So Close

I actually thought I'd pulled it off.  There was a mass shooting here in the US and for about a week, I'd managed to get by with only cursory glances at the hysterical articles screaming for some sort of gun control.  I know from experience that these people haven't taken the time to form a reasoned opinion on such things, so I avoided them as best I could as all they do is raise my blood pressure.  So close.

But then there was a power outage at my company's data center and suddenly I'm stuck at work this morning with nothing to do but to surf the web.  Thankfully, one of my friends and coworker had the presence of mind to see the storm brewing and calmly told me to close IE before I stroke out.

Bearing that in mind, this will be my one and only response to all the hysterics driven by this latest atrocity:  Time and again, it's been proven that gun control not only doesn't work, it actually makes violent crimes like this worse.  By proposing more and increased gun control legislation, you're part of the problem not the solution.

Don't believe me?  Research it yourself.  I'd recommend The Smallest Minority over in the links as Kevin puts in a lot of time and effort on such things and tends to show his work.  But, whatever decision you come to, don't jump on the "do something" band wagon until you're certain the something you're doing doesn't make things worse.

Bob Munden, Rest In Peace

Bob Munden, exhibition shooter and gunsmith, died of a heart attack yesterday.  I only got to know about him a couple of years ago when I started watching the show Impossible Shots, where his humor and skill with a pistol immediately made him a hit with me.

He will be missed.

Snark and You

Something that has been bugging me for some time is the tendency of writers in the gun culture to use snark in response to comments from anti-gun proponents. Specifically bloggers in the gun culture who seem to have taken snark to the level of art form. I've been guilty of using it myself. After thinking about it for a while, though, I've decided to make a conscious effort to avoid using it.

My thought process on the issue goes like this. I can think of two reasons why someone is anti-gun: 1) They actively want to deprive people of the ability to protect themselves for whatever reason; 2) They don't understand guns and therefore fear them. The first group knows exactly what they are doing and trying to dissuade them is pretty much an exercise in futility. The second group is a result of the decline of the gun culture in our country and is one that may possibly be brought to see reason. Snark, however, has a tendency to put people's backs up. By using snark in response to these people, we are quite likely driving away potential allies.

Just some food for thought...