3 posts tagged “guns”
I have noticed that the matter of gun rights hasn't been a big issue so far in this election. This could be interpreted two ways.
- People are happy with the way things are, and don't feel it's an issue. Or
- They are being quiet since it is a huge issue that holds much political sway.
Sadly, it is almost certainly the second. If you look into the candidates views, they haven't changed. The democrats are still largely anti-gun, and the republicans are still largely pro-gun. The thing is, gun rights are one of those really big, highly dividing issues. It is easier for people to be quiet about it, and then simply orchestrate their end purposes once in office. This is very bad.
Any one who knows me, knows how I feel about gun rights. I am perhaps one of the most pro-gun people you will ever meet. To this day, no one has given me a reason not to be. I have talked with several people who are anti-gun and have yet to be given a well thought-out, well backed up, well written reason why banning guns is a good thing.
The typical thought process is less guns->safer people->better for everyone. Great. One little problem, since when has making something illegal changed a criminals mind. If this ideology was correct, wouldn't we be free of drugs. If it worked, wouldn't we be free of all crime. If i'm not mistaken, drug use has gone up since they became illegal. You see, the thing that makes criminals what they are is after all...is their uncaring nature towards laws. It really seems so simple, yet there are multitudes of people who don't seem to see it.
Some may argue that it would make it tougher to get guns. True, it would be a little tougher. However, you will notice that most of the guns used in crime are not US produced guns anyway. For that matter, most drugs come in from outside this country too. Doesn't seem to slow it down much does it.
The argument that really gets me is that they simply aren't needed.
Really? How do you plan on defending yourself against crime. Especially against the criminals who will have weapons whether or not they are banned. Police? Yeah of course. Enjoy your body bag. Police are not able to be there when you need them. It's not because they aren't doing their job, it's not because they are slacking off, it's because it just isn't possible. Anyone who doesn't see that is an idiot, since the police themselves acknowledge that they can't. There is even legal precedence stating that they don't have to. So, now you have a criminal after you, you have aggravated him by calling the cops, and you have no way to take care of yourself, your family, or your friends. Good job. You've got realistically at least 15 minutes, and possibly upwards of an hour before you get any help. Enjoy.
Here's the kicker. I have posed this same situation to some one I know who is anti-gun. I asked them, "so what happens", and their response... "well, I guess they get me". Seriously? You would rather die then let people defend themselves and give even yourself a fighting chance?!?!?
I think it is pretty obvious why we should have the right to bear arms. Some people may have noticed gun legislation has been a bit quieter. That most gun laws that have been making the rounds have been far less broadly worded then in the past. Some have mistaken this as a sign that the general state of our rights is better. They could not be farther from the truth. Small bills such as the .50 BMG bans that have been passing in certain areas are nothing less then stepping stones. If they widdle away at rights, people are less concerned. It's just a small thing, just like many didn't see the harm in the Clinton gun ban. Well, after a few small bills, your rights are gone. Besides, they are an excellent way to tighten things up even faster down the line. When you have bills that are established that say that a bunch of guns are now under one nice tidy subheading, you can just ban that type of gun. It's an easy way to go, and people should already see it happening. The Clinton gun ban grouped many weapons by nothing more then aesthetics. Now you have many politicians calling practically every gun out there an "assault weapon". A .50 BMG is somehow an assault weapon, even though they are nearly always single shot bolt action guns. Hardly a base storming firearm. Your common AR-15, a semi-automatic weapon, is also now an "assault weapon". Curious, since assault weapons were pretty much only the fully-automatic ones when I was younger (which is only a decade ago!).
It is easier and easier to group everything into assault weapons. This is a brilliant plan, and I would almost be impressed if it wasn't so painfully dangerous. No one is going to oppose restrictions on "assault weapons", most people (gun owners included) don't have a problem with restricting the older interpretation of assault weapons. Once you group everything there though, it's a very bad thing. Most people haven't done their research though, and simply won't know until it is too late.
Lastly, we are a country actively engaged in war. You see on the news everyday that there is always a chance of attacks on our land. The last thing we need is to render ourselves incapable of taking care of things. I can't believe anyone would think otherwise.
In short, this is really a very black and white issue. You either are for the right of the law-abiding citizen to defend themselves/their family/their friends/their fellow citizens, or you are for the criminals ability to commit crimes un-hindered. Your choice. There really isn't any other option.
If anyone out there has a well thought out rebuttal. I would be happy to hear it. Feel free to respond or whatever. No profanity, and keep it respectful. Anything else will be deleted. If you feel like you have a good point though, please do let me know.
CCW:
For the people involved in the CCW class. It's fairly well ironed out at this point. It will be on the 28th, starting at 10am. It is $65 per person, except for people who already have a permit, where it is instead $30. Whether or not to do the range time that day is about the only thing still left unanswered. Cash or check is fine...
T-Shell:
Practically no one knows about T-Shell (except PoE 2), but it is a program I have been working on for awhile. Yesterday, after deciding to do some updating to it, I decided it was a mess. So I have decided to re-write the whole thing from scratch. In the process I am also making a huge amount of updates to it, so I am going to jump straight from version 1.5 (current one), to version 2.0. I expect this to take at least a few weeks.
Monocle:
Monocle is the tentative name given to my newest project. It is an information gathering tool, writen in C++. It is very early on, and will take a long time before I have anything I feel comfortable releasing.
Oh, one more thing, I received a call today that my Springfield 1911 is back in at Dougs. Apparently it was indeed a bad extractor (which they replaced). The invoice also says they did some work on the chamber, although i'm not real clear on what happened there. Hopefully it is all better.
I went shooting with my brother and his wife and my friend this past weekend. I own two handguns, a Heckler and Koch USP Expert (in .45 ACP) and a Springfield Black Stainless 1911-A1 Micro Compact (also in .45 ACP). I decided not to bring the HK since it is in need of cleaning. In all fairness, so was the Springfield, but it was quite a bit cleaner.
Once we got down on the range, I loaded it up. I haven't been shooting in a really long time. On the first shot, it jammed. The spent case only made it halfway out of the barrel on the ejection cycle. Well, jams happen, so I dropped the magazine, and cleared the case. I put back the mag, re-chambered the gun, took another shot, and the exact same thing happened.
I tried twice more after that with the same results everytime.
I haven't owned that gun very long, and I take good care of it. My brother took it up to one of the guys to see if they knew what was going on. The consensus seems to be a faulty extractor. It makes sence, I just can't figure out how that would happen so soon. Luckily, Springfield Armory has a lifetime warranty on every gun they make. So, my gun is presently on it's way to Illinois.
There is a pretty interesting aspect of this though. You see, I am not far off from getting my concealed carry permit, and this would have been the gun I carried. In the event that it had to be used this would have been very bad to say the least. This kinda stuff seems to happen to my family though. There have been several instances where someone was planning on driving out somewhere far away, only to have a serious car problem manifest itself a couple days ahead. On one hand, your mad that something is broken, but on the other, your really happy it occured under safe circumstances. Makes you think doesn't it.
Well, hopefully I get it back soon, and in nice working order. I really like all my guns. This particular one isn't even made anymore. They only made it for a few months.
