My thoughts on guns

I was reading a blog that linked to www.zombiehunters.org, a website that is dedicated to preparedness for disasters, all of them, using zombies as a metaphor for catastrophe.

Anyway, I was browsing their forums and saw a thread for people to post pictures of their gun collections.

You could say I'm both surprised and horrified. Especially this picture here on page 12.

I'm not the kind of person that thinks government gun control is a solution to gun violence, nor do I think that's even a step in the right direction. I think people should be able to own whatever weapons they want to protect their homes and families within reason as long as they know how to be safe. That said, some of the posters there at zombiehunters are a tad... excessive. There is no reason whatsoever (outside of law enforcement/military, obviously) to have more than maybe 3 or 4 guns, and that's stretching it.

When it comes to defending your home, unless you pissed someone off in the mob or Taliban, then a simple handgun can be used to neutralize any intruder easily, and you have a better chance of not killing them. If for some reason you or your family is desperate for food, the pistol is not nearly as much use as a rifle for hunting.

So how can you justify over 20 guns? How can you justify 20 guns with 20 high capacity magazines for each one? Are you planning on starting a small war with your local police agency?

For perspective, I own one handgun that holds 13 rounds, with a spare magazine. I keep it in the case with a flashlight so if I hear some suspicious noise in the house, I grab both, and use the light to make sure I'm not shooting at something I don't intend to hurt. I also own a Mosin Nagant Bolt Action rifle. It's probably the most cumbersome gun in the world and weighs a ton. That's for killing a deer to feed myself if I had to. Lastly, I have pieces to an old WWII machine gun that I would like to restore as a collector's item.

So anyway, WTF?

Apparently you can't shoot guns in Kansas

Today, I and my roomates were bored with sitting around doing nothing. We decided to go out, do some shooting, hang out in the wilderness, maybe have a campfire. It sounded simple, but in fact, was a real downer.

You see, in Kansas, there is very little open range BLM land. You leave town, and there is a house every mile or two, and the land inbetween those homes is private property. Right now, the wheat and hay fields are about waist-high, which would be unpleasant at best to go shooting in. Also, the land is flat, meaning there is nothing to stop a stray bullet from hitting some random cow and/or horse. We thought about trying to find a wooded area, but really, that wouldn't work because I don't know if some dude is practicing his ninja skills all innocently there in the trees when I'm blasting away. Guns are pretty damn dangerous if you aren't aware of your surroundings.

So anyway, we drove around for an hour and a half and didn't find a suitable place to shoot. We might try to go out again tomorrow.

Wow... well, I've been staring at the screen here for 10 minutes, drawing a complete blank on what to say. I started this blog to force myself to write more, but I've been slacking a bit, no longer updating daily (even though I have more than enough time). Perhaps tomorrow I'll post an excerpt from my book, except I might throw in some of those "revisions" and "corrections" that people are always yammering on about.

Interesting Trivia For You

For anyone that watches comedy central at all, you may have noticed the current commercial for Reno 911. It has a really intense song playing while the voiceover and action is going on.

That song is the main theme to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, by Harry Gregson-Williams. It's just a snippet, but it leads into my favorite part of the song where the really low electronic bass begins (Awesome to hear when you have a sweet sound system to listen with). The song is amazingly composed. This section is like being in a gunfight, the way it is arranged and performed... It really draws you into the whole concept of the story.

I have never heard a song on TV that originated on a video game before (excluding movies and TV based on video games, like this little gem here) but this particular snippet of song doesn't have any melody since it is just drum sound, which I guess would explain how it is easy to rip off for your advertisements.

Or buy, whatever, I don't know how the business goes down. :D

Anywho, I don't have much else to say so there you go.