As this is my 500th post, I thought I'd make a splash with some thoughts that have been rattling around my brain for a while - it's time to lay them out and invite comment…
Guns, weapons, call them what you will ([“This is your weapon, not your gun. It's for shooting, not for fun”]), are a necessary part of the world. They are a tool; a means to an end.
And they actually can be a lot of fun.
Contrary to popular belief, the UK is not gun free. Growing up, I was the captain of my school's rifle team (303 prone), had a number of friends whose fathers owned rifles (one of which was a hobbyist gunsmith) and spent many happy afternoons at an outdoor range - sometimes shooting, sometimes operating push-up targets standing in the trench, pushing up mechanical targets as the shooters walked down-range, popping them up as the shooters dropped prone on command - I'll never forget the occasion when the guy who has bearing down on my target flipped his Sten to fully automatic and cut the target in half…
I enjoyed it. It was a controlled, safety-conscious environment.
And damn, was I a good shot.
When I moved out to the States, I met a number of people who owned guns. I went out shooting with them and had a blast shooting at reactive targets.
It's a great sport.
I also have no problem with hunting, or any other responsible firearms related activities. But what the hell is it with the whole concealed weapons, own as many guns as you while like storing them in your closet, thing?
In the UK, yes, the really bad guys will have weapons. But in the general case it ain't gonna happen. In the US, you're always worried that someone might be “carrying”.
It all seems to boil down to the second amendment. The right to bear arms.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
What do you believe was the intent there?
Maybe I'm wrong, but that amendment was written to enable the citizens of this country to protect itself against a dictatorial government. To protect itself against the very thing it was leaving behind.
Now, I'm probably the first person to say this government needs to be dismissed, but I don't believe an armed citizenry is going to make it happen. Nor should it.
Surely, the reason we have the Supreme and Federal court systems is to interpret the Constitution and amendments in the spirit in which they were intended. Blind, to the letter interpretation gives proliferation and protection into hands for reasons unforeseen and unintended by the founding fathers.
Heck, I'll save the problems of blind interpretation by religious zealots for another post…
There seems to be so much confusion, reinterpretation and changes in the law that it seems obvious to me that we have no idea what they meant, and that to say “it's my second amendment right”, means that you get to do what you want with your weapons and carry them where you will, because “I can't afford the Porsche to make my dick look bigger, therefore this gun will have to do.”
Can someone please tell me why you need to carry that Glock into my child's daycare?
Maybe I'm wrong, but then I'm just a Brit who can't vote and gets taxed for the priviledge…
Asbestos suit on.
