How Dan Malloy Turned Me Into A Gun Nut

Dan - not Dannel - Malloy

Dan Malloy has turned me into a gun nut.  And when I say "gun nut" I mean that in the most respectful way possible. 

How did we get here?  Well, let's start at the beginning (for me, anyway).  When I was young, I was for gun control.  It made sense to me. 

Why should we allow every yahoo to have any gun they wanted?  What would happen if everyone had a gun?  It seemed like regulation was simply prudent.

Then I grew older, had a family, and pretty much my views didn't change.  I had no great desire to shoot or own guns.  So gun control didn't much matter to me.  And so the Federal Assault Weapons ban didn't much bother me.  Seemed on the surface to make sense.

But then a tragedy happened in Connecticut, one that would become national news, and would shake people's beliefs to the core.  It would see an outpouring of grief that hadn't been seen in Connecticut for years. 

I'm speaking, of course, about... the Cheshire home invasion.  For those that don't know, a couple of repeat felony offenders had ended up at the same half way house after being paroled from prison, again, and decided to go on a rampage.  Long story short, they beat the father of this family, Dr. Petit, to within an inch of his life, raped his wife and young daughters, and ended up burning them alive in their own home.  Dr. Petit crawled away and was able to alert police, so that they could apprehend the rapist/murders, and draw chalk outlines around Dr. Petit's family.

Our Democratic General Assembly, which was about to end capital punishment was forced, at Dr. Petit's pleading, to abandon trying to change the capital punishment law.  They did this for a whole year.  Then they repealed the death penalty.  Of course, they let previous convictions stand, but let's face it, no one is going to be executed anymore.

This tragedy shook me to my core.  I resolved that we needed firearms in our house to protect us from gun wielding felons that had been released on parole.  The social contract had finally, irrevocably, broken down in Connecticut.  If we are not prepared to hold felons to long prison sentences, nor provide for an option for capital punishment, the government could no longer claim to be "establishing justice."  With the government breaching it's side of the bargain, I was left with the task of securing the well being of my own family as best I knew how.

But my family resisted.  Neither my wife, nor my daughters wanted to have guns in the house.  I can't blame them.  I really didn't want them either.  I wanted my government to protect my civil liberties, and I wanted them to protect my family from criminals.  But that was no longer an option.  My wife proposed the idea of a guard dog.  In fact, I came home from Boy Scout camp early, so I could be introduced to the new candidate.  You should understand that I'm allergic to about half the dogs I've met in my life.  So getting a hypoallergenic guard dog was important.

Molly and Sierra

They selected a guard dog.  She's pictured here.  Her name is Molly and she is a Bichon Frise.  I raised an eyebrow at the smiling ladies in my family and let them know that I was reserving the right to buy a firearm if she didn't turn out to be the ferocious guard dog she was billed as.  Suffice to say, that we guard her quite well!

Still, I put off the purchase of a gun.  Truth be told, I didn't know much about them.  I knew that to get a handgun, I would have to submit to finger printing.  I've gone my whole life without being fingerprinted.  I had hoped to finish my life without having done so.  So I slowly researched long guns for home defense.  A shot gun seemed prudent.  I thought I didn't want a rifle, as I was worried about over penetration.  But through it all, I figured I had time...

Fast forward to the tragedy you thought I was talking about above... Sandy Hook.  Gun fever took off in the aftermath.  People started buying guns like crazy, especially AR-15 and AK and SKS guns.  They were already the most popular guns around.  And I didn't want one.  They seemed overpriced, and, well, soulless... made for one thing, killing 2 legged creatures. 

The gun control people gathered and protested.  The gun rights people gathered and protested.  And I figured that they'd end up with something fairly even handed - background checks (not finger printing) and the scariest of the scary guns banned.  In hindsight, I don't know why I thought this, but that is what I thought.  I had gun enthusiasts - Hubbs, Josh, Mike - tell me I should be worried.  But I figured they were gun nuts (the bad meaning) and that they were overreacting.  How bad could it be?

Well, they were right and I was wrong.  It's bad.  Really bad.  For instance, until October 1st, you can still buy a long gun without a pistol permit, but you ultimately will need one to buy ammo, or take your gun to a shooting range, etc.  And when I say long gun, what I really mean to say is your "bolt action" or "lever action" rifle.  The "assault weapons" ban names all kinds of guns that are NOT assault rifles.  Some are long guns that shoot handgun bullets like 9mm or .45 caliber pistol bullets.  You can still buy the pistol that shoots these, but not a rifle that does.  Why?  The only explanation I've found is that these guns were used by the Columbine shooters, so they banned them all. 

Ruger Mini-14 Ranch

As far as I can tell, there is only one gun allowed under the CT AWB that is both semi-automatic AND has detachable magazines.  That is the Ruger Mini-14 Ranch rife.   It can't have a flash suppressor, or a pistol grip.  It can't have the 20 round magazine because that is now a "high capacity" magazine.  It shoots the same ammunition as an AR-15, but because it doesn't have a pistol grip (which arguably makes the firearm safer), it is legal.  Why didn't they just ban this one too by name?  My guess is that it is to keep the lawsuits at bay - if you ban an entire class of weapon, like handguns in Washington DC were, then you step into some very unconstitutional ground.  This gun is now the model for how other gun companies will "get around" the CT AWB.

What is VERY interesting is that you can't actually buy this gun in Connecticut right now.  Go ahead.  Try.  I did.  Cabelas doesn't have them, Hoffman doesn't have them, the other gun shops in CT don't have them, Walmart (in Lisbon and Torrington, where Walmart still sells rifles) don't have them.  Not only don't they have them, they don't know when they'll be getting more, nor will they order them for you, or even put your name on a waiting list.  You can buy them online and have them sent here.  The prices 6 months ago for this gun was about $675.  You'll pay over a $1000 for one online now.

Now, if you decide to wait, you'll run the risk of running into the October 1st date.  Then you'll have to wait to buy the gun until you have a pistol permit.  My advice is to go get one of these now.  I'm working on it and will soon go through the whole "well regulated militia" gauntlet, just to own a pistol that you used to be able to get for a Christmas or birthday present.

Or pay the Internet price and have it shipped to an FFL here in CT.  You'll pay a transfer fee ($50ish) plus shipping and insurance.  But at least you'll have one.  Or you can do what I did, which was calling around to every gun store in New Hampshire to find one in stock and at a decent price.  Still have to do the transfer and the 15 day waiting period.  But I'll have one before May is out, and I won't have to worry about not being able to get one.

But the real tragedy here for me personally is that I'm no longer picky about my finger prints going into IAFIS.  I'll have that pistol permit.  And I'll buy a pistol, maybe two.  Do I need them?  I hope not.  Will I get them anyway?  You bet.  Why?  Because I'm not going to get caught flat-footed again.  I'm not going to have the gun control folks limit magazine sizes down to 7 bullets like NY did.  I'm not going to get caught unable to buy a handgun (except the 5 shot .22 one they still allow for Constitutional reasons) - I'm going to have them now, and they'll be grandfathered in, just like all the ARs that the "gun nuts" went out and bought pre-ban, that they now get to keep. 

Gun control turned me into a gun nut.  A rational, intelligent gun nut that is now committed to making sure that I'm not going to get left out in the cold again.

Odd or Interesting Things

Here is my latest thoughts on the passing scene:

• The Journal Inquirer, my local newspaper, has been taking out full page ads in every issue in an attempt to get people to guarantee that public notices continue to get published (and paid for) by local government.  From their ads, it would seem that Democracy itself hangs in the balance, when in fact all that is really hanging in the balance is a cash cow that is going to stop giving the JI it's daily milk delivery.
• Connecticut has a new gun law that has absolutely no hope of controlling crime, nor stopping the massacre in whose name it was passed.  And our Governor has lied obviously and publicly about that fact, to thunderous applause.  Is this how Democracy really dies?
• Baby chickens double in size every two days, and eat and poop their weight daily.
• It is best not to store your snowblower in a mice infested shed during the summer.  If you do, one or more of them will take up residence in the engine cowling, and then snack on your ignition wire.  This will cause great frustration in the following winter when your snowblower seems to randomly die after 30 inches of snow fall on your driveway.
• Shooting guns is fun!  However, 12 gauge shotguns can leave a bruise on your shoulder if you don't hold it right.  And a Colt .45 doesn't have nearly as much recoil as everyone seems to say it does.  On the other hand, Clint Eastwood was right when he said that a .44 Magnum would "blow your head clean off"
• To the folks who say we should not put armed guards in schools, should we then eliminate SRO (police officers) from schools?  Do they make high schools look like prisons?
• Our cars are ever more reliable, and complicated.  This is great when everything works right.  When it doesn't, boy is it hard to figure out what is wrong.
• Mad Men is a great show.  Even when it sucks, its good.