I received a copy of The Keller Citizen in the mail yesterday at my new house.  There was an interesting article about a new gun range planned for Roanoke (which is only about 5 miles from the house).  Unfortunately, the Keller paper doesn’t put their content online, so I had to type this in myself.

Council allows gun range planned for south Roanoke
By Linda Taylor

Roanoke gun enthusiasts will have an indoor range at which to practice thieir sport in early 2004.

The City Council voted last week to approve a zoning change that will allow Mark Honish to open the shooting range and an associated retail business in a planned development at Parish Lane and U.S. 377.

The request had been recommended for approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission on Sept. 15.

Honish said the 11,000-square-foot building will be made of tilt-wall concrete.  He added that his research had indicated a need for such a facility in the area.

“We expect this to be a family oriented facility,” Honish said.  “The whole point is to teach young people how to shoot properly.”

Roanoke resident Bill Walker raised some questions about the suitability of a shooting range within the city.

“I’m concerned about our town and the image we are going to be presenting,” Walker said.  “Are we ready for our young people to start going to a range and talking about what a good shot they are?  I’m more concerned about what a good shot they are on the basketball court.”

Police Chief Gary Johnson told council members he did not anticipate the range presenting any problems for the city.

“I am biased here because it will be a good benefit to the Police Department to have a shooting range nearby,” Johnson said.  “Mr. Honish has said it will be available to area police departments on a 24-hour basis.  If it is operated as Mr. Honish has described, I don’t see any problems.”

The vote on the zoning change was 5-1, with Bryan Baas voting against.

The gun range will be constructed just outside the Watermark Apartments complex.  Apartment spokeswoman Jennifer Sundquist said last week that the company had no comment on the zoning change.

It’s good news that we’ll have another range to use.  However, it is annoying to see people like Bill Walker who think that there’s something wrong with young people learning to shoot.  There’s a subtle assumption at work in his statement that guns are bad and that they’ll tarnish the town’s image.  I’d also be curious to know why one council member voted against this.  Did he have some legitimate objection to the zoning plan, or is he just an antigunner voting his prejudices?

I went to the range this evening.  A .22LR shell casing landed behind my safety glasses and left a nasty little burn on my face below my right eye.  I don’t like to wear a cap when shooting because they make me sweat and they interfere with the ear muffs.  But I think I’m going to start making a habit of it in the future.  Those .22 casings are damn hot.

I just saw that USA Network is planning to air “D.C. Sniper: 23 Days of Fear”, a movie about the D.C.-area snipers.  I can only imagine what kind of nonsense we’re going to be subjected to.  Let’s hope this movie doesn’t turn into the usual anti-gun drivel that Hollywood types love to spew.

Now that I will have the space for a real gun safe (and a concrete slab to support one), it’s time to go looking.  I’ll probably stop at Bass Pro one day this week and look at their selection.  However, I’ll also be going to the Dallas Market Hall show this weekend to check out the show specials.

I’ve been woefully behind in reading the pile of magazines that have been accumulating over the past couple of months.  This evening I pulled the October issue of Guns & Ammo off the top of the stack and learned that Beretta has introduced a new pistol-caliber carbine called the Cx4 Storm.  They retained the same designer as for the Neos .22 pistol (Giugiaro Design) and they seem to have followed the same design cues.  It’s all black polymer and sweeping curves.  Some interesting features are that it is ambidextrous (including the ability to reverse the direction of shell ejection) and works with magazines from the Beretta 92/96 and 8000 series pistols (it uses inserts in the magazine well to accomodate these different magazines).  It’s available in 9mm (OK, although some will disagree), .40S&W (better), and .45 ACP (now you’re talking).

I won’t pass judgement on its looks at this point.  I don’t mind polymer guns, although they aren’t very pretty.  But what really matters is how they function and how they feel.  I’d like to get a chance to see one in person (and hold one).  A cursory internet search shows current prices to be around $600.00 (one site had it for $597.95 and another had it for $615.00).

I’m about to torture an analogy to death, but bear with me…

The shooting in New York yesterday got me to thinking about the way our society treats guns and the crazy idea that we can somehow create a “bubble” of safety which is free from all harmful elements.

For some time now I’ve thought about violent crime in a way similar to disease.  The agents of the disease can be thought of as malevolent microorganisms that are damaging the host organism by harming the individual cells that make up the whole.  We can choose a couple of alternative ways of dealing with this problem: 1) sterilization (the boy in the bubble method), and 2) immunization (distributing the means of counterattack and prevention throughout the body).  I am of the opinion that the second option, as related to a distributed defense (i.e. a pack not a herd, to borrow a phrase) is ultimately better. 

The first option, sterilization, means attempting to prevent the disease causing elements from even getting into the body.  In real life this is manifested in airport screening, metal detectors at courthouse entrances, gun-free school zones, the federal statute against having a gun in a postal facility, etc.  From my vantage point these methods have not only failed miserably, but they make the problem worse, since they create zones of increased vulnerability.  In fact, we seem to see more cases of mass shootings in gun-free zones.  I tend to think that this occurs because the killers, while mad or insane, do engage in some calculation about the relative chances for success of their plans.  Especially when they’re trying to make a big splash.  Which would make more noise in the press?  A story about a mass murder or a story about an armed citizen stopping an attacker (no need to answer that one, since we know how the media will report each one already).  There will always be holes in the “bubble” that will be exploited by those with evil intent.  Let’s be honest with ourselves and admit that a perfect barrier is not possible (if you think it is possible, solve the problem of drugs getting into prisons first and get back to me).

Immunization is not necessarily a perfect defense.  It requires distribution of the means to respond to the threat throughout the body of the people.  It does not always work.  There may even be times when innocent people are killed.  This is comparable to real immunization, where a vaccine sometimes kills people.  Unfortunately, we live in the real world, where there are no perfect solutions.  But this does have the advantage of not having to rely on the convenient fiction that it’s possible to screen out all threats and live happily within a bubble.  While microorganisms can’t think or weigh the consequences of their actions, criminals sometimes do.  Not only does having a distributed defense allow for swift preventative action against criminals, it can act as a deterrent, lowering the chances of success and dissuading some from committing certain types of crimes.  And for those criminals who don’t get the message, it removes them from the pool of criminals, so they won’t be around to commit future crimes.

Would an armed citizen have been able to stop yesterday’s shooting?  I don’t know.  Apparently there was also a cop there, but he was not able to react until it was too late.  But according to the accounts I read there were other people, private citizens who were disarmed by the state, who saw the shooter before he started shooting.  If one of them had been armed, perhaps the concilman would still be with us (and arguing for more gun control, as he was wont to do).

I made the decision some time ago to take responsibility for my own protection.  I don’t intend to rely on others to protect me.  But more than that, I know that I can’t rely on others to protect me.  Police have no duty to protect any individual citizen.  Those who advocate calling 911 and sitting back to “let the police handle it” are missing an important point.  Once you call 911, what are you going to do until the police get there?  Talk to them?  Throw the phone and run?  Face it: you’re on your own.

I take this responsibility seriously.  I go to the range at least once a week.  It takes time and money (I probably spend $30 to $40 per week on range fees and ammo).  But I consider it an investment well spent. 

Understandably, not everyone is ready to make this kind of decision.  I won’t be so crude as to imply that these people aren’t citizens, as some over-the-top pro-gun advocates have done.  However, I would caution these people to get out of the way of the rest of us.  The doctrine of prior restraint against law-abiding citizens is getting people killed.

While I’ve got gun shows on my mind, I should point out that there will be a show in Ft. Worth this weekend at the Will Rogers Center.

*Yet Another Evil Loophole Gun Show

A couple of days ago, Kim du Toit called for volunteers to assist people who are interested in learning to shoot.  I sent Kim my contact information, but I’ll reiterate the offer here. 

I live in Denton, but I can get around to just about anywhere in the D/FW area.  I’ll provide one of my guns (I recommend .22 pistols for new shooters, though), eye and ear protection, ammo, and the range fee as well as instruction on the basics of shooting safely.  So far I’ve helped teach five people how to shoot.

I just need to recruit a couple more people into the gun culture and I’ll get that toaster oven. 

The Fuqua Report is a periodic survey conducted among graduating MBAs at a number of graduate schools¹ across the country.  According to their website:

“Its goal is to determine the prevailing attitudes, career plans and values of graduating MBAs from top-tier business schools.”

Normally I wouldn’t have paid any attention to something like this, but a friend of mine read about it and noticed an interesting result.

One of the survey questions is “Are there industries in which you would not work because of political, social or ethical concerns?”  Of the total number of respondents, 63% responded yes to this question.  Among those, 36% said they would not work in the firearms industry versus 3% in 2000.  Interestingly enough, the percentage who would not work for tobacco producers declined to 58% from 94% in 2000.

Here is the table: (I hope they don’t mind that I reproduced it here, but I thought it interesting enough that it should be included)

The question clearly identifies “political, social, or ethical” concerns as the basis for refusing to work in an industry.  This is of concern to me, since my initial take was that maybe they were afraid to work in the firearms industry because of economic concerns.  Perhaps it is possible that some of the respondents were considering the current state of the industry, but I’m concerned that the majority of these people are against the firearms industry for other reasons.  I’m also puzzled that this would be the case, since we’re being told that people are coming to a greater acceptance of firearms, especially given all that has happened since September 11, 2001.  Perhaps these people are being given a special brand of Kool Aid in these schools?

It makes me wonder if we aren’t seeing yet another effect of the strangle hold that Political Correctness has over our institutions of higher learning.  Or am I reading too much into this?

¹ The following schools were included in the survey:

Dartmouth College (Amos Tuck School of Business)

Duke University (Fuqua School of Business)

Indiana University (Kelley School of Business)

Northwestern University (Kellogg Graduate School of Management)

UCLA (The Anderson School)

UC Berkeley (Haas School of Business)

University of Chicago Graduate School of Business

University of Michigan Business School

University of Texas (McCombs School of Business)

University of Virginia (Darden Graduate School of Business)

Just a friendly little reminder: keep your finger out of the space between the magazine well and the little lip at the bottom of a 1911 magazine if you don’t want a nasty little blood blister.  Alternately, you could avoid slamming the magazine into position and bypass the whole problem.