Gun Control & RKBA
In reply to the discussion: Senate Panel Votes for Ban on Assault Weapons [View all]thucythucy
(8,043 posts)anything. And his attitude towards guns was reckless beyond belief. Even AFTER he killed his wife. He made Hunter Thompson look positively tame, and that really is saying something.
My problem with the Bushmaster (and I'll stay specific so as not to get into the whole "what exactly is an assault rifle" conundrum) is precisely that it is so easy to use. Any idiot can do it, from the sound of the promotionals I've seen posted on DU and elsewhere. It just shouldn't be that easy for someone to mow down a group of people. There should be some level of skill involved in the use of lethal force. This fifteen year old probably could have got the same results firing a shotgun into the intruders' general direction. Just my opinion.
I talked to Allen Ginsberg once, and he was quite charming to me, especially considering how young and clueless I was. Afterwards I read much more of his work, pretty much all of it, actually. I recommend "Kaddish" as his best ever. It's rather long, but if you read it out loud, all the way through, I think you'll be quite moved.
BTW, Ginsberg once "disarmed" a cop by chanting "om." This was during the infamous Democratic Convention in Chicago in '68. Norman Mailer describes it in "Miami and the Siege of Chicago" (amazing book--I love much of Mailor's work even though he was a rabid misogynist. He once told an interviewer that he thought it was better to rape someone than to masturbate. I mean, WTF!!!???). The cops were running amok, bashing people's skulls. Mailer saw a cop lift his billyclub to whack Ginsberg, who was sitting in the grass, lotus position, chanting "Om." The cop was so perplexed he froze, then turned away muttering "fucking hippy" and ran off to club someone else!
Really, I wish I had the answers to all this. My thought now is to watch the process as it unfolds, and see who comes up with what looks to be the best solution. But my best thought is that the status quo just isn't cutting it.
Best wishes.