Gun Show Saturday and Some Cursory Gun Control Thoughts

I attended a gun show this past weekend. It certainly was not my first and won’t be my last. This was one was very average to say the least. I didn’t really go with anything in particular in mind to buy, but was just looking for bargains. I did manage to pick up a gently used  Beretta 8040F (chambered for the .40 S&W round). I really didn’t want another .40 as I already have one I am quite happy with. They tend to be expensive to shoot, with a box of .40 ammo going for about $5 – $7 more dollars than a box of 9mm Luger for 50. Considering I shoot around 200-300 rounds per gun per trip, that adds up. I’ve read that some folks have had accuracy issues with this model, which I suspect is due to the heavy trigger pull, but I haven’t had it out at the range yet. I’ll give a report as soon as I do. My dad is a former law enforcement officer who carried a Beretta 96 for the last few years of his career, was quite jealous.

One of the things I did notice is that the price of EVERYTHING has gone up. From ammo to common guns, everything is through the roof. This is especially the case with semi-automatic rifles. Last year at this time, it wasn’t uncommon to see AK’s in the $400-$500 range, SKS’s in the $150 range, and AR-15’s for around $1000. This is not the case anymore. The cheapest AK I saw was a Norinco that had been beat all to hell, and it was still $699.  Russian made SKS’s were in the $400-$500 range, and Chinese made a little less. AR’s were through the freakin’ roof. The fear that there will be another gun ban has really driven prices up. In fact, I heard more than one person tell the dealers that they were looking for guns that would be targeted under a ban. Hi-cap magazines were going at a steady pace as well.

Given some of the senseless violence that we have seen over the past few days and weeks, it would surprise me if there wasn’t a renewed push for more stringent gun control laws. There is nothing worse than cowards who go after soft targets or set up ambushes intent on killing innocent people. No, we don’t want people like that to have guns. But people intent on killing others will find a way to do it regardless of what laws are on the books. Guns are readily available on black market. Restricting law abiding citizens from legally purchasing and using firearms is counter-productive and counter-intuitive. With all due respect, I think that Americans should want some people to own guns, especially those of us who grew up handling them from childhood, who have been thoroughly trained in their use, who are licensed by their state to carry them in defense of self and others.

Israel and Palestine: Let Us Choose Words Wisely

I have been really struck by some of the rhetoric I have read surrounding the Israeli air strikes of Gaza. The words have been harsh, careless, and cold. Lee thoughtfully comments on this conflict, and on the editorializing that occurs every time the tensions flare up. He also invokes the idea of Just War Theory and its insistence on a notion of proportionality of action. While I think proportionality is of utmost importance in discussing this – and all – military actions. I clearly do not think this is a proportional  response. However, I would like to mention one thing Lee did not in his post, which is the issue of non-combatants.  For Christian Just War Theory, especially as proposed by St. Thomas Aquinas, a major issue to be dealt with was casualties of non-combatants.
Thomas went to great lengths to defend the lives of those who were not directly involved in military conflict. Thomas was clear that even accidental deaths were completely unacceptable, as noncombatants do not share in the culpability of aggressors, even if aggressors are the leaders of the noncombatants.

So I wonder what St. Thomas would say about these images:

The little boy above is about the same size as my youngest son. What must it be like as a parent to hold your child in the midst of the mortar attack? What must it be like to be unable to protect them?

It amazes me that we want to talk politics while mothers are having to bury their toddlers.

So please, if you must comment, don’t say anything that you wouldn’t say in front of the parents of a wounded or dead child from this conflict.