Don't Do It!

A commission in Finland is recommending that all automatic pistols be banned and confiscated. The reason given is that two mass shootings have been committed by criminals wielding such arms.

Don't do it, folks!

First off, how will that help? It is folly to believe that a moral issue can be turned into an equipment issue. The real problem here is that two people wanted to kill many others. An autopistol is merely a means to that end. The true weapon is the human mind. A person who wants to kill will not be stopped by any equipment shortage. Some of the proof is in the fact that a person who is bent on killing is already in violation of laws against assault and murder. If a person is willing to murder, they will be willing to obtain illegal weapons.

Let's suppose that the world suddenly had no guns, then. Bombs can be made easily. Propane and a match are sufficient. Knives, bows, match head pipe bombs, fertilizer-fuel bombs, fuel-air bombs, improvised firearms/projectile launchers, swords, axes, machetes, fire, sledges, and mauls are all lethal and expedient weapons. So are cars and airplanes. It is not possible to remove the means of a killer to kill. You have to convince the killer not to kill or stop them through dissuasion, detention, or destruction. Those are the only ways.

Is that not enough? What about the Tokyo subway attacks? The Khobar Towers? The World Trade Center? How many times have vehicles been turned into weapons?

You will not gain security by giving up freedoms. Finland is a very safe nation and I applaud any effort to make it more so. However, banning automatic pistols is folly because it will not have the intended effect. I suggest efforts similar to what the U.S. Air Force has done to reduce suicide. Suicide and mass murder have something in common. Both are acts where the people who commit them will not be dissuaded by any rule or law. The USAF has pushed the idea that people should look out for those around them and watch for signs. Another thing that murderers and those who commit suicide have in common is that their actions almost never happen in a vacuum. The warning signs are almost always there. How many of these mass shooters just up and killed a bunch of people one day after they just decided to, for no reason at all? I will not say that it never happens, but I have never seen it.

Don't do it! If liberty is restricted for the sake of security, both are lost, moral issues are not solved with the addition or removal of equipment.

Clever little things

I took my wife out to fondue for Valentine's day. It's our tradition and always results in both of us rolling home satisfied, but not really wanting to eat anything for a few days. However, this time was different. She had a big test to study for and studying was not going well at all. After a great deal of frustration, she announced that she wanted more fondue. There really wasn't anything I could do, was there? It was late and the stores were closed, plus I am not experienced in the making of fondue. I decided to let her work things out while I cleaned and organized the house. In doing so, I discovered a small collection of those mini kits that you can buy at Barnes and Noble... tiny little things for the growing of bonsai, learning about "spycraft", or making fondue. I took out the fondue kit and opened it. A tea light, a tiny, ceramic dish, and flimsy, wire, stand, and a tiny manual spilled out. A mental inventory confirmed that we had some Alaska Winter in the house as well as some Gruyerre, so I set it all up, cubed an apple, and presented my with with whole thing.

Epic Win!

Seen It Before

I do not have much time, but this is worth mentioning.

The Colorado state government is preparing to institute a tax on sugar.

Um, I've seen this show before. As I recall, it ends with a really nasty war.

Seriously, though, this is becoming more and more like a really bad dystopic future book. These taxes are insane! When will there be an end? When will people in this nation finally say "enough" and kick these greedy bastards (I'm sorry if any of their parents are/were decent folk) out of power? Look at all these taxes! What ISN'T taxed? We are taxed when we die, for crying out loud! We are taxed on money that we earn from corporations that are also taxed, only to lose more of what is not taxed as income to taxes on things we buy, things we own, and even our own deaths! If we want to invest our money, we get taxed on the returns! What's next, a birth tax? I'm sorry in advance if just gave some shyster lawmaker an idea.

What right does the government have to take all this? God only asks for ten percent. Last I checked, I lose about 25% of my income to taxes. I am an enlisted man with under a decade of service, so that will tell you just how filthy rich I am, not that wealth should matter anyway...
If God asks for ten, just who the hell do these lawmakers think they are? Why do they need all this money? I'm sure there are things that our government can do without. For example, the City of Colorado Springs has just turned off a large number of street lights and discontinued trash removal service to many city parks so it can save money. At the same time, the city is running ads on television to publicize some senior activity center. At the risk of sounding like Scrooge, what is the city doing running activities for anyone? At risk of sounding like a "traitor", what is the city doing taking out TV ads when they are turning off lights to save money? Our taxes at work...
The government needs some money. I know this well as the U.S. government pays me to keep bad stuff from happening on this planet. There are things a government needs to do, but just like any citizen, the government must operate on a restrained budget, fitting expenditures to income and not the reverse. Expenditures must be harshly examined and only approved if they are genuinely justified by the Constitution. For example, no government has any business funding art. Art will survive just fine with out looted funding. It predates government, actually. Paying farmers to grow or not grow crops is another thing that no government has any business doing. So is running media outlets, taking out advertisements, and funding "community organizations".

Too much is taken by the state. They have no right to so much and they have no right to take it in so many ways. Are we not taxed enough already? How is taking yet more money from the working man or the business mogul going to help anything? It is immoral and it will only lead to bad things. Taxation can not lead to prosperity.

There is an election coming up. I suggest taking a critical look at your incumbents. See if they voted for tax increases. If they did, vote with vengeance and vote for somebody who is not a thief. If you like high taxes, move somewhere that already has them. I understand that many European nations will cheerfully take huge chunks of your hard-earned money. Leave America to those who would keep what they work for.