Month: June 2016

We’re Having The Wrong Argument

This is a picture of a SiG MCX.

It’s a highly efficient modular tactical infantry weapon, designed to be easily modified so as to be the proper gun for any situation.  It’s lightweight, reliable, and deadly.  Oh, and a homicidal maniac used one to kill fifty people in Orlando the other day.

At the moment, the nation is sick and tired of hearing about guns and shootings.  We’ve had enough, and if the problem doesn’t get solved, We The People are about to fire a whole raft of Congressmen and Senators.  And the lawmakers in question know this full well, so they’re making a lot of extra noise about it this time around.

In fact, so very much noise is being made that I think we’ve lost sight of what exactly it is that we’re talking about. (more…)

What Is An Assault Rifle? A Guide For Non-Shooters

The current national discussion on gun control is taking place between a large number of people, many of whom have differing levels of expertise with the use or identification of weapons.  Many of those desiring greater restrictions on firearms are unfamiliar with them, which is entirely reasonable; firearms aficionados and collectors would be the most likely to educate themselves on the subject, whereas those who fear or mistrust them would be likely to avoid any contact with the weapons in question.

Unfortunately for the dialogue, this lack of expertise detracts from the credibility of those wanting change.  Additionally, decades of intricate and confusing gun laws have muddied up the conversational waters even more.  Since profitable discussion requires mutual respect, and since the subject is simple enough to learn, read on. (more…)

Stop The War On Drugs

The “War On Drugs” has failed, and we lost.  We’ve spent billions of dollars annually and trillions overall, and we’ve accomplished two things:  We’ve increased the street price of drugs, enriching the cartels in the process, and we’ve imprisoned millions of our own citizens, hopelessly overburdening the criminal justice system by so doing.

We have completely failed to eradicate drug use.

Some of you think I’m nuts already, and that’s fine.  I’ll provide a bit of history next and you can decide afterward if the facts justify my statements. (more…)

Beating My Drum

Every time something horrific happens, every op-ed writer in America puts out their thoughts on it:   why it happened, how it could have been prevented, the senselessness of it all.  And what’s sad is, a lot of people are getting sick of it, ignoring it, moving on.  We see so very much that’s horrible and we just can’t face one more thing in a litany of more things.  And the last thing we need is some self-important armchair political hack telling us who did what wrong and who’s at fault.

So why am I, yet another self-important windbag, writing anything?  Why do you need another helping of empty wind from someone else who doesn’t matter?  Why do we need any of them yapping at us when what we really want to do is grieve in peace or fix the damn problem already and get on with the business of living but this time in safety?

Good questions.  Here’s the answer: (more…)