David,
Your message may have been sent just to me and I believe you intended it
(because of your reference to Andrew Sean Gear) to go to all of
Lit-Ideas & so if that happened, they can read your note below this one
before this one.
I did recall your interest in swords. The term "Left Coast" usually
includes both Oregon and Washington with the implication that we hold
the same left-wing politics and believe that guns and knives longer that
3 and 3/4 inches should be abolished; which leads me to my question
about your swords. I do have some long fixed-bladed knives, my USMC
Ka-Bar fighting knives for example, and I have taken them on hikes, but
I wouldn't dream of taking one with me while I walked my dogs . . .
assuming that I could still walk my dogs. I haven't read up on all the
new laws, but my impression is that the laws governing long knives
pertains to carrying them about in public social situations and not
merely collecting them and keeping them in ones attic.
As to flash-bang guns, "Stun grenades, more popularly known as
“flashbangs” are heavily restricted outside of military and law
enforcement usage in the United States, making it extraordinarily
difficult (if not outright impossible) to pick any up on the civilian
market." Thus, the civilian interested in protecting his family must
resort to your "machine guns and all kinds of guns" . . . well not
machine guns, at least here in California we prohibit machine guns:
pulling the trigger must fire only one bullet. If you want to fire two
you must pull the trigger twice. But "all kinds of guns" are available
in the sense that they do last a very long time if they are cared for.
I have had an interest in guns since I was a rifle instructor in the
Marine Corps and did some target shooting at the Long Beach Pistol range
while working at McDonnell Douglas. My brother-in-law is a true
gun-collector and at one time I got caught up in the idea of acquiring
some black-powder hand-guns, I gave the idea up when it turned out I
didn't have a very good place to shoot near where I live in San
Jacinto. Also, at the time, Heidi, a German Shorthaired Pointer
developed a problem with her hearing. She went from being a good
gun-dog to being terrified at the sound of gun-fire; so I gave up
shooting guns and turned to photography. The Police if they invaded my
study might very well claim that I had a cache of cameras.
Lawrence
On 5/24/2020 3:57 PM, david ritchie wrote:
On May 24, 2020, at 2:42 PM, Lawrence Helm <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:I have a stock of sticks, well two African beauties. I shall take your implied advice and keep my eyes peeled for others.
David,
Often feeling almost out of eggs myself, I am especially sympathetic toward your chickens. My own chicken-dreams never came to anything, not having been able to move out of my chickens-prohibited neighborhood, but I do have dogs and can't imagine being without them . . . well of course I am without the ones that passed away in the past -- in the days when Susan said she was too sad to get another, but after a bit I got one anyway and so it went. In these days it seems I anticipated my current condition by having gone on a hiking-stick frenzy years ago and now have quite a few that were undersized and now work quite well for limping about.
As for what will happen when the last chicken goes to gather by the River, we shall see. I no longer keep tropical fish. We have two cats and a dog. Also a duck punt gun and a garden cannon, so the house is well-defended. I do find two things odd when people talk about the right to bear arms. Special forces and SWAT teams used flash-bang grenades when entering houses. Surely they would be the right weapon to cover retreating from an invader? But people seem to prefer machine guns and all kinds of gun. My second thought is that the framers wrote in an ear when swords were still very much in use. Does anyone march to the Statehouse waving a sword? Not in the photos I’ve seen.
If we had any grass I might get Highland cattle, they being a delight to my eye, but I know that’s about as likely as me keeping an elephant, which was a childhood dream.
A section I cut out of today’s Hereabouts concerned Andrew Sean Greer, “Less,” which I have started. It won the Pulitzer prize, so I assume it’s good. Has anyone here read it?
David
