Why I’m Calling Shenanigans on Ms. Magazine’s “My Month With a Gun” Column

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With the exception of an antique single-shot percussion-cap pistol inherited from my grandfather, for which I keep neither powder nor shot, I do not own any guns. My reason is twofold: 1) guns are expensive, and I lack the time to devote to their maintenance and the necessary training, and 2) Wifey doesn’t like them. But I support the rights of other Americans to arm themselves, and the gun-rights movement over the gun-control movement, with my votes. I have again a twofold reason: 1) I have never seen any compelling evidence that gun control improves public safety in any sizable way (rather, I think the reverse is true), and 2) I see far too much hysteria and  snobbery in the gun-control movement for my liking.

Reasonable people can and will disagree about the efficacy of any public policy, and a robust debate about the purposes of the Second Amendment, and what level of regulation best balances liberty with public order is like to continue so long as the Republic does. This to be expected, and is all to the good.

However, Ms. Magazine’s ”My Month with a Gun” feature does not contribute to that debate. I don’t think it really intends to contribute anything but shock and incredulity (and of course, hits for its parent web site). The feature is long on impression and short on facts, and its entire premise reeks of the kind of manufactured authenticity that Reality TV trades in.

The writer of the feature, one Heidi Yewman, a self-proclaimed “board member of the Brady Campaign,” has decided to go thirty days armed under the carry laws of her home state. She operated under four “rules”:

Carry it with me at all times, follow the laws of my state, only do what is minimally required for permits, licensing, purchasing and carrying, and finally be prepared to use it for protecting myself at home or in public.

The last rule seems to come with emphasis on the “finally”, as in the course of this first week Yewman has not bothered to learn the first thing about operating or even loading the Glock 9 she purchased:

Tony told me a Glock doesn’t have an external safety feature, so when I got home and opened the box and saw the magazine in the gun I freaked. I was too scared to try and eject it as thoughts flooded my mind of me accidentally shooting the gun and a bullet hitting my son in the house or rupturing the gas tank of my car, followed by an earth-shaking explosion. This was the first time my hands shook from the adrenaline surge and the first time I questioned the wisdom of this 30-day experiment.

I needed help. I drove to where a police officer had pulled over another driver. Now, writing this, I realize that rolling up on an on-duty cop with a handgun in tow might not have been fully thought through.

I told him I just bought a gun, had no clue how to use it. I asked him to make sure there were no bullets in the magazine or chamber. He took the magazine out and cleared the chamber. He assured me it was empty and showed me how to look. Then he told me how great the gun was and how he had one just like it.

The cop thought I was an idiot and suggested I take a class. But up to that point I’d done nothing wrong, nothing illegal.

The feature ends and begins with her sitting in a Starbucks, shaking with fear that the gun is suddenly going to leap from its holster and start killing children.

I have two problems with all of this.

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Geek Heresy: A Consideration of Popular Fictional Universes That Bore the Living Hell out of me – Episode 1: Dr. Who Cares?

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I’m old enough to remember when being a geek was a bad thing. I remember the days when kids who were into sci-fi, fantasy, and other forms of alternative literature hid that fact from others if they had any hope of fitting in. Hell, I remember when knowing how to work a computer was a sign that you were socially retarded and would thereby never enjoy romantic companionship of any kind. So I regard the rise of Geek Culture in all its forms with many emotions, but mostly bemusement.

I find it odd to see such things as Comic Book Conventions becoming not merely mainstream, but obligatory acts to retain a certain level of geek cred. For that matter, the very idea of “geek cred” raises the eybrows, especially as it increasingly becomes a synonym for “pop culture awareness.” I don’t know when all this happened, and I understand but little of it.

Cultural Diffusion. Always angsty.

Thing is, I’m not very good at being a geek. I know no programming languages. I got B’s in math. I only played Dungeons and Dragons a few times. My comic book collection is small and unimpressive. I’ve never even watched Firefly or Battlestar Galactica.

So it’s time to come clean. It’s time to cop to all the Geekery out there that I have no interest in. It’s time to admit that the word “geek” has lost all meaning, and may as well go back to referring to a carnie who bit the heads off chickens for nickels. Because if I can admit that I don’t care about the things I discuss below, and still call myself a “Geek” in my tagline, then anyone can.

So begins a limited series on all the incredibly geeky things that are important to Geek Culture, That I Find Unutterably Dull. These must be taken as my own opinions. I am not criticizing any TV Show or book for lack of quality or good storytelling. Being old enough to remember Geekdom’s Elder Days also means being grown up enough to know that something can be very well done and still not appeal to me. So if you are an ardent fan of what ever I happen to discuss in this series, assume that the fault is mine. Today, it’s Dr. Who.

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The Government is Watching Me Type These Words

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A few weeks ago, when it was first discovered that the White House was tapping the phone records of the House of Representatives, I threw up a bit of snark on Twitter.

The problem with the modern age is the impossibility of parody.

I’m going to let Rand Paul go off on the scandal du jour:

I can remember well a Senator Obama who joined the Democratic chorus against the warrantless wiretapping of the Bush administration. Now, that chorus has gone mute. The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald has noted what he sees as ”a defining attribute of the Obama legacy: the transformation of what was until recently a symbol of rightwing radicalism – warrantless eavesdropping – into meekly accepted bipartisan consensus.”

Not every Republican or Democrat is part of that consensus. When the Senate rushed through a last-minute extension of the Fisa Amendments Act over the holidays late last year, Senator Mike Lee (Republican, Utah) and I offered an amendment requiring stronger protections on business records that would’ve prohibited precisely the kind of data-mining the Verizon case has revealed. Senator Ron Wyden (Democrat, Oregon) introduced an amendment to require estimates from intelligence agencies of how many Americans were being surveilled. Both these measures were voted down.

Read the Whole Thing, as they say. And marvel at the next round of excuses to emanate from the usual suspects.

Oh, BTW…they’re also collecting credit card transactions.

Game of Thrones: Shock and Hope

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At this point, you really should know that if you’re watching Game of Thrones, and someone points a camera at you, something really bad is going to happen.

There’s a some agita on Facebook right now between people who have read the books and who haven’t, now that The Wedding has finally happened. I am one of the former, and I kept things to myself, aside from the occasional cryptic utterance that “you just have no idea what’s coming.” For myself, who threw my copy of Storm of Swords across the room when I got to this part, I have nothing but sympathy for people who went into that episode unawares (Here’s an Onion piece imagining that George R.R. Martin had forgotten about it. Think of it as a palate cleanser). So if you find yourself annoyed at everyone who’s all smug today, just remember that we’ve been exactly where you are.

Ace of Spades didn’t consider it a great episode, and that doesn’t bode well for the series. Of course, it also doesn’t bode well for the series that the books aren’t done, but what else is new?

From what I’ve picked up, the episode ended with the Wedding, and cut to black just after everything went down. I also seem to understand that the third book has largely been cut in half, which means everyone’s going to have to wait a whole other season to see the end of the book. I don’t know how many non-readers are going to have the patience for that, so from someone who’s gone all the way to the end of Book 5, and am still waiting to see how all this turns out, here’s something to keep in mind:

Stark and Lannister bears obvious resemblance to York and Lancaster, the feuding Houses in the Wars of the Roses. That particular dynastic bloodbath killed almost everyone involved with it, king and pawn, schemer and fool. Several times it seemed that York or Lancaster had won outright, but such victories were illusions. There was always another round of betrayal and battle to come, and more guilty and innocent to die. When it was all over, the House of York was a single princess, and the House of Lancaster was an obscure Welshman named Henry Tudor.

So just remember Arya’s Prayer, and know that this is nowhere near being over.

Sick as a Dog

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Some kind of head cold. The wife has it, too. Darling Daughter is thankfully immune.

In Lieu of an update, enjoy some Radio Birdman:

Ending a Conversation

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I must confess, I am bad at this. Often, I have a habit of just dirfting away from people when there’s a lull. In my mind, that seems less awkward than saying “Okay, I’m done here,” or “Good-bye, then,” or “And….scene!”

Fortunately, The Art of Manliness has solutions. They are time-honored and polites:

  • have a reason to roll out.
  • bring the conversation back to where it started.
  • have an appropriate exit line.

    • With a bit of practice, I should finally be able to retire my ninja smoke balls.