Free Press book club: Biography of a gun

the Detroit Free Press ^ | May 4, 2003 | MARTA SALIJ

[archy]

How do criminals get their guns? And what should law-abiding citizens do about it?

Those are the central questions of Erik Larson's pivotal 1994 book, "Lethal Passage: The Story of a Gun" (Vintage, $13), this month's Free Press Book Club selection.

[archy]

Though dated, the book is still in circulation, and I was tipped off to this by a pal. This appears to be another part of the continuing attack to see the Assault Weapons Ban not only extended but expanded, and it looks like the massacres necessary for the publicity they'll need are being planned as well.

These people are using murders to push their political agenda. You know what that makes them....

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[archy]

Bang_list ping!

[Bob]

From the article:

...to explore how guns migrate from the so-called legitimate gun-distribution network to the hands of killers, robbers, and inner-city gangsters,"...

Yep, those migratory guns and their actions really need to be studied.

Do they migrate south in winter like birds do? Perhaps they actually hibernate until they can find a criminal to attach themselves to.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

...what should law-abiding citizens do about it?...

They should be armed, and vigilant, and not afraid to stand up to the riff raff.

Or the common criminals, who are not in the government.

[Normal4me]

"How do criminals get their guns? And what should law-abiding citizens do about it?"

Oh, this is easy..criminals steal guns because they are criminals. Law abiding citizens should shoot criminals.

[elbucko]

"Biography of a gun"

The title tells the tail. Guns don't have a "biography". This is an attempt to anthropomorphize an inanimate object as the precursor and instigator of a human crime. To absolve the responsibility of humans for the manner they may use a "tool". To be sure, there are crimes along the way, but they are committed by humans. Many of whom, should know better.

[Skywalk]

Yeah, reminds me of the little ads up before the movies at Loews Cineplex. One of them refers to a movie called American Gun, where the father of a daughter that was killed by a man using a gun tracks down all the previous owners of the weapon and 'confronts his own demons.'

Now, I'm sure in a WAY this kind of collection of tales could be interesting, but the movie should never have been made. The man using the gun was responsible for the murder. No one would even think about tracking down previous owners of a hammer or bat or tire iron, it'd be STUPID.

The same thing with a 'gun biography' unless it's truly a collectible and belonged to some interesting characters, but that's any object.

[archy]

Now, I'm sure in a WAY this kind of collection of tales could be interesting, but the movie should never have been made. The man using the gun was responsible for the murder. No one would even think about tracking down previous owners of a hammer or bat or tire iron, it'd be STUPID.

Well, not entirely, though the tracking of the inanimate object should be as evidence, not as though it was a demon-possessed fetish object with its own soul and mind.

A decade or so back I became aware of a fella who tracked the distribution chain of the narcotics that had eventually reached his daughter and killed her, and the odd circumstances of the fates of those who'd handled it along the way. Just a coincidence, I'm sure, since those folks followed a dangerous trade that put them at risk from all sorts of potential competitors, though the weapon used wasn't one that is generally been heard of as being popular in that line.

Maybe someday I might tell that story...after he's passed on, and neither the family members of the narcotrafficantes nor their hired associates, some of them serving in fairly high-ranking US governmental positions, would be in a position to retaliate. Whatever final reward he may find I expect will not be shared by those more likely headed for warmer spots.

-archy-/-

[boris]

Responsible gun owners lock up their guns. All of mine (except one) are in a gun safe in the cellar. My "house gun" is a Smith Model 19, loaded, with the cylinder open, in a small safe next to my bed. I can open the safe in the dark and have the cylinder closed in 5 seconds.

The big safe is there because I don't want my guns stolen by thieves. The little safe is there because I want my house gun nearby and accessible.

I have no children.

Ammo lies all over the place; why bother to lock it up if the guns are secure and no kids about?

That's how I choose to do things--primarily to prevent my guns from falling into the "wrong hands".

--Boris

[Travis McGee]

Why not the more typical "story of a gun" about one which saved a woman from being raped and or a shopkeeper murdered?

[RogueIsland]

3. Do you own a handgun?

Not a handgun, no...

[RogueIsland]

Yep, those migratory guns and their actions really need to be studied.

All mine were tagged by game wardens. I sometimes get a kick out of following them in a helicopter during their seasonal migration.

[Joe Brower]

[Flyer]

the so-called legitimate gun-distribution network

The so-called legitimate gun-distribution network? What the heck is that insinuating?

[Petruchio]

Request permission to take a dump on the author's head . . .

[Joe Brower]

Har-har! Permission granted!

[archy]

Responsible gun owners lock up their guns. All of mine (except one) are in a gun safe in the cellar.

Well, I have some that reside in a home safe, and others that are kept ready for immediate use. But too, I've got a couple that won't easily fit in the downstairs safe....

[Travis McGee]

You know, like the "so called" RKBA."

It means they plan for it to go bye-bye.

[eskimo]

Well, I have some that reside in a home safe, and others that are kept ready for immediate use. But too, I've got a couple that won't easily fit in the downstairs safe....

Is that a Jeep-mounted 105?