The Second Amendment....

The People's Democratic Republic of Insomnia is now a military power. Or something like that.

I got my Concealed Handgun Permit in the mail today. This is terrifying for many reasons.

Any of my readers who remember me from my college (or pre-college) days will probably point out that I am not to be trusted with a handful of rubber bands in a quiet, empty room; much less a loaded firearm hidden in my armpit on crowded public transportation (for example).

I've always been, if not anti-firearm, then at least anti-me-having-a-firearm. Just couldn't see any good reason for it. Then we had that nasty rainstorm, and I had an experience that drove home that sometimes there is no law west of the Pecos (or east of the Mississippi, for that matter). This clarification of the Facts of Life was, in itself, a little scary. The delay between the storm and my permit can be blamed on 1)bureaucratic delay 2)changing job duties making it more likely that I'd be stuck in-town long-term during and after the next major rainstorm and 3)developing competence with the weapon.

The firearm in question (a Glock Model 23 (that's .40 caliber to you)) gives me 13 available rounds (plus "one in the pipe" should I so choose) with less weight than a .45; it still has very respectable stopping power (I just don't trust a 9mm).

The most terrifying part of the process is how easy it was. I went to a gun store, pointed to the piece I liked, gave 'em my driver's license and promised to be a good boy. The clerk made a phone call to the state and another one to Visa for my credit card authorization. The call to Visa took longer. I walked out of there with a pistol. The whole transaction took about 20 minutes.

Of course, I still had to take the class for the concealed carry permit. I spent a Saturday watching NRA videos (which persisted in referring to shooting as a "sport". Remind me to rant about that) and doodling on a notepad. Then they took my picture, fingerprinted me, and told me to send $100 to the state. Honestly, the trickiest part of the whole operation was finding someplace to sell me a money order.

That's right folks. The Great State of Luzianne will trust me to carry a loaded gun, but not to write a check. Somebody explain THAT shit to me.

Moreover, the concealed carry class is completely voluntary. I didn't have to take it before they'd let me have the gun. I could have bought the damn thing and stuck it in my pants and just gone wandering around any kind of way. I didn't, because I'm slightly brighter than that. But I wonder how many people do, even though it's illegal. Even better is the fact that some fairly significant information given to us in the course is just blatantly WRONG. I'm not talking about minor details here, I'm talking about whether or not to immediately inform a peace officer of my firearm if I'm stopped. I wonder what else they screwed up that I DIDN'T catch.

I'm of two minds about this whole thing. On the one hand, I know that tightening gun laws won't get guns out of the hands of criminals. On the other hand, it seems like more responsible gun owners would relish the opportunity to learn about their weapons BEFORE bringing them home, just like responsible dog owners should WANT to go to obedience class. On the gripping hand*, I don't trust the gummint to do it right.

One thing I do know: If we're allowed to have 'em, it makes sense to--at least for me.



*Thank you, Niven and Pournelle