Fun With Guns: Conservative Style Edition
M.D. Harmon writes editorials for the Portland Press Herald chastising President Obama every damn chance he gets. He also railed against Maine’s attempt to run background checks on gun ownership because … well, Freedom!
I can give up a nonessential freedom (for example, not wearing a seat belt) much more readily than an essential one (being forbidden to drive when and where I wish after I buckle up).
That’s where the discussion should begin when we ponder Question 3 in the Nov. 8 referendum.
In essence, the bill would require all gun sales, and (here’s the hidden kicker) all “transfers” of firearms, to be processed through a federally licensed dealer.
He was opposed to doing a background check on the gift of a gun, never seeing that would be an enormous loophole that crooks could dance through. Can’t pass a background check? Well, your friendly neighborhood hood would be delighted to buy a gun for you and then gift it to you for a small fee. Or not so small.
But, that question is pretty moot now because M.D. Harmon got shot and killed this morning by his own gun.
A longtime former editor and columnist for the Portland Press Herald died at his home as he was showing a teenager a handgun and the gun went off while the boy was handling it, police said.
Michael Harmon, 71, of Sanford, was fatally shot Wednesday evening, police said.
Police said the 16-year-old boy and his father were at Harmon’s home visiting at the time. They did not say if the two, both from North Berwick, were related to Harmon and did not release the teenager’s name.
He handed a 16 year old a loaded gun. There, my friends, is the best example we can find of the kind of people who elected Donald Trump.
Thanks to Kathryn for the heads up.
Hopefully Harmon died content, knowing he had not given up an essential freedom to keep a bullet in the place of his choosing, and the freedom to hand a gun to anyone, even an inexperienced teenager.
And the freedom to create psychological difficulties for a 16 year old boy because the child accidentally shot an old fool showing off his loaded weapon.
FREEDOM!
1Now this one really is FUN WITH GUNS! The only bad part is how traumatized that poor kid must be. In true wingnut fashion, he’s probably being told to quit whining and Man Up!
Gawd I hate wingnuts!
2So he was not big on gun safety?
3Karma bats last.
4I would say it was cleaning out the gene pool, but at 71 (was that his age or iq) it might be too late.
5A 71 y/o man and a 16 year old boy? Wonder if the old duffer had meant to show him his concealed weapon before the lad’s dad showed up? Just to get him a feel for fondl….handling it, you know.
6Dear AliceBeth, from another source, NO he was not big on safety, thought required classes were an intolerable burden limiting a guaranteed freedom. Wonder how he feels about it now? Maybe he is in Hell (the series of novels, y’all!) and is cast in the “Grand Tour” car show and gets shot over and over and over in take after take after take…
7Joel that is my next bumper sticker!
8If he thought that gun safety classes were an intolerable burden, I guess he’s less burdened now… but the kid is more burdened. What idiot would hand somebody else, anybody else, a loaded gun to “show” it to them?
On that subject, while cleaning out my late mother’s house, I found a rifle in the back of the closet. My father hunted deer at one time, but this looks small for a hunting rifle to me. It cocks by pulling back the hammer and has no safety as far as I could see. (Don’t have it here now.)
I am vegetarian and generally anti-hunting, and I would like to make sure that this gun, if it is a hunting gun, never kills anything ever again. Any suggestions on how to do that?
9Rhea … check with your local police department as to the best way to dispose of the gun. Some departments collect gun and melt them down.
10Some brilliant gun owner managed to shoot a woman while she was showering this morning. The shot came from outside, through the walls and into the shower. My goodness not safe from the crazies anywhere.
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/woman-struck-by-bullet-while-taking-shower/380168521
11From: The Social Security Trust Fund
We sorely regret the loss of your grandfather. We hold the Second Amendment close to our hearts. This is your notice that we are terminating payments.
12Rhea–I was pretty “anti-hunting,” too, until I discovered that some game animals (deer and boar, for example) do some pretty serious damage to vegetation. Now I’m okay with at least thinning the herds…
13Well, there ain’t nothin’ free-er than bein’ dead.
But what a horrible trauma for the boy. That’s the tragedy here. I’m just glad he wasn’t the victim.
14Marcia in CO, thanks for the suggestion.
djw, if you’re looking at environmental damage, I know exactly which species needs its herd thinned. I’d start with the Barking Yam and his cabinet of climate-change deniers to get the biggest bang for the initial bucks.
For the record, I read about a woman in the Rockies who knew where the local elk herd spent the summer, where they spent the winter, and how they’d go from A to B. She’d wait for them and shoot one animal, making every effort to kill on the first shot if possible (but using more for mercy as needed). She butchered the animal and lived on the meat all winter. That’s a hunter I can respect.
15If you want to neuter the gun, lay it on a hard surface, after checking it doesn’t have bullets in it, and BEAT THE HELL out of the trigger, chamber and barrel with a sledge hammer, all the while pretending it’s a big ol’ yam…
Wear safety glasses.
16Well well. Lady Karma always has the last word. Unless Queen Nemesis has it first. But he got his “freedom” now didn’t he.
17Ooops.
I really feel sorry for that poor kid; not so sorry for the old fart.
18Rhea-djw is correct. Feral hogs not only destroy vegetation and crops, they can mess up creeks and ponds. They also can catch and eat young deer, rabbits, birds, etc. They destroy ground dwelling bird nests, bee hives fences and who knows what else, plus they breed worser than wingnuts and 10 times as fast.
As for the gun. I’d check to make sure it wasn’t a valuable antique type weapon and then any clown with a cutting torch could make short work (pardon the pun) of that gun and any others you’d care to have carved up.
One last thing- feral hogs carry numerous ticks and livestock threatening diseases.
19Gun safety is not common sense, it is acquired knowledge. It can be taught either formally in class ( god forbid i say something positive about the nra, but they do have a good program.) or by a knowledgeable mentor. Finally the most expensive way is trial and error.
20There are certain procedures for handling weapons depending on the type. But there hard and fast rules that should be applied 99.9% of the time. Never pass a weapon to another with a round in the chamber. On receiving a weapon check to see that it is not chambered. KEEP YOUR F***ING FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE TARGET AND READY TO FIRE.( do you hear me Dick Cheney) Keep the weapon secure at all times.
We require a written exam and a show of skills before issuing someone a driver license. Why can’t we require a gun safety test?
Of course, like all his ilk,he has been living in fantasy land when it comes to all things gun. Our son was gifted with a shotgun on his 13th birthday (we don’t do bar mitzvahs) but we could not get it directly through the mail.By law, it had to be set to a licensed etc. gun dealership and the closest one to us was in Maryland. We live in Virginia. That should tell you all you would never want to know about gun mentality in VA. We drove out, picked it up and then the boy was also gifted with entry to a private shooting range out in the boonies. He visited it once and swore he would never go back again. Can’t blame him. The place was decorated with abandoned and moldering trailers of all sorts, some of the trailers accompanied by folks who plainly couldn’t and wouldn’t make it in town. In short, it was scary. We eventually pawned the shotgun for enough money to buy groceries for a week. At least there was that much good coming from it.
21The problem wasn’t so much handing a 16 year-old a loaded weapon as much as doing so without verifying the 16 yea-old’s safety knowledge *before* doing so.
Needless.
22Gee, I always learned that my gun is my responsibility, never, ever hand it to anyone else.
23And the gun was more than likely, loaded, and cocked. A genius, that Harmon.
” Why can’t we require a gun safety test?”
Taken after how many drinks? Or taken in the throes of a jealous divorce? Will it be an open-book test?
24Airplanes, cars, and firearms are all dangerous if handled improperly. Of the three, firearms are the only ones which do not require a license (granted after demonstrating minimal competency) to operate.
One would think that a well-regulated militia would involve some training…
25If karma was in top form it was a gut shot…
26Best wishes to the 16 year-old kid in dealing with this.
That is all.
27@epo
I have nothing good to say about feral hogs. They destroy all vegetation in their path. The earth they scorch is unpleasant for hikers and downright dangerous for horses and cattle. They reproduce in heart-stopping numbers: maybe two dozen piglets a 6 year lifespan. And to add insult to injury, I had one dressed out a few years ago and was told they haven’t enough rib fat to make bacon. All in all I equate them to pigeons and rats.
28I am a lukewarm supporter of the concept of people having access to firearms (particularly in those rural areas where wildlife such as dogs, mountain lions, coyotes, and bears do present a hazard to human life and the lives of their pets. Nevertheless, I strongly believe that ownership of firearms ought to concomitant with learning and practicing firearm safety.
The late M.D. Harmon thought that learning firearm safety was liberal prissy-pants thinking at its worst. Now he’s won a Darwin award and a 16 year old kid is traumatized for life.
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