[Rhodes22-list]Guns and Politics

[Robert Skinner]

R22RumRunner at aol.com wrote:
> Do any of you people really know what
> a bullet does to a human body?

Yup.  Worked in the emergency ward at St. Francis 
hospital in Hartford while going to college in the 
'60s.  Saw more carnage there during the riots than 
while on active duty with the Marines.

BTW - I stopped hunting when I was 19.  Killing 
for its own sake lost its appeal.

> Having spent a year in Vietnam, I don't even own
> anything stronger than a BB gun.

Probably a good thing, firearms don't mix well with
Rum. <grin>

> If you live in an area where you feal it's
> necessary to keep a loaded gun in your house, let
> alone behind the headboard in your bedroom, you
> might want to consider moving to a better
> neighborhood.

Agreed.  We moved from the Washington D.C. suburbs
to get away from crime, traffic, etc.  The habit of
keeping a persuader close to hand was reinforced 
there on a daily basis.

Now in Maine, we find that the low house-breaking 
crime statistics are due in part to the extremely
high proportion of households that have weapons.

> We don't lock our house when we leave.

Your option.

> The lawsuits and court cases that go on and on
> for years from people shooting other people
> isn't anything I want to go through.

Couldn't agree more.  But I have a responsibility
to retain and (as appropriate) exercise all options.
While I hate paperwork and bureaucrats as much as
the next person, they are preferable to some drug-
whacked dude blowing us away while looking for 
our wallets and other convertible assets.

Frankly, I chose a pump shotgun in part because of 
the distinctive noise it makes when jacking a round 
into the chamber.  It tends to encourage happy
feet...  Good second line of defence.  Right after
the two big black dogs.

Have we done this topic to a proper turn?

/Bob Skinner