This week, I have been swamped with a project from work.

It has put me on a business trip, led me to put in long days, and generally kept me away from my (admittedly sparse) contributions to the blogosphere.

Perhaps the most maddening is the realization that neither my boss (PhD in computer programming, but not very knowledgeable in the skills of management) nor I (unaware that I would have to do most of the project-management for the project I took on) did a very good job laying out the software design.

The design exists, and is probably a very good design for the project. However, I was unable to compare the new design to the old design. I was also unsure of what in the old implementation was cruft, and what was absolutely necessary to keep.

Now, I'm working overtime to get the product working, with the certain knowledge that the code is already full of ad-hoc changes and patches, and the certainty that the next phase of the project will be harder because of of the disorder of the current stage.

Giving up (deserting the project and/or the company) is not an option. So I will continue to work.

Posted by: karrde at 01:03 | No Comments | Add Comment
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Occasionally, when discussing my firearms with friends, I'll mention that my shotgun is a hunting analogue of a Swiss Army Knife. That is, it will do almost anything with the proper loading.

Today, I learned that some young man turned into a murderer at a University he used to attend.

My heart goes out to the families of the murdered. And to the hundreds of thousands of students who will step into the classroom with fear and trembling tomorrow, and next week.

One thing which I quickly noticed was that the young murderer's tools were a pair of pistols and a shotgun. (All three legally purchased in Illinois under his Firearms Owners ID, under Illinois' waiting-period system. Apparently, his psychological troubles did not rise to the level of NICS-notice.) The shotgun, the do-everything hunting weapon, is superbly efficient as a killer of humans. The efficiency drops significantly with ranges over 50 yards, but this was evidently well within that range.

The shotgun, probably loaded with buckshot, was reloaded at least once.

As I said on at least one comment-thread somewhere, the murder victims could have rushed the murderer and stopped him. Admittedly, a shotgun is most dangerous at close range. But while the operator is reloading, he has at most one shell available--if he inserts it directly into the chamber. In that situation, two people could have charged from different directions, and it is likely that at least one would have had opportunity to disarm him.

But the murder-victims chose not to attempt to fight their murderer.

Of course, if the instructor, or any student in the class, had been trained and issued a Concealed-Carry Permit, the murderer would likely have died much more quickly.

That is not a guarantee. It is only an increased probability. But any increase in the probability of survival would have been welcomed during those two minutes of terror.

UPDATE:
I realize that I wandered from my original point.

The shotgun is a dangerous weapon. It has been typical (for more than a decade) for certain people to call for the banishment of military-style rifles (often mis-labeled "assault weapons"...they are not full-auto assault rifles, and no weapon is dangerous unless it can be used to assault...) upon the occurrence of a shooting like this.

However, as was shown Thursday, the most useful hunting weapon is equally useful as a murder weapon. (In another arena, a Buck-knife will kill as readily as a switchblade. While one is more concealable than the other, both are equally lethal.)

If gun control is to be used to stop such rampages, then shotguns need to be banned as much as any kind of rifle or pistol.

However, more laws against the use and ownership of weapons will likely have the same effect as a certain Constitutional Amendment had upon the sale and consumption of intoxicating beverages. Not to mention the enormous logistical problems in finding and securing the estimated 250-million firearms in private hands.

Posted by: karrde at 21:41 | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sung by Johnny Cash:

I found him by the railroad track this morning
I could see that he was nearly dead
I knelt down beside him and I listened
Just to hear the words the dying fellow said

He said they let me out of prison down in Frisco
For ten long years I've paid for what I've done
I was trying to get back to Louisiana
To see my Rose and get to know my son

Give my love to Rose please won't you mister
Take her all my money, tell her to buy some pretty clothes
Tell my boy his daddy's so proud of him
And don't forget to give my love to Rose

Tell them I said thanks for waiting for me
Tell my boy to help his mom at home
Tell my Rose to try to find another
For it ain't right that she should live alone

Mister here's a bag with all my money
It won't last them long the way it goes
God bless you for finding me this morning
And don't forget to give my love to Rose

Posted by: karrde at 08:49 | No Comments | Add Comment
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So, in the wide world of news...there's this United States Supreme Court case that I've been watching, along with a number of others.

The quantity of opinion available in the blogosphere (and in mainstream news-media) is rather large.

Apparently, a majority of the United States Congress signed an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court with reference to the D.C. v. Heller case.

My interest was mainly with the Congressmen from my home state who signed the brief.

more...

Posted by: karrde at 01:43 | No Comments | Add Comment
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Clayton Cramer is a careful historian. In the Introduction to his book, he writes about his shock and surprise upon the publication of papers (and later a book) by Michael Bellesiles. Cramers own research has led him to believe that Bellesiles was deliberately deceptive in recounting the history of firearms use in America.

In the first section of Armed America, Cramer attempts an overview of firearms laws and use in the 168-year history of English Colonies in America. The theme for the section is established on the first page of the first chapter.

Cramer wrote:

In every American colony at the start of the American Revolution, a militia--a part-time civilian army--existed to protect the colony...From the Anglo-Saxon period, English law had always required freemen to fight in defense of the realm. Called variously the fyrd or the militia...

Posted by: karrde at 21:35 | No Comments | Add Comment
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