http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/18716.html

Annie, Got Your Gun?

by Declan McCullagh (declan@well.com)

3:00 a.m. 25.Mar.99.PST

WASHINGTON -- Mark Raso dreads coming to work in the morning. Business is so brisk at his Powell Butte, Oregon, firearms business that he and his partner can no longer keep up with the new orders.

"I didn't think this was going to happen until the second half of the year," Raso says. "But it's already begun,"

He's talking about Y2K jitters.

Visions of millennial chaos have turned everyday Americans into gun owners for the first time, Raso says, and stretched supply lines to the breaking point. Media reports appear to have fueled fears that New Year's Eve may end in catastrophe, not celebration.

[...remainder snipped...]

-- Declan McCullagh (declan@y2kculture.com), March 25, 1999

Answers

Well, Decaln, I am sure this is not what you meant, but I think there should be a gun "in every pot" in America. I do not trust our gov't and I don't trust the polyannas either. It doesn't matter whether we lose our freedoms through conscious efforts via the gov't or stupidity of the polyannas.

Got ammo

-- Taz (tassie@aol.com), March 25, 1999.

Danger Will Robinson, Danger! Long tirades about the NWO, government conspiracies, NATO troops massing on the the Mexican border and guns are good polemics. Brought to you by the denizens of the trailer park - your friendly GI!

-- Y2K Pro (2@641.com), March 25, 1999.

-- Y2K Amateur commented:

"Danger Will Robinson, Danger! Long tirades about the NWO, government conspiracies, NATO troops massing on the the Mexican border and guns are good polemics. Brought to you by the denizens of the trailer park - your friendly GI!"

Typical screaming liberal response. Make up absurd statements and attempt to portray the individual as a far right scare monger.

Your one sick cookie y2k amateur!

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), March 25, 1999.

Declan commented:

"Media reports appear to have fueled fears that New Year's Eve may end in catastrophe, not celebration. "

Declan, obviously these reports were not penned by you!! Most of the media reports I have seen talk about a bad snow storm. Are you making up stotries again?

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), March 25, 1999.

"Make up absurd statements"

Every one of these situations has been breathlessly debated by the looney brigade on this ol' forum within the last two weeks...

-- Y2K Pro (2@641.com), March 25, 1999.

Y2K Amateur commented:

"Every one of these situations has been breathlessly debated by the looney brigade on this ol' forum within the last two weeks...

NATO troops massing on the the Mexican border "

there were threads about NATO vehicles being seen on the mexican side of the border but in you typical liberal blatherings you have elevated this to troops massing.

I believe the spinmeisters at the White House are looking for your type of talent. Might be a good job opportunity there.

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), March 25, 1999.

If I'm not mistaken, it was UN troops at the US/Mexican border.

-- Diane (Dir9290343@aol.com), March 25, 1999.

I bought guns and ammo because they will be worth more than gold. Some ammo is being banned, so I figure that just tripled my stash in value, has gold doubled in price yet?

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), March 25, 1999.

Has anyone bothered to call their local gun dealers & ASK them if sales have risen? Neither have I, but I strongly suspect the answer would be "no."

A local sports warehouse just went belly-up & sold off all their stock at reduced prices. Their guns & ammo disappeared quickly. Y2K related? Or just really good prices? Who knows? How would you gauge such a thing?

-- who (the@hell.knows), March 25, 1999.

There have been so many incidents of thugs busting into homes in this state, and not only robbing but raping females and otherwise wounding occupants, that there is a name for the phenomenon: "home invasion." So many incidents that the NC legislature has passed a law permitting a homeowner to shoot a home invader, whether or not the incident is domestic, if he/she believes his/her life is endangered.

I took a firearms course to be sure I knew what I was doing and, prompted by Y2K awareness which came into our lives around the same time, Sweetie and I quickly bought a shotgun and ammunition. If someone tries to break into our house, Sweetie or I WILL shoot them, and shoot to kill. And not lose a minute's sleep. I suspect that Y2K is merely the latest catalyst for an upsurge in gun ownership, that at its root is an increase in incidents of particularly violent crime.

(It must be noted that before buying the gun we purchased about 200lbs of cat litter. Priorities.)

Of course, to someone with Mr. M's mindset portrayed on this forum and elsewhere, an upsurge in gun purchases does translate to an increase in what he believes is Y2K "hysteria." I'm not going to the Wired site to read the complete text of the article because I don't want to add to the numbers of clicks it gets. There IS a tenuous connection, though, that being the oft-asked question: what if the government checks don't arrive on time? An increase in gun purchases would be evident WHATEVER the cause of that little worry.

Remember, a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), March 25, 1999.

It's not the purchase of the guns and the ammo that concerns me. It's the newbies who've never owned one before who don't get the proper training regarding maintenance, cleaning, reloading, the most effective way to hold and fire the gun itself.

For example, lotsa fixation on 12 gauge shotguns. If you're not properly trained and fire one for the first time, the recoil will be a nice surprise. I saw one guy place the end of the gun butt right againtst his cheek as if firing a .22 or carbine rifle, and that dude got one heckuva black eye, LOL.

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), March 25, 1999.

My local gunshop is doing an unusually brisk business, and the guy says ammo is flying off the shelves. They have a 1000-rd cases stacked on the floor and can't get enough. They also happen to be selling baygens and kerosene lanterns.

-- Shimrod (shimrod@lycosmail.com), March 25, 1999.

Also...

Guns are just like axes or any other tools for that matter, designed for a specific purpose. If you're looking for range/distance, rifles are more appropriate than shotguns. However, rifles require more attention in regards to aiming/targeting the site.

If you want a wide blast at a close range, a shotgun using buckshot pellets is more appropriate.

However, if you want to pierce sheet metal at a distance, this will not work. You could use slugs with your shotgun, but it is not as effective as using a rifle. Slugs are more blunt than most rifle shells.

Hey, what can I say? I grew up in the country, chased a lot of varmints out of the garden and the corral. Weasels getting to the chickens, rabbits nibbling at the seedlings, raccoons getting at the feed, the corn etc. If you're going to ward off critters in your garden, rifles are better. Otherwise, with a 12 gauge and buckshot, you'll likely blow away the plants as well as the critter itself.

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), March 25, 1999.

Declan, some literary criticism for you. I think the title of the piece would have worked better as: Johnny, Got Your Gun ? I understand the reference to Annie, but overall the Johnny connotation is superior, taken from a long line of Scot/Irish folk poems and culminating in the famous post-WWI anti-war novel Johnny Got His Gun , which most Americans, not being readers by nature, will know from the movie. Since you are a writer (though certainly no Edward De Vere!) , please pay more attention to literary style and titling. We Iceland-ers pay attention to such things.

-- Blue Himalayan (bh@k2.y), March 25, 1999.

-- Old Git commented:

"Remember, a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged. "

ROTFLMAO !!

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), March 25, 1999.

Blue, it might be too much asking a woman-beater, their lack of integrity is only equaled by their lack of knowledge and understanding.

Records of Declan McCullagh's arrest for domestic violence

-- Exposer (Sleuth@R.Us.com), March 25, 1999.

Firearms are not magic wands. If you choose to arm your self Please also the time to become proficient with it. And also think through from start to finish the chain of events which will occur to you should you have to use the weapon against human beings. And train all those in your house how to operate them also. You might need their help.

-- nine (nine_fingers@hotmail.com), March 25, 1999.

I guess the line that baffles me is Declan's reference to:

"Visions of millennial chaos have turned everyday Americans into gun owners for the first time."

funny thing, but having grown up around firearms, the only people I've known who did own firearms were everyday Americans...you know preachers, teachers, factory workers, store owners, relatives, friends, neighbors, those sorts of folks. The only ones who didn't were either honest pacificists like the Amish, or rich pseudoliberals.

hmm, come to think of it, y2kprole probably isn't Amish, now is he?

Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), March 25, 1999.

Arlin, don't you think its a good thing that Y2K will find most liberals unarmed? :)

-- sparks (wireless@home.com), March 25, 1999.

Just had to pass along the corollary to Old Git's aphorism, namely:

"A liberal is a conservative who's been arrested."

Not sure where I read these "bookends", but it was many years ago...

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), March 25, 1999.

Mac--LOL! I was a liberal for many years and was almost arrested during my bell-bottom jeans stage; the Louisiana deputy sheriff settled for a public humiliation instead. (For looking like a hippie.) I wonder if I would have become a radical if I'd been arrested? We'll never know. Don't know who it was said a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged--wish I did so I could give credit.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), March 25, 1999.