[lit-ideas] Re: Gun Control
- From: "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:56:07 -0700
"Zip guns"? "Reloading"? I don't understand -- after you fire a shot, you
can "re-use" the bullet? But doesn't the bullet explode when shot?
reloading: yes, the lead is gone. it doesn't explode, but it's bent out of shape. sometimes
it's splattered.
you could pick up the lead, melt it (melts at a low temp), and pour it into a bullet mold,
and make new lead.
but it's easier to just buy lead and melt it to your needs. or just buy lead in the right
shape.
the cartridge (the casing) is (in most cases) reusable. there are some single-use casings.
but most casings can be refilled several times. eventually they wear out.
powder: you can easily mix black powder (i often did) but smokeless powder has more bang
(more power) (the bullet flies faster and further, i.e., more likely to hit a distant
target) and is more consistent. powder is cheap to buy. you get it in big drums.
we used to reload our shotgun shells. the reloaders are fairly easy to use. with a good
production line, you can make several cases (250 shells per case) in an evening.
when i was in high school, my brothers and i pooled our money, bought a reloader, and we'd
make shotgun shells. we sold them at trapshooting events.
it'd be a fair wager that i've shot more than Lawrence the pacifist. i've shot perhaps
500,000 rounds (half a million). but my brothers shot much more; brother #2 was professional
and competed at many shoots. brother #3 was the Southern Champion in trapshooting; he shot
some two million rounds. that's why my brothers and i are hard of hearing; we wrecked our
right ears from so much shooting. yes, we wore hearing protectors, but we also shot quite a
lot.
zip guns: handmade cheap devices to fire a bullet. put a bullet in a tube and strike the
firing pin. stay away from those. they can explode in your hand.
people who don't shoot also don't realize how elaborate the shooting world is. they know
literally nothing about it. shooting is a very complex and technical activity. there's also
a complex social world to it.
when these schoolyard massacres occur, there are calls for banning guns. but that's
difficult for several reasons.
the schoolyard shooters (it used to be postal employees, but that seems to be over) are
generally loners with a gun. they are gun nuts. they want power and revenge, so they get a
gun. the anti-gun crowd is mostly against this type of shooter, and i agree; these nuts
shouldn't have access to guns. or knives. or tennis balls. but nothing will stop them; they
will kill because American society glorifies killing and violence.
most of the handguns are for gun nuts. handguns are mostly useless. very short
range, etc.
the professional shooters (serious hunters, trapshooters, target shooters, etc.) are
sociable and belong to gun clubs. the large gun clubs are country clubs for doctors,
lawyers, wealthy farmers, and so on. they're not gun nuts. they don't like violence. in the
many many years of shooting, i never ever saw anyone make any threats or act irresponsible
in anyway. it's like the polite elite horse clubs, etc. it's a fairly expensive hobby (a
good target shotgun can cost $5,000 to $10,000). add the cost of shells, the costs of resort
hotels for the competitions, the entrance fees, and so on. it's not a sport for people with
modest means. definitely no loners, social outcasts, or gun nuts.
any talk of banning guns is simply impossible in regards to the serious shooters. they are
generally the social elites; the country gentlemen farmers, lawyers, judges, directors and
heads of corps, etc. they can prevent gun bans.
the problem is random nuts. the Secret Service did a study several years ago after
Columbine; they concluded there are so few schoolyard shootings that it's not possible to
draw generalizations. if 25 kids carried out shootings over the last 20 years, there are
also literally tens of millions of kids who went through school without violent outbursts.
there are too few events to generalize about social background, race, emotional state, etc.
of the shooters.
yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com
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