Now that April 1st is history, I suppose it is time to offer a more serious opinion on what is a complex subject. Actually, I embedded a few serious points in my previous post but no one (probably to their credit!) rose to the bait.

I can personally attest to the fact that firing off a pistol, M-16, M-60, M-79 grenade launcher, and even a LAW (light antitank weapon) can be a lot of fun. It really helps in the fun department if the target is something inanimate like a derelict 6x6, a defunct APC, or a Coke can. Look at all the fun those biathletes have!

At some point in my life, it was no longer possible to fire the occasional LAW, protests to my elected representatives notwithstanding. I tried to point out the role of the LAW in home defense and my rights under the Constitution, but my protests fell on deaf ears. It seems that some completely arbitrary line had been drawn preventing me from owning a LAW. Sawed-off shotguns, too!! Oppressive government at work!!!

Yes, I was bitter for a while, but after a long period of reflection, I came to a number of (sometimes conflicting) conclusions. What follows is a number of highly developed theories, hypotheses and Jimtistics (uniquely customized statistics)...

Depending on where you look -- cities, suburbs, rural areas -- gun ownership cuts across the class/politics spectra. That being said, gun ownership (especially short arms and auto fire items) is much higher among folks that would consider themselves politically conservative. It is higher yet again in groups who can rightly be considered "fringe" -- survivalist, New World Order kooks more of less. Somebody protect me from the people who want to protect me from the government!

The Left's opinions and statistics on guns are not perfect or 100% percent consistent. They are generally consistent. One place this leaves the Left is: seriously outgunned.

The NRA is morally bankrupt. We could have 5 or 6 Columbines a year and they would still trot out the same old party lines.

Fully 50 percent of folks who joint the NRA do so just to get the little sticker to put on their car in the vain hope that they'll deter car thieves.

I don't think I want to spend a whole lot of time socializing with the dudes that drive around with "This Car Protected by Smith and Wesson" bumper stickers. If by some amazing coincidence they all developed a fatal illness or moved to the same deserted island as that guy with the "My Other Ride Is Your Daughter" bumper sticker, I would not be very upset.

WRT guns, some folks decry and even make fun of countries like the UK. I wonder whether unarmed constables is the perfect approach, but I still consider it an accomplishment of sorts. Give me the UK's gun problem over our gun problem any day.

Different countries take different approaches on this issue. None of the approaches is perfect. Some, I would say, are better than ours. France, for instance, only issues pistol permits to mentally ill paranoid folks if they have a solid history of target shooting. When I travel to Canada, the government gent at the border makes a big deal out of making sure that I am not armed. When I cross the border, I am no longer covered by the NRA's misconception of the 2nd amendment, but, amazingly, I don't feel like I have driven into the heart of a brutal repressive dictatorship. I don't even feel less free. Amazing.

My careful research shows that some of the guys who get the *most* fired up about handguns have what I would call control issues...they also are prone to PIED (premature idiopathic erectile dysfunction). Well, that's why they call them short arms.

The good news for these guys (and perhaps the sad news for some of us)? : You Can Relax. You've Won. Manufacturers and gun shops have pumped so many weapons into the hands of private citizens (whether law-abiding or criminally inclined) through the inconsistent matrix of various state laws that there is really little hope of going back. Even if police melted down every weapon confiscated from criminals (after being stolen during a break-in) and if serious new restrictions on new manufacture/purchase were put in place, the number of guns out there would remain huge.

This being the United States, if anything happens in this arena it will be the result of: litigation. Personal injury lawsuits against the owner who did not secure a weapon which killed that (statistically insignificant) 4 year-old.

Well, there it is. I'm not going to spend a lot of energy defending particulars since, as we all know, YROFMV.