Guns and Neuroses

Okay, let's get into this. Let's talk about guns.

In Magnum Opus (Part1.a) I suggested that I was prepared to defend my generator with a cute little double-barreled Derringer. Strike that, I've upgraded. And not just for the sake of keeping my generator safe.

The 2nd Amendment forums are great reading! Most of the posters are as paranoid as I am. Of several common themes that predominate the posts, one of the most compelling is that to preserve a right we must use it. Free Speech is in good hands (except for that Fairness Doctrine thing) - it certainly seems that most people frequently use that right. The fifth amendment is often used, but hopefully we don't often find ourselves in need of exercising that right. Without going through all the Bill of Rights, let's stay on topic. Are we exercising our right to bare... I mean to bear arms?

Growing up, my dad had a .410 shotgun and a 30.06 rifle. He was a fairly apathetic hunter and I don't like to eat wild game so the guns were relatively trivial, a couple trees on a distant horizon. I owned a 16ga shotgun myself in my 20s. Shot a few innocent skeets, nothing more exciting. I pawned it in my 30s when I needed $100 more than the adventure of blowing things out of the sky.

I was a groomsman at a wedding for a buddy that was a real NRA gun nut. He gave all of us little chrome derringers with our initials on the grip. Very apropos. I shot it at a range one time. The one-and-a-half inch barrel allowed me to nearly hit a target 15 feet away. I don't think the sound would be useful for self-defense, let alone the bullet.

Then the election of Monsieur Obama woke me up. Here's a left-winger surrounded by pacifists and gun-haters. I figure B. Hussein is about to declare martial law on gun ownership as well as everything else. So, I've been on a gun-buying spree (doing my part for the economy). And I'm not alone, there is a nationwide shortage of guns and bullets as many Americans have come to the same conclusion I have.

The first gun I bought was a Christmas gift for my bride - a cute little single-shot rifle/shotgun combo. The barrels interchange so you can guard that generator with either a hollow-nose .22 or a cluster of 20ga shot. She loves it.

Oldest son got a Hi-Point semi-auto 9mm pistol for Christmas. Loves it to death (pardon the potential pun). A couple weeks later, I bought one for myself. The Hi-Point is not a lovely gun. Some go so far as to down-right mock it. But at $150 per and a life-time warranty to boot, I'm trying to find what is not absolutely lovable about the black brick.

I went to a gun show on Valentines Day (that's a long, n'uther story) and found a pretty little .22 semi-auto rifle with a scope. I'm not sure about the value of a scope on a .22, but I guess no tin can is safe around me at 50 yards. And finally, I have a .22 semi-auto Ruger pistol on order (again with the shortages).

My operating theory is this; a gun is a vote for the preservation of 2nd Amendment. The more guns in private ownership, the more votes to leave the 2nd Amendment alone. I don't know what the total count of gun-bearing Americans is, but it's shooting (pardon the pun) up and that has to be a strong message to anyone who would have it otherwise. That's my operating theory.

Of course, a gun is no good without something coming out of it hard and fast. There is also a nationwide run on ammunition. Again, the aphorism on the chat boards is "buy 'em cheap and stack 'em deep". That's my goal. I've bought several .22s so the recreational cost of use is very low ($0.04 a bullet). The 9s will do more damage (and thus are the more realistic solution for self-defense), but the are currently running around $0.26 a shot. A day at the range can easily run $100. Which is also the reason, I'm not bragging about my .45 or any other hefty hog leg. I think my 9mm will take care of bidness when called to action and I can afford to visit the range occasionally to keep my testosterone levels up (not that they ever actually run low).

The common wisdom is that with so many guns in private ownership, seizing them would be impossible, if not suicidal. The only way to declare martial law on firearms is to deal with the stuff that comes out of them hard and fast. Excessive taxation is one way to make the use of firearms prohibitive (sin tax, like cigarettes). We'll see where that goes. Another clever mechanism to effectively outlaw bullets is called the Ammunition Accountability Act. The goal of the Act is to have registered serial numbers micro-etched on every bullet sold in the US. It would be illegal to make, sell, or own ammo without this helpful information. The Feds would set up an agency to register sales and serial numbers and when a bad guy does something bad, the cops can dial 611 (I made up that number part), get Shady's home address and cellie number, and go arrest him. I guess the logistics and the multifarious flaws of the Act are of no consequence. Logistics and flaws of a system are irrelevant when the real purpose is declaring martial law on gun ownership. Estimates on the per/unit cost run as high as a 2000% increase. Yup, my 9mm rounds would cost upwards of $5 per. Talk about a silver bullet.