The Much Maligned “9”
It happened again at an afternoon barbeque a few months ago. One new acquaintance commented he was looking at buying a new pistol.
“What caliber?” Asked the other new acquaintance.
“I dunno,” first guy said. “Nine millimeter, I think.”
“Huh,” sneered second new acquaintance. “Just going to tick him off.”
The first new guy shrugged helplessly as if to say, “Well, what do I know. I bow to your superior experience and ballistic knowledge.”
I generally try to not comment when people make stupid statements about guns. It’s like arguing with a drunk or a dog. When it’s over, the guy will still be drunk, and the dog will be confused.
But this fallacy has become so entrenched in our gun culture, I can’t keep quiet—at least once monthly someone makes a disparaging remark about the effectiveness of the 9MM cartridge in handguns.
I try really hard not to sound as smart-ass as the second guy when I comment—sometimes, I’m successful.
“Lessee,” I chimed in at that moment. “That shooting that occurred up there in Blacksburg, Virginia in 2007 at Virginia Tech. That South Korean nutcase, Seung-Hui Cho—he killed 33 people with…oh yeah—a nine millimeter.”
“And the Luby’s Cafeteria shootings in Killeen, Texas back in 1991—that guy killed 24 people—with a—oh yeah. A nine millimeter–but a nine millimeter won’t kill anybody…”
The current disaffection in this country with the 9MM pistol cartridge can be traced back to the infamous Miami shootout in 1986 between two heavily armed armored truck and bank robbers and the contingent of FBI agents that had been hunting them.
Armed with an arsenal of weapons including a Ruger .223 semi-auto rifle, these two killers had decided they would not be taken alive.
AND SO IT BEGINS…
Notice: Thanks to the hundreds of people who have responded to this posting, and the thousands of gun owners who e-mailed DOD and their representatives in Congress…
This situation has been resolved.
DOD rescinded the order after a firestorm of criticism–which began almost immediately when they issued a directive to mutilate all expended military brass before it could be sold to the civilian reloading market.
In October of 2008 the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana found for the Second Amendment Foundation and the National Rifle Association in their long-standing suit against the city of New Orleans.
This suit, filed first in February of 2006, demanded the city begin proceedings to return the over 800 guns stored in an NOPD evidence trailer. These guns had been illegally confiscated by law enforcement from the law abiding citizenry of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
There are many ways to determine you have arrived.
As a politician or public person, to have a building, street or airport named after you is evidence you reached a high status, and if such occurs while you are still living — well, you’ve really made some sort of mark.
But all such vanity is fleeting, and unless you’ve graced the halls of Congress, the Supreme Court or the White House, you’re still small potatoes on the national scene.
A dramatic (and controversial) defensive shooting occurred in Baton Rouge on February 17, 2006.
A citizen shot and killed a man who had overpowered and was viciously beating a police officer. The results of that incident have scarred the lives of several people and families.