Because it made me laugh.
The fun part of the war on squirrels is blowing their little furry brains straight back to their bushy-tailed Valhalla.
I hate those little buggers, I truly do. My backyard is TEEMING with members of the Tamiasciurus family. As soon as the budget constraints are eased, I will begin my JIHAD!
Where exactly do we draw the line between paranoia and preparation? I live in an excellent area of town with low crime, and I carry a gun. I don’t feel like that’s paranoid, because I’m not constantly thinking about how I would defend myself from a violent attack. Conversely, I train regularly with the gun(s) that I carry so that in case of a violent attack, I can defend myself well. I don’t feel like that’s paranoid, again because I’m not living my life around the fear of a violent attack.
So, again I ask where is the line between paranoia and preparation? Personally, I look at preparation as “being ready for a situation that may never occur”, and I look at paranoia as “living in fear of a situation that may never occur.” Obviously, the difference is apparent to a reasonable person like myself; but it might not be so obvious to someone else.
My greatest concern with paranoia amongst gunnies isn’t its existence, but rather its use as a pejorative label by the non-gun types. “Paranoid gun-owner” conjures images of militia types in camo plotting their eventual rebellion against the evil government ninjas. That image isn’t exactly beneficial for those of us that aren’t doing that (aka the majority), but it’s a common image. It’s exactly that image that has led states to start to order psychiatric evaluations for people who arrested with large “caches” of firearms. The reasoning is that “you don’t need that many guns, so you must be up to something”.
While I’m generally all for new shooter education, and can frequently been hearing beating that drum on these pages, I’m also of the opinion that the best way to combat the “paranoid” gun owner image is pretty much the same. Education.
I have a lot of guns, and several thousand rounds of ammunition for those guns. A stranger from California would probably think I’m “paranoid”; education can fix that. At the same time, I don’t go yelling in the streets that I have X number of guns and X,000 rounds of ammo – because that doesn’t do anything to help fight the image of the “paranoid” gun owner.
We’re all ambassadors of our sport; and whether or not realize it people are making value judgments of all shooters based on you or me. Our ability to comport ourself with dignity, courtesy, and intelligence can go a long way towards fighting off the “paranoid” gun owner image. Like I’ve said before, when we get Suzy Soccermon on our side, that’s when we win this thing.
On my way to work this morning, I was reminded of the importance of our little friend, the decimal point.
The moral of the story is that while gas is expensive, I doubt that it’s 31.99 a gallon yet. But it’s still pretty funny.
Will resume tomorrow. I’m taking the rest of the day off to mow my lawn, and do things around the house.
I promise all manner of fascinating discourse on open carry, defensive thinking, Scary Rednecks in West Virginia, etc.
I really don’t have words to adequately describe the festivities from this weekend. Suffice to say that my wife and I were happy to reach the casa de Ahab upon our safe return last night around 2am.
There have been some valuable lessons that I picked up, in addition to the previous lessons I mentioned.
1. I64 in West Virginia is a lot of fun to drive if you A) have a good car, and B) it’s not raining. It was raining on our way to VA, which caused that section of the road to be somewhat stressful. Yesterday it was sunny and dry, which caused me to really enjoy that part of the road.
2. The Subaru Forester isn’t a good car, it’s a great car.
3. Hard liquor doesn’t mix well with small men who can’t hold their alcohol. (ed: not Ahab in this instance)
All in all, it was a fun trip – it was good to see some old friends and have the opportunity to make some new friends as well.
At an outdoor range, set up a board of appropriate size and hang 16 clay pigeons on it in two rows of eight.
Take two people with 10-shot .22 LR rifles, and at the buzzer they race to see who can get their 8 birds off the board first. Obviously, take care to ensure that everyone stays safe; but other than that it’s a fast, fun, and entertain way to burn up some cheap .22 ammo.
As you might have seen in my previous post, I’m currently in Virginia beach for a “vacation” of sorts, if by vacation I mean “shuttling bridesmaids around and picking up strangers at the airport.”
However, last night was the bachelorette party, and by a strange twist of fate I was in attendance, which probably had nothing to do with the fact that Mrs. Ahab is the Matron of Honor. Oh, and before I continue, this one is for SailorCurt. As much as I’d like to grab some coffee, between all the sundry duties assigned by Mrs. Ahab and the bride, I’m barely finding enough time to go to the bathroom. I’m writing this entry from my Blackberry in fact.
So anyway, on to the story of last night. At this bachelorette party, I learned many valuable lessons, that I would like to share with my dear readers.
1. The Assistant General Manager of Jillian’s is apparently god-like in his authority, and telling him that I’m waiting for my wife to finish peeing while they’re closing up is grounds for him threating to call the cops.
2. “Navy Bar” is also a synonym for “sausage fest” and possibly “cock forest”.
3. Riding mechanical bulls is a lot harder than it looks.
4. Girls riding mechanical bulls is way hotter than guys riding mechanical bulls.
5. Male british sailors are a lot more “touchy-feely” with each other than American sailors.
6. German marines think mechanical bulls are the coolest things in the world.
7. Do not drive through Richmond, VA on your way to Virginia Beach the same day the Queen of England is visiting Richmond; that is of course unless you like seeing a cop every mile of highway for 20 miles.
8. Never, ever, ever, drink the generic whiskey. God.
9. Wearing a Red Sox hat will win you both friends and enemies.
So, as you can tell, I’m having a fabulous time; full of fun and entertainment. The wedding is tomorrow, right now I’m hoping to get back to the hotel and steal just enough time for a workout.
Why would the compromise of absolute principles be considered desirable?
That question was posed to me in the comments section of this blog, and I think that it’s actually a worthwhile question that deserves an answer. In light of recent activities on the pro-gun front, there has been a lot of talk regarding 2nd Amendment absolutism vs. pro-2A stances that aren’t as hardline.
Uncle, Sebastian, and a few others including myself have all penned pieces recently on what kind of gun control we’d be willing to accept in the aftermath of the VA Tech shooting. The NRA has been merciless flagellated by some conservative blogs for supporting the measure before Congress to “improve” the NICS system.
It might come as a surprise to some that I’m actually a hardline 2A guy. I believe that “shall not be infringed” means precisely that, I believe that a great percentage of our current laws restricting the ownership and possession of firearms are un-Constitutional. The catch is that while I believe that “shall not be infringed” means exactly that; there aren’t a lot of people in positions of power that agree with me.
That’s why I’m willing to compromise on my absolutist beliefs. A quote that I’ve heard many times from several different people is “you have to know which hills are worth dying on”; or more succinctly: “Pick your battles”.
The essence of compromise is give a little to get a little. I’m willing to compromise a bit in my absolutist beliefs if I feel that giving in one area will allow me to gain in another area. Unfortunately, that brings me around to my concern lately. I worry that our the 2A compromises of late have been nothing of the sort, instead of giving a little to get a little, we’ve given a little and received nothing in return. That isn’t a compromise at all, it’s a surrender of liberty.
Just as an example of the kind of compromise I have in mind: I would like nationwide reciprocity for concealed carry permits. To get this, I would be willing to have a training standard placed on all states concealed carry permits. Additionally, I would be willing to see .50 BMG rifles reclassified as NFA weapons to get my nationwide reciprocity bill passed.
That doesn’t mean that I want to see .50 BMG rifles classified as NFA weapons. I’d rather they weren’t. What it means is that I personally place a higher value on the concept of nationwide reciprocity than I do on .50 BMG rifles.
I have a lot of absolute principles. The problem with my absolute principles is that I don’t live in an absolute world – there are a lot more shades of gray in my everyday life than there are black & whites. The compromise of my absolute principles would be desirable if by so doing I could achieve an outcome that I placed higher value on than I place on my absolutism.
Well, I’m in West Virginia; where Mrs. Ahab and I will spend the night on the way to Virginia Beach tomorrow for the Epic Wedding.
I realize this may be a surpise to my four readers, but I’m on vacation until Tuesday. Don’t worry, I’ll still be providing you with your regularly scheduled blogging.
This wedding is for a friend from college, she’s something of a drama lama, so I assue you that the tales will epic and legendary. Plus, she’s marrying a Navy man, so it’s going to be even more interesting.
Regular updates will come on Thursday and Friday, and then I’m hoping on Saturday to get some wedding stories up.
Apparently, Sebastian’s new CZ arrived yesterday, and he’s got a post up with pictures. I’m tremendously jealous, it looks cool and I want one.