-Caveat Lector- According to the author, reference to a Constitutional right - one that he doesn't care for - is nothing more than a "scripted rant." But don't dare tread on his precious freedom of the press. This piece is incredibly insulting to gun owners and to the framers of the Constitution. How ironic that the piece was published in Boston. Maybe the author, in his next piece, will declare his loyalty to the king of England. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/142/metro/Club_gushes_over_Uzis+.shtml Club gushes over Uzis By Brian McGrory, Globe Staff, 5/22/2001 The headline in yesterday's Patriot Ledger was certainly unique: ''Fun with firepower.'' The prominent story told of a fund-raising event in Hanson that allows everyday people to pay for the thrill of firing off a variety of machine guns. ''Incredible,'' one donor exclaimed after shooting an Uzi. ''Exhilarating,'' gushed her friend. One of the pictures that accompanied the story was of a 3-year-old boy in short pants getting what the newspaper caption describes as an ''up-close look at one of the weapons.'' He is, in fact, toddling all around it. How marvelous! How, well, incredibly exhilarating! Anyone can walk off the street and sate their desire to fire a machine gun, to press their finger against the delicate trigger and feel the explosion of so much power. And all for such a good cause; a third of the proceeds will be sent to the Shriner's Hospital in Boston. So just one question remains: Have we lost our collective mind? The organizers, the Hanson Rod and Gun Club, are quite sure we haven't, that we can all come together and share the wonder of fully automatic weaponry in total harmony. In fact, they lured 1,000 people to the eighth annual festivities on Saturday. ''Some people like to sky dive. Some people like to scuba dive,'' says John Davis, who ran the event. ''This is a new experience for them. They get to fire a fully automatic firearm.'' They certainly do, and Davis has the bullet-riddled van to prove it. He concedes that he's ''worried'' about the perception of the event, but quickly adds that there are doctors, lawyers, and law enforcement officers who take part in the shooting. He also points out that because of a recently enacted town bylaw, kids are now prohibited from firing the guns - a change from past years. ''Between noon and one, the parents can allow their kids to take a closer look at the firearms,'' he says. Credit the Hanson town fathers - and mothers - for recognizing a truly awful event. Two years ago, they tried to ban the shooting entirely, but lost in a Town Meeting vote after gun club members recited their scripted rant about losing their God-given right to bear arms. Actually, officials were just trying to stop the show, and for good reason. Here's what guns do: They kill. They might be shrewd investments, as Davis points out. They might have significant historical value. They might be beautiful to look at, thrilling for some people to hold, but the bottom line, their intended purpose, the reason they were built, is to kill. And kill they do. The teenage murderers at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., had in their cache of weaponry a 9mm semi-automatic carbine when they slayed 12 fellow students and a teacher in 1999. That same type of lightweight semi-automatic rifle was also used in the Jonesboro schoolyard massacre the year before. Five people died there. Michael McDermott is charged with having an AK-47, a semi-automatic rifle, when he allegedly went on his post-Christmas killing spree in Wakefield last year that left seven dead. It's nothing new, but worth repeating, to say that kids are bombarded with violence. They see people shot to death every hour of every night on network television. They play video games that are entirely geared toward death. They see kids their age killing kids their age all across America, such that school shootings aren't always front-page news anymore. And now comes this gun group to glorify it all even more, to strip away the distance, to put the weapons right in people's hands and tell children that firing a machine gun is not only normal and healthy, but according to the Patriot Ledger, ''fun.'' What might the men and women of the Hanson Rod and Gun Club say if the next school shooting - and unfortunately, there's always a next school shooting - is somewhere nearby? Brian McGrory's e-mail address is [EMAIL PROTECTED] This story ran on page 1 of the Boston Globe on 5/22/2001. © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
