the unit forgot all about defense plans and where they were supposed to be and started running around in the dark with loaded rifles. That was more scary than the VC. And that is exactly how I feel a lot of the time right here in the Swirl. I am not sure that it is a good idea for everyone to stick a gun in their pocket and head out into the hate. For one thing, if you pull out a gun in a tense situation, what is left? If you aren't trained in how to handle it, you face the very real possibility of having it taken away from you...and then things really suck. The phrase "well regulated" in the 2nd Amendment means a militia that is well trained in the handling and use of firearms. And if you do pull it out, are you prepared to use it...if not, what happens next? Some other guy pulls his and maybe he isn't inhibited in the firing of it. And you started it ! Don't get me wrong. If the pooh poo gets in the propeller, I don't want to be the only one at the party without a noisemaker. But if you don't know what you are doing, I don't want you to have one.
Here's what I think. Anyone who wants to buy a gun should be willing to submit to a background check. Private citizens should not need fully automatic weapons, but should not be restricted in the purchase of semi-automatics. And this is pretty much the law right now. I would add to it that anyone who wants to buy a gun should have to show proof of training. I think it ought to be more than a note from Uncle John saying he took you out behind the barn and showed you which end the bullets come out of. I know there are many who argue that this is too restrictive, anyone should be able to buy a gun, any kind of gun, anytime with out any gument interference. There are also many who feel this is not nearly stringent enough. And more than a few who want to collect up all the guns and melt them into slag. I really don't care. I've heard it all before. I own several guns...(and for all you ex-military out there, I giggle everytime I call them my "guns") I haven't ever killed a deer. I don't like hunting...not agin it if it is your cuppa...but I am not interested in killing animals. I do enjoy getting out with my buds and blowing up soda cans and putting holes in the ten ring on paper. I have shot competitvely a time or two and I enjoyed that , too. I don't think it is any of your business why I own guns or what kind of guns I own. My stuff is all legal, I am a law-abiding, tax paying, speed limit obeying, straight shooting citizen.
The problem is not gun proliferation, it is not a lack of law, it is not a police problem, or anything else along those lines. It is a problem with the people who feel they can safely go where citizens gather; malls, churches, post offices, work places, and so on; and start shooting everyone they see. I am not interested in their motives, their history, the pain of their youth. They made a decision to act a certain way and THAT is the problem. In the case of our church shooter, he never reached the full potential of his action because a little lady took him on and shot him up so bad he killed himself. I don't know if any of the other shooters would have been deterred by knowing there were a bunch of concealed weapons carriers in their target zone, but for sure they wouldn't have racked up the numbers they did. We don't carry as a deterant, we carry for PROTECTION.
This is just a ramble. This whole week, every time I started to write something I found myself staring at the screen and thinking about this. I hope I can exorcise this demon and get back to the fun stuff, now.