Posted on 09/29/2001 4:29:48 PM PDT by TERMINATTOR
Gun sale resurgence: Americans saying with wallet, "We feel safer when armed"
Scripps Howard News Service
Keeping up with the changes in the political landscape as America girds for war could give a person whiplash. The old bedrock assumptions about defense and domestic spending, rights to "privacy" and the operation of law enforcement, even opinions on criminal profiling, are changing with lightning speed.
So, too, has there been another, perhaps little-noted shift: our view of guns. I should say the fashionable circle's view of guns. After all, there are some 200 million firearms in the United States, the vast majority of which are legally owned.
Nevertheless, every time there is any kind of an assault with firearms against innocents, we inevitably hear that more gun control is the "answer" because, according to these folks, guns are the root of all crime and mayhem. Usually there's an attempt, often successful, at more gun-control initiatives.
Then came the horror of Sept. 11. What few have ventured to point out is that in this entire calamitous crime, throughout this act of war and terrorism like our country has never seen before, not a single gun was used. So much for seeing guns as the problem, and gun control as the solution.
Americans want to feel safer, and they want to protect their children, which is why this time they are emptying gun stores, fast. Six eastern states, presumably those with populations who feel most vulnerable as a result of the recent attacks and including several, such as New York, that have lead the way in strictly controlling guns, report that gun sales are soaring. And don't you know that more than a few of the purchasers, who would have been aghast at such a thought just a few weeks ago, are sheepishly purchasing them?
No, guns may not exactly protect their carriers against terrorists - then again, they might - but people are voting with their wallets. And they are saying they feel safer with guns than with those who would "protect" them by limiting or ending their ability to get a firearm. We may be witnessing a change from "gun as menace" to "gun as marvel" mentality. Consider the call for sky marshals on airlines, and now the plea from the Airline Pilots Association that pilots be allowed to pack heat during flights. I'm not exactly sure how the pilots would both fend off hijackers with a firearm and fly the plane, but I think the larger point is one of deterrence.
People everywhere, including criminals and even suicidal hijackers, at some level make rational calculations. If the hijackers had thought for a moment that anyone on the plane was at all likely to be armed and ready to use a gun, they almost certainly would not have attempted their deed, simply out of knowledge their plot would fail.
Talk of arming pilots and the extent to which we're putting air marshals on planes may be one reason they will almost certainly not attempt this particular route of terrorism again. They will likely try other avenues to terrorism against which guns may not deter.
But the larger point is that in times of peace and prosperity, society has the luxury of turning down its collectively turned-up nose on those who would protect themselves and their families with firearms. But in time of war, reality and self-preservation surface.
When the smoke clears, we'll notice something else on the new political landscape: that it will be a long, long time before Gun Control Inc. dares to advocate curbs on the Second Amendment again.
Went out gun shopping today, and held a bunch of Glocks, including the 27, couldn’t believe how light it was compared to the Beretta 96 which is also 40 Cal. But, when the salesman put the Beretta 92 FS Brigadier in my hand, my search had ended. Side-by-side the difference to me was like comparing a Volkswagen to a Ferrari. The other pistol that felt right was the Kimber 45, but you could get two Glocks for what the Kimber cost.
Usually I would pick a gun for home defense and therfor short range (ie shotgun). But I'm thinking that civil unrest means two things:
1) Longer range - you don't want the target to get the chance to get close.
2) Rugged construction - you can't run down to the gun shop to get a replacement part.
Again, thanks all.
M9 Pistol Slide Update
(May 10, 1988)
The following is a memo from Beretta to its dealers on the slide breakage that was reported.
"As part of our effort to keep you advised on the most current developments as associated with the M9 slide breakage, we have prepared this second update notice. Facts contained in this update should help set the record straight and correct inaccurate and outdated information that is being circulated, in some cases, as part of a misinformation campaign against the Beretta made U.S. military M9 and 92F semiautomatic pistol.
Memorandum On Article In American Handgunner Magazine
For the Glock versus Beretta. I'd say it is Glock versus the entire industry when is comes to the safety. Glock ain't got one. As someone else put it, "Putting the safety on the trigger, is like putting the combination to the safe on the outside of the safe. Not very safe."
Negligent discharges (ND) happen with the Glock due to no real safety. The trigger safety keeps the gun from firing when dropped, that's is all the Glock safety is good for. It will not help to prevent NDs.
With the 1911, Beretta, Taurus, et al., there is a real safety that is not on the stupid trigger. Plus, guns like the Beretta, and many others, also have firing pin blocks tied to the trigger to keep the gun from firing when dropped. Plus, the Beretta 92/96 have a roll-away firing pin, such that the firing pin rolls 90 degrees (up and down) when the safety is set so that the hammer cannot cause an ND if the gun is dropped or bumped. The trigger isn't blocked from moving; it is completely disconnected! Pull the trigger all you want, it doesn’t move anything! That is a serious safety! Beretta blocks the firing pin, rolls it away from the hammer, disconnects the trigger, and decocks the hammer. Nice and safe, not a "just keep your finger off the trigger" “safety”, as Glock tells you to do. Of course you are supposed to keep your finger off the trigger. jeez!
I believe with some Glocks you even have to PULL THE TRIGGER to field strip them!
Glocks are reliable and well built firearms, but for a novice, people should be thinking about safety as much as the coolness of a gun. The 1980’s are over, and having a plastic gun is no longer a cool thing. People should get one they can reliably own and shoot.
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