Marksmanship, Vietnam, and the 2nd Amendment

[phuloi]

HUH??

[82Rigger]

...that .41 was a collector's piece!

:cd:

Airborne! Steve / 82Rigger

[BLUEHAWK]

Well, I kinda thought so Rigger!

[SuperScout]

Even now in the 21st century, we tend to take a literal purist view of the 2nd Amendment. Back in 1966, when Charles Whitman was the reigning terrorist in town (Austin), shooting folks 14 mile away frmthe UT tower, there were truckloads of good ol' boys showing up, leaning across the hood of their pickup trucks and lending a very welcome hand to the local police in returning fire to the tower. The local gendamerie had .38 pistols, a really effective weapon against the several long-range rifles that Whitman had. Finally, two off-duty policemen entered the tower, and ultimately shot Whitman to death. It was not the local police's finest hour.

[BLUEHAWK]

Or was it... seems like they did with what they had to do with?

Cycles is what it reminds me of, cycles... one who surprises the other with the bigger badder weapon gets the upper hand unless some dang fool just has plain old guts and determination.

And then, there is always the cycle of those who believe getting or building or having the bigger badder weapon means... yadda yadda yadda :-)

[revwardoc]

Scout,

Did Whitman ever leave any message saying why he did it?

[82Rigger]

...Whitman wrote two letters. Here are excerpts from them:

?I don?t quite understand what it is that compels me to type this letter,? he wrote. ?Perhaps it is to leave some vague reason for the actions I have recently performed.? He went on to say he?d increasingly been a victim of ?many unusual and irrational thoughts? and that his attempt to get help with his problems (the visit to Dr. Heatly) had failed. He expressed a wish that his body be autopsied after his death to see if there was a physical cause for his mental anguish. As he continued, he outlined his plan for the coming 24 hours. ?It was after much thought that I decided to kill my wife, Kathy, tonight after I pick her up from work at the telephone company,? he revealed. ?The prominent reason in my mind is that I truly do not consider this world worth living in, and am prepared to die, and I do not want to leave her to suffer alone in it.? He continued, ?similar reasons provoked me to take my mother?s life also.?

Margaret Whitman was dead by 12:30 a.m., at which time Charlie sat down to write another letter of explanation. ?I have just taken my mother?s life,? he wrote, ?I am very upset over having done it?I am truly sorry that this is the only way I could see to relieve her sufferings but I think it was best.?

If I recall correctly, during Whitman's autopsy a brain tumor was discovered.

[82Rigger]

...almost every day there's something in the news about somebody doing something dastardly with a firearm.

We never hear about John Q Citizen who prevents a crime or saves somebody's a** or even his own a** with a firearm.

I wonder how many times a day THAT happens???

[revwardoc]

82Rigger,

Thanks for the info. And here in MA, just last night, there was a double murder-suicide. Apparently some idiot killed his wife and son, then himself. His daughter managed to call 911 and escape. He should've tried reversing the order and save everyone concerned a lot of anquish.

[Packo]

Only in the NRA magazine to you get to read stories of those who twarted crime and even sent the criminals to the eternal dirt nap. The section is called the armed citizen.

Since the total ban of privately owned guns in the UK, violent crime has skyrocketed. Only an idiot would believe the same wouldn't happen here. States, like SC, that have concealed carry laws are seing a dramatic drop in crime. Doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure this out.

As long as you are a citizen that can own a weapon legally, I don't see a problem with owning any weapon you want ceptin' nuckes. The argument that you just don't need an AK or whatever doesn't wash with me. That's like telling people that you only need one TV, one vehicle, whatever. This is America. If you can afford it and can legally own it, nobody has a right to tell you that you can't own something. Kerry just said, not a direct quote, I belive in the 2nd amendment, I believe in gun ownership, and I've hunted, but I don't know anyone that needs an AK 47 to hunt with. Well then he doesn't believe in the 2nd ammendment. Maybe someone is a collector? Maybe someone wants to protect his home? Maybe this is America and a law abiding citizen just wants to own one.

Packo


Packo