Who Needs A Rapid-Fire Weapon?

2013-02-25T21:56:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't been writing in a while, but then I've been trying to survive. Only recently have I been able to focus on the things that really piss me off, and be able to write about them.

This is an example.

So, I was talking to someone that I met today and we were talking about gun control. He was adamant that people should have the right to buy whatever they wanted, as part of their Second Amendment right. He pointed out that the massacres of late were the responsibilities of those who did the shooting.

I had to ask--how much shooting power does someone actually need?

To me, there are four types of people who own guns these days, the competent who use their firearms as a part of their job (i.e. police, diamond dealers, etc.), collectors who never actually use their guns, criminals who are looking for firepower, and citizens who might want to scare a burglar.

The person I was talking to wanted all weapons, semi-automatic and, even automatic, weapons, legal. I had to ask "Why? . He said "Because not everyone can shoot."

Well, you have to know where the conversation went from there.

The whole discussion about automatic and semi-automatic weapons hinges on the idea that they are a right to own. Yet, no one has entertained the discussion about the "competency" of the people wielding the weapons outside of a professional organization.

Current laws try to keep the weapons in question (AK-47, etc.) out of the hands of the mentally incompetent and felons who might return to their roots, but do little to address the situation of the stupid, careless and ignorant.

I believe that everyone who owns a gun should go through the same vetting process as getting a driver's licence. Long ago should be the days when fat, boozy home-boys can amass a cache of weapons just because it feeds their personal paranoia.

Think about it. How many bullets does it take to shoot someone? Even at twenty feet, a reasonably competent person without training has a respectable chance of wounding and incapacitating an assailant. Who has to go for the kill-shot, except maybe someone who shouldn't have had a gun in the first place.

Anything over a weapon with ten bullets in the hands of a private citizen should be considered a "war" weapon and has no place in our society.

I think that we use different quantification's to explain the gun violence in out cities. What I don't see is anyone actually looking at the damage a bullet can do.

Maybe the yardstick we should start using is: "How much ammo do you need?"

That would put us onto the "crazy" and "fringe" people fairly soon.

Let people buy all the esoteric weapons they want, limit the ammo. Doesn't make a lot of sense to buy that T-1 tank if you only have one shell that costs $1,000.00.

This is one of those Fecaliths, in the Circle of Willits.

I'm definitely sending this link to the NRA.

Thanks for Reading.

Welcome to My Blog

2005-03-01T16:21:00.000-08:00

Hello.

My name is James Scott, aka WriterByTheSea, and I'm a writer. I am one of those inquisitive people who were born to write, and nursed that primal urge from an early age. I've been stringing words together creatively all of my career, writing computer code and articles, ghostwriting term papers, articles and books. On the more judgmental side, I've freelanced as an editor, copyeditor, publisher and critic. All of these gifts of craft have provided me with a fluctuating income and an extraordinarily good literary sense. I spot any and all errors in the casual reading of my morning paper and marvel at the marked deterioration of copyediting since the personal computer revolution began.

Aside from my journals though, my writing has always been for other people's benefit and my financial gain. I started down this road in 1966, writing both term papers and code. By 1994, I stopped writing bootleg term papers for lack of interest, and in 1997, I lost my love of computer programming when it finally deteriorated from an art form into an engineering problem. The storm of change that had been brewing for years finally made landfall in my life. I had always considered myself a writer, but the question that lingered was: "Am I an 'author?'"

Essentially, an author is someone who takes responsibility for his or her own work. As a geek, I signed my code as a matter of course. Outside of that though, I was a ghostwriter, albeit a highly productive ghostwriter, but a shadow on the wall nevertheless.

As a natural critic, I have always had things to say, events to comment upon abound for anyone with a whit of awareness of the world around them. However, I am a shy sort, or maybe plain, not Kentucky fried, chicken. Perhaps that's why I never published in my own name, preferring instead to publish without byline or under someone else's name when my words were allowed on the public page. So, for decades the question of "author" remained a burning coal in the middle of my forehead.

When the storm in my soul swept inland, I made the rash decision that if I were truly a writer, then I should sit down and write. Reality and intentions are two very different things, and for the last eight years, I've written reams, edited the pages mercilessly and not yet sent one printed sheet out into the world.

Well, time passes and now that I am reaching that point in my life where middle age becomes late middle age, I thought I should somehow pull the trepidation out of my craw and get the proverbial ball rolling. I set up three blogs, listed below, with the firm intention of posting short pieces of commentary for anyone who was interested. It didn't matter if anyone read my postings; it was that they could read the posts. That was six months ago.

It is now the first of March and for whatever reason, I've been grabbed by a wild hair to get at least something out there. For whatever it's worth, I've committed myself now, to myself and to you, dear reader. I hope to maintain standards of journalism that will make both of us proud. Details of the three blogs are below.

"A Writer In Monterey" (writerbythesea.blogspot.com) Living on the Monterey Peninsula is a tough game. John Steinbeck did it, along with a myriad other authors and artists, so can I. This blog is a journal of sorts. There is a lot of fodder for commentary on this very expensive rock and I plan to make the best of the opportunity.

"On Politics and Other Fecaliths" (fecalith.blogspot.com) We live in a world where the political landscape simply begs for annotation. From the idiocy of Californians hiring the glitterati to run the fifth largest economy in the world, to the howling-at-the-moon lunacy of our current President, we are in for a true "Mr. Toads Wild Ride." This is where you'll find my unabashed thoughts. I'll be commenting on the rules.

"Techno Commentary" (writerbythesea.modblog.com) I still can't completely sever my brain from its stem, the urge to keep track of emerging technology is an annoying, yet compulsive part of my makeup. In this blog, I'll report on my takes about new stuff as they cross my path.

I hope to publish weekly, on Monday if my procrastination isn't too bad. Each post will be between 500 and 1,000 words. The thousand words is my own limit. I don't want to be guilty of fostering boredom.

I do not write "rants," though I expect some of my pieces may sound like it. Just take it for enthusiasm. I will follow the best guidelines for journalistic integrity and editorial accuracy. The "AP Stylebook" is my bible. Should any of my readers find errors in grammar, spelling, citation or other fussy little writerly things, please send me comments at the email address listed below.

I hope this ride will be as first-class for you as it will for me.

Contact:writerbythesea2@gmail.com