Gun "Control"

I’m not one to try and force my political opinions on others because I know how annoying that can be. For that reason I usually don’t share my political opinions except with family or close friends. Since a lot of people, however, seem to be talking about the gun control issue and because I work next to guns on a daily basis— though be it very large and old ones—I thought I would share my view on gun control from the perspective of history. The idea of the present learning from the past is so important and should be considered no less when looking at the issue of gun control. First of all, like any good historian we must make sure we are using the correct terms. After all our aim is to be accurate, and yes, pun intended. The widely used labels “assault weapons” and “high capacity magazines” are nothing more than media-manufactured terms. The “assault weapons” are ordinary semiautomatic rifles — not machine guns — identical in function to rifles that have been in use for more than a century. The “high capacity magazines” are actually standard magazines that have been manufactured for more than 70 years.

So let’s look at what has been done about gun control in the past by considering California and New York City which have some of the strictest gun laws in the country. Stricter gun laws in California started in earnest with the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989. Yet these laws have not kept guns out of the hands of criminals and they have not significantly lowered gun crimes. New York City has had strict gun control laws since 1911, yet it also ranks among the most dangerous places in the country and large numbers of killings by gun still occur. If stricter gun laws haven’t worked at the civic or state level then why would it work at the federal level? A study conducted in 2009 by the Center for Disease Control found “insufficient evidence” that gun laws did anything to prevent gun violence. America needs to focus on what is really at the heart of many mass shootings. I am in favor of finding an effective way to monitor those who have a history of mental illness or making violent threats in order to prevent them from obtaining guns. The whole issue of mental health is something that needs to be re-examined in America, but banning certain kinds of guns or making it harder for everyone to buy a gun is not the answer. There is no evidence that restrictive gun control laws would have any deterrent effect on street gangs or other gun-wielding criminals who are already operating outside the law. It could instead encourage an illicit trade in firearms--much as anti-drug laws have sustained the lucrative illegal drug trade.

In the end, past attempts to lower violence through stricter guns laws suggest that more gun control laws would only mean revisiting the same failed policies while infringing on the rights and lives of millions of law-abiding gun owners. Americans would exchange no improvement to public safety for fewer individual liberties which is just not acceptable.

I would like to end my thoughts with a quote from my all-time favorite actor, Charlton Heston. “There's no such thing as a good gun. There's no such thing as a bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guys.”

Below you can see what a gun in my hands looks like. A little over a week ago I went shooting for the first time. It's something I have wanted to try for a long time but never had the opportunity. The instructor said I did very well for a first-time shooter. Watch out bad guys…or at least paper guys.

 

 

Puns for the Educated Mind

I love a good pun! That is one of the reasons I am a big fan of the writing of William Shakespeare. Here are some puns that a friend sent to me so I can't take any credit for them but I hope you enjoy!

 

 

The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

I thought I saw an eye-doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.

She was only a whisky-maker, but he loved her still.

A rubber-band pistol was confiscated from an algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.

No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

A hole has been found in the nudist-camp wall. The police are looking into it.

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, “You stay here; I'll go on a head.”

I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said 'Keep off the Grass'.

The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

A backward poet writes inverse.

When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

If you jumped off the bridge in Paris, you'd be in Seine.

A vulture carrying two dead raccoons boards an airplane. The stewardess looks at him and said, “I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.”

Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turned to the other and said, “Dam!”

Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

Two hydrogen atoms meet. One said, “I've lost my electron.” The other said, “Are you sure?” The first replied, “Yes, I'm positive.”

Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root-canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

The Not so Mysterious Mona Lisa

If someone were to ask me what is one of my least favorite paintings, I would have to say Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. *gasp* WHAT??? Let me explain. I find absolutely nothing wrong with the painting itself but to be frank I’m just sick of always hearing about it. One of the common misconceptions about the painting is that we do not know the identity of the person that it depicts. Consider the title, Mona, meaning “madam,” LISA. Yes, that second part is a name. Most scholars agree that the painting is a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy Florentine merchant.  Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503 and worked on it for four years, but like most of his commissions the painting was never finished and the patrons never received it. In 1516 da Vinci was invited by the King of France, Francis I, to become the king’s court painter. Da Vinci took the Mona Lisa with him and the painting was still in his possession when he died in 1519. Another aspect of the painting that gets a lot of attention is that mysterious smile. That coy slightly upturned mouth, however, is actually a da Vinci trademark and he used it in several other portraits such as his painting of St. John the Baptist and his portrait of Cecilia Gallerani (see below). That smile suddenly becomes a little less unique.

 

So now you may (hopefully) be wondering what is all the hype about? That was my thought exactly when I got to see—if I could even call it that—the painting with my own eyes. There in one of the capacious galleries of the Louvre hung this tiny (its dimensions are 2’ 6” x 1’ 9”) painting barely visible through the mob of picture-snapping tourists and the blinding glare of flash reflecting off bulletproof glass. So how did the Mona Lisa become one of the most famous paintings in the world? It began on August 21, 1911 when three young men stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. Once the theft was discovered there was a mass explosion of media and images of the painting could be seen everywhere in the attempt to recover the Renaissance masterpiece. Suddenly everyone was talking about this painting. Twenty-eight months later in December 1913 the painting was found when one of the thieves tried to sell it to a Florentine art dealer. Ever since, even people who claim to know almost nothing about art know and recognize the Mona Lisa. For more about the theft click on this link. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Stolen-How-the-Mona-Lisa-Became-the-Worlds-Most-Famous-Painting.html What actually makes the painting interesting, in my opinion are things that cannot be seen by the naked eye and those are the many changes that da Vinci made to the painting in his attempt to perfect it. It is believed he worked on the painting off and on up until his death. The evolution of the painting was revealed several years ago when conservationists used digital scans and infrared technology to reveal details hidden beneath the immediate surface of the painting. For more about what was uncovered click here  http://www.livescience.com/4648-25-secrets-mona-lisa-revealed.html 

So I hope that I've helped to uncover some truth about the world's most famous two-dimensional lady. I'd like to end with a quote--yes I love a good quote so expect more to come. In the words of iconic radio personality Paul Harvey, “And now you know the rest of the story.”

An Intro of Sorts

A few weeks ago I posted the following on Facebook:

At my Alma Mater, the College of Charleston, written over the gateway leading to the center of campus one will find the Ancient Greek phrase γνῶθι σεαυτόν, “know thyself.” That is my advice. If you don’t know yourself, both your strengths and weaknesses, then no one else can really know you either and I promise you that it is a lonely road. You have three options: you can either arrogantly try to ignore who you are and that you have areas that you need to work on, you can wallow in self-pity that you are not all that you wish you were, or you can accept who you are and with the support and help of others strive to build on your strengths and overcome your weaknesses.

When I wrote this I was talking as much to myself as anyone else. I think it is important to know the basic core of who you are and what makes you well....you. However, I'm still finding out new things about myself and expect I will continue to for the rest of my life. That is what makes life and people so interesting. While getting to know yourself is in some ways a lifelong process, what is even more fun is getting to know other people around you. Quite often it is through interaction with others that you find out more about yourself. That is actually what inspired me to start this blog. A dear friend of mine kept telling me that "you have really good thoughts so don't be afraid to share them." I will let each of you decide for yourself but my hope is that I can provide encouragement, inspiration, maybe a laugh, or at least something to think about.

As you might already be able to tell, I am a thinker. I have a lot of interests so you will probably see an eclectic mixture of them displayed in my posts. I'm particularly interested in art, music, literature, history, religion, and philosophy. Ok, so maybe a little heavy on the art side but that is just because it is so fascinating. That, however, is a topic for another post. While it would be great to eventually get a job in an art museum or gallery, that is not my life dream. My desire is to be part of a community that really cares about one another and wants to spread that care to the world around them. People would strive to be genuine, honest, and have deep, fulfilling relationships and of course have a lot of fun along the way. Most importantly people would not be afraid to admit that their lives are riddled with failures. Nevertheless, they don't let this fact get them down. As Winston Churchill said: "Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm." I agree and I know what the key is to this success although it doesn't lie in human power. If you are curious to know more about this key then ask me!