In a blog post a couple of days ago, I said that in anticipation of Hurricane Ida hitting the Gulf Coast and shutting down refineries and oil rigs, as well as the Labor Day weekend coming up, I thought it might be a good idea to fill up the gas tank on Terry’s Chrysler Pacifica. I’m glad I did, because it was $2.74 a gallon then, and yesterday it was $2.99 a gallon at the same station. Timing is everything.
If you’ve been reading the blog for very long, you probably know that I’m a gun guy and have been for most of my life. I’ve also been a firearms instructor in the military and in civilian life. I’ve always said that every law-abiding American should have the right to own a firearm. However, I’ve also said there are a hell of a lot of them that have absolutely no business having one, no matter what their rights are.
A good example was a fool we saw the other day when we were on our way to Port Orange. This guy was probably somewhere in his 50s and had stickers plastered on the back end of his car, across the back window, and on both sides with drawings of handguns and sayings like Go Ahead, Make My Day, and Shoot First, Ask Questions Later and Defend Yourself. This is the kind of guy that has absolutely no business with a gun. He can’t wait to shoot somebody and is just looking for an excuse to do it.
Not only are guys like this dangerous to others, but they are also dangerous to themselves. Let’s say that he gets into a situation where he has to use a firearm for self-defense, and let’s say it’s completely justified. You can bet that when the case gets to court, a strong argument would be made for the fact that he was looking for trouble, and maybe someone with a cooler head could have avoided it. Even if he was not charged criminally, that kind of advertising makes him a huge target for a civil lawsuit.
Not only that, but you can be sure that a guy like that owns more than one gun. In fact, I would bet he’s got a whole bunch of them at home. And guess what? He’s out driving around, and his guns are sitting home all alone, just waiting for someone to come by and help themselves to them. Even if he’s got them secured in a locked safe, who really needs to get their home burglarized?
Years ago, I was moving into a house in Tucson, and the fellow across the street came over and was talking to me as I was unloading our truck. Something came up about guns, and within two minutes, he was telling me all about his large collection of guns, even though he didn’t know me from Adam. This was in the days before cell phones, and I needed to use a telephone to call a utility company or something, so he invited me to his house to use his phone. And while I was there, he started hauling out guns from every corner, showing me all of his toys. He also told the mailman, any repairman who came to the house, and anybody else he talked to about all his fancy guns. And yes, his truck was plastered with NRA stickers.
His wife worked the night shift at a hospital on the other side of town, and one evening about 20 minutes after she left for work, he got a phone call saying that she had been in an accident on Speedway Boulevard at some cross street and needed him. He jumped in his truck and sped across town, and when he got to the location, she wasn’t there, her car wasn’t there, and there was no sign of an accident. He drove around for a few minutes, thinking he got the directions wrong, then went to the hospital, where he found her at work. No, she hadn’t been in an accident, and she didn’t know what he was talking about. Thinking it was some kind of prank, he drove back across town to his house, where he found the back door kicked in and all of his guns missing. What a fool.
In other news, in a blog post last week, I mentioned that Terry has a lot of problems with bruising and tearing of her fragile skin as a result of all the radiation and chemo she had during her cancer treatment. Blog reader Patti Earhart posted a comment about a product called Skin Guards Arm sleeves, along with a link to them. Terry ordered some and they came yesterday. She says they’re very comfortable, and she will definitely be wearing them when she’s working on her looms and other projects around the house. Thanks for the tip, Patti!
As for me, I’ve been busy working on my new John Lee Quarrels book, getting several more chapters read through and printed out, and sending them through the proofing process. Yesterday I also knocked out another 5,500 words, and I’m feeling very good about where this book is going.
Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Big Lake, the first book in my Big Lake mystery series. To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.
Thought For The Day – I am who I am. Your approval is not necessary.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
$4.75 here for no particular reason. I guess the firetrucks need it so the prices must be raised. A pack of cigarettes is 11.64 a pack. A bottle of rye 35.00. It’s more and more expensive to be poor.
We’re full timing. I make sure whenever you post my kids read it. It’s educational in a real way.
We’re all pulling for you and Terri, you know that.
I am a gun owner as well. Another thing I see a lot is folks putting pictures of their firearms on Facebook sites. That’s crazy.
In our RVing days (we’re now 85 and retired from RVing) we often ran across RVs with (clever?) signs on their windows and/or doors about how it was dangerous to invade their RV because they had guns. How stupid (IMHO)! It was just an invitation for someone to break in and steal them.
Oh boy, I’m waiting for all the other comments coming about that guy shouldn’t own guns. We have a friend who owns a lot of guns and has been making goofy predictions about the US, like when Biden was elected the freeways would be shut down and rioting going on because the left stole the election. Well, it wasn’t and we’ve been trying to distance ourselves from them.
Thank you, Miss Terry, for the comments about the sleeves. I had gone to the site when Patti shared it, because I get lots of bruises and shared it with my parents because my 92-year-old dad has thin skin that tears easily and bruises easily. We all thought the sleeves looked like a good idea, but it is always encouraging to hear from others and know they like a product before purchasing. Both of you, take care and stay as well as possible!
You’re welcome!