Nibbles McGee here...
While I agree with Joe that the Democratic Party would be wise to just drop the gun issue, (because it costs us elections) I'll freely admit that I am not a fan of firearms. In the past, I have rebuffed many family members' attempts to teach me how to use them, on the grounds that they are deadly weapons. I've gotten along without them just fine for the past 29 years and until this week, never thought seriously about needing one.
But this Saturday, I accepted a parent's offer to teach me how to shoot a small hand gun. Maybe it was because of the general sense of anxiety in the air in the wake of Ike and the stockmarket implosion. Maybe it was all the creepy messages that keep showing up in Joe's comments section and on my formerly favorite websites. I don't know what came over me, or why I felt the urge to learn how they work, but I have now fired a gun. A .22 caliber revolver, to be exact.
I was struck most by how easy it was. I'm a fairly petite woman. I get a fair amount of exercise, but I'm not a body builder or anything. I didn't think it was physically difficult at all. And I don't have any emotional reservations about the experience. That should probably be bothering me more than anything.
The last year and its social and financial chaos have changed us all, I guess. Joe decided to vote Republican. My Mom and Dad switched to an HMO. And I shot a gun. I know it's only September, but I'm starting to freak out about what 2009 will bring.
8 comments:
You might do well to check out the latest post at Cryptogon.com entitled Hank Paulson: Robber in Chief:
"'The Secretary’s authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to 700,000,000,000 dollars outstanding at any one time.'
"What this does is give Hank Paulson, acting as an emperor with unchecked control over the nation’s treasury, a $700 billion line of credit in which he can buy up toxic debt for whatever price he’d like to pay, $700 billion at a time."
And there's a related post below that entitled U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team Assigned to NORTHCOM Beginning October 1st.
Stop at 700 Billion? I dooonn't thing sooo.
I don't know why gun control should cost us elections. In poll after poll, most Americans want more gun control.
The second amendment may be the only one we can keep intact. At this point, I don't want to give up any of our Bill of Rights. Even if I don't own a gun.
-nene
Democrats won't win elections anyway with the gun nuts. Hunters are a MINORITY of the voting population, which some seem to forget.
I hate the idea Democrats keep jettisoning Democratic Party values, such as gun control and public financing.
Might as well be Republicans.
About 13 years ago, I moved into a tough neighborhood. After a couple of encounters with trespassing members, I looked into buying a gun. A cheap .22 was all I could afford, although everyone kept telling me that to go larger. (According to some people, you can do more damage by throwing a .22 right at someone's head.)
I decided against it. Not for me. At least, not at that time.
But it's hard for me to think about that time and to support banning the type of gun that I considered buying.
Oops. I meant to write "trespassing GANG members."
I think there should be some gun control, but not general bans. A three day waiting period, background checks and the like shouldn't be an issue for anyone. Only responsible people who can appreciate the deadliness of the thing should have one. While a .22 is small and pretty easy to manage, I still wouldn't want to be on the wrong end of one, especially a well-aimed shot. And, of course, you should never do anything because you have a firearm that you wouldn't do without one, like inappropriate mouthing off, etc. That should be enough to keep a gun owner out of trouble. A couple of years ago, utterly unfamiliar with firearms, I found this to be an informative page.
http://www.io.com/~cortese/firearms/index.html
- Snarkhis Khan
I'm leery of "jettison position X because it costs us elections" because the neo-progressive dudes feel that way about abortion rights--and you know how it's gone for women in the party since they got the upper hand.
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