The state of the CCW union

Judging to the reaction to my post entitled "Almost First Draw" (here), there seems to be a major disconnect between those who carry weapons and those that do not. Even the ones go weaponless AND support the right to bear arms, seem to not understand the basic tenants Conceal and Carry Wavier (CCW) holders operate under. It is my goal to bridge the gap between the two groups. Concealed carry is tightly intermixed with the subject of "justifiable use of deadly force" and mindset of self defense, which we will cover in due time. For the beginners, and any that might stumble along this post, I would like to give a little primer on the subject, both political and statistical, to explain where the state of CCW is. I would suggest, you take your time and read the links I provide. They will help your understanding of the CCW culture.

In the beginning

Way back in 1987 Florida was the first state in the Union to pass a modern shall issue CCW law. Since then 39 states (2 this year) have passed similar laws "shall issue" laws and many have reciprocity agreements with each other to respect the licenses of other states, much like drivers licenses. In 8 other states you might be able to get a CCW license if your sheriff is gun friendly or you are well connected enough. In 2 states, the right to carry a gun is denied. You cannot drive coast to coast yet, but a recent national conceal and carry bill that was introduced in the U.S. House might change that.

Since the introduction of conceal and carry laws our nation has experienced a continuous drop in crime, to the point of record low level today(1), this year being a notable exception. There are now more guns in the hands of law abiding citizens, than ever before in the history of America (Page 47). (2) Too determine if you have the ability to get a CCW, please visit www.packing.org for more state by state information.

In fact studies have shown that conceal and carry holders are more law abiding on average than the police who protect us, which should put to rest many people's of the fears (Page 9) . There have been no shootouts between conceal and carry holders over fender benders, that I know of (3). In fact, I can think of a couple stories where conceal and carry holders saved lives, in crowded settings. The right to carry has come a long way, though it is now considered a "privilege" instead of a right by many states. Eventually I hope that situation is remedied along with several other major gun rights issues.


Justifiable use of Deadly force and its requirements (4)

I have not done a survey of all the states, but in the right minded ones, the main principle that determines if the use of deadly force is justifiable or is murder, is if the victim feels that great bodily harm or death could result from an attack. For the most part this does not apply to criminals in the commission of a crime. You can also shoot to defend the life of another, but that is a little more complicated because there are more unknowns. The deadly force test is normally applied both in the grand jury and at trial, if the case makes it that far. This fact has pushed some people to go to great lengths to ensure that IF they do appear in front of a grand jury, their actions are just and that their weapons are politically correct. Appearances could matter to an jury that is uninformed about guns. I personally wonder if you can be sued for NOT intervening to save another's life? I am sure a suit could be brought, though I do not know if it could gain traction.

Another point to note, is that in some states if your home is being invaded while you are present you are presumed to be in danger of your life or limb and can use deadly force against the home invader. Again this only applies to states where common sense actually plays apart in making the laws. In several states this year, castle doctrine was strengthened inside of you home and car. Also, in several of those states the duty to retreat was removed while in public.

Personally, I believe you should also be able to shoot in the defense of property, though the law in most states does not agree with me on that. For example, in my one of my CCW classes it showed a video clip of a man robbing a car and the owner stepping outside of the house. In one version the crook ran away, in that case you could not legally apply deadly force. In another version, the crook turned around with a screwdriver and approached the homeowner, at that point in time the homeowner could legally use deadly force IF he feared for either his life or limb. The one exception that I know of is Texas, there you can shoot in the defense of property, and in some situations you could just be watching the property for someone else, for example house sitting. If you state has a CCW program, it most likely has a CCW class. In that class is where the nuisances of your states laws are explained along with examples of situations and what to do in those situations.

Other comments on the law

It should be pointed out that there are typically laws concerning the brandishing weapons, these typically have a wider variety between states. These laws have led to the general accepted philosophy that if you are going to draw your gun, you had better use it. In other words, before drawing a gun there should be a clear and present danger to your limb or life. Drawing a gun for deterrence is seldom recommended, though according to studies it actually happens more than two million times a year.

Also, in most of the right minded states your attacker (or preferably their family) cannot sue if your use of deadly force was found justifiable based on the attacker's actions. This is the case in Oklahoma. This provides a great peace of mind to the gun owner who uses their gun to defend their self or their family.

Another thing to keep in mind that, if you fire you gun you will most likely be responsible for any damages you bullet causes outside of the attacker. Just because the criminal cannot sue does not mean your neighbor next door cannot sue for bullet holes in their house. Even pistol rounds will penetrate walls. One thing to note, and I will expound on the implications of this later, is that as a civilian you are at a tactical disadvantage in many dynamic self defense situations because "Action always beats reaction".


Preparing to carry

As you can see from the proceeding passages, the choice to carry a gun has its own set of problems legally and morally. In spite of the legal risks and the moral implications many choose to carry everyday. Some have decided that the upside, survival, is worth the downside, possibility killing someone and then having to go through the required legal proceedings, which will be extremely expensive and time consuming, not to mention emotionally disturbing. Some feel that rights are lost if not exercised. Regardless of how you feel you must come to terms with the moral, ethical, and legal issues surrounding conceal and carry -- BEFORE you carry your gun. If you let the issues linger, doubts, second guessing, and indecision could haunt you when action is needed most. Most likely, you would have died with or without the gun, but the sad thing is that with proper information beforehand and forethought on your part a productive and useful life (yours) might have been saved. In other words, if you have a flawed understanding of the law, are unwilling to use the gun for your defense, or if you do not have the skill to properly use a gun for your defense (5), you might should rethink your decision to carry and just run at the first sight of trouble. The one thing conceal and carry does bring to the table is options, which are not present if you are gunless.


The state of mind while carrying

Once you have thought critically about carrying an weapon and have decided that it is the right decision for you, you have crossed an important milestone but your journey is not done. A gun is an important part of a personal protection strategy, but it is not a magic ward against the threats you could face. Should you be faced with a threat you will go though the OODA loop. In order for you to get to the response level (act) of the loop you have to elevate the threat past the threat threshold level. Fortunately, this is easy to achieve though situational awareness or more of a hyper-awareness. The tool of a color coded threat system helps out tremendously in explaining the topic of situational awareness. Once a threat is recognized, the level of the threat must be accessed, and then you can choose an appropriate course of action to save yourself or your loved ones. If you are aware, you can complete the OODA loop quicker than your attacker and hopefully survive to pass on your genes. Failing to orient quicker than your attacker seals your fate. Even if you do recognize the threat early your life is far from safe because you may lack the skill to properly deploy the means to protect yourself. I feel that training is the part many CCW holders skip.

Fight as you train, train as you fight.

I believe training is absolutely necessary to if you are going to carry a concealed weapon. Without training, you will not be able to complete the OODA loop quickly or effectively, which will hinder your chances of surviving a life and death encounter. I do not believe it should be mandated by the state (the quality would decline), but I do believe that the CCW community should place social pressure on its members to be as well trained as they can afford to be. It takes time to develop the muscle memory to draw and aim a gun accurately, especially from the varied locations a gun could be (your glove box, your purse, inside your waist band, etc.) Also, when you are placed under stress many of your fine motor skills will disappear due to the adrenaline surge. This is the one part that I have not completed. I currently am saving the money and the class I am eyeing will be two days and cost about 400 dollars not including the nearly 1000 rounds of ammo I will use.


In conclusion

When you are carrying a weapon, I believe you also carry a responsibility. You must prepare yourself mentally, buy knowing the laws of the land and by being aware of your surroundings. I also believe that your must be fully aware of the deep emotional and moral issues surrounding the use of deadly force in the protection of yourself or others. Lastly, but maybe most importantly, your must train so that your reactions will be sure and quick. This will increase the chance of your survival and decrease the chance that you could miss and injure someone else.



(1) This is not to say that conceal and carry has lowered crime, but it has not risen because of it either.
(2) This is not to say that guns have lowered crime, but it has not risen because of it either.
(3) Probably because when one person pulls a gun, the other person then asks if the have a CCW, if the other person does, both then hug and kiss like Italian brothers.
(4) I am not a lawyer, yada yada, please consult one for laws in you area.
(5) Keep in mind, the skill level for using a gun at typical self defense distances is extremely low.

Doing research

I want to move away. Away to a better place. Do not get me wrong. I am completely happy where I am now, but when I ask myself if i am in the best place, the answer is a resounding no.

So while doing research on other places i got this message from the CIA website.


Funny.

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6 imams walk on to a plane...

I know you have heard that one before. Well I wanted to share a bit of information with you. Specifically, the recent survey that Pew took of Muslims feeling about terrorists and terrorism.
You can read it yourself, if you want. I didn't, though. I just looked at the numbers on the front page and averaged them out for you. Basically 2.7 out of ten Muslims surveyed support violence against civilians often or sometimes. Three out of ten Muslims have some or a lot of confidence in Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to the "right" thing regardless of world affairs (whatever that means).

Statistically, there was a decent chance one of those imams probably had very strong beliefs you should be blown up. Think about that next time you see him complaining about getting kicked off the plane.

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Cholesterol

As I may have mentioned in the past, my cholesterol is high for someone my age. My first test was in April and I recently went and got another one. Since April, I changed my diet, lost 20 pounds, and started exercising again. It took quite a bit of work to lose the weight and get back in shape. Buy the end of the running season (when daylight savings turned off) I was up to three miles again. I am going to try to maintain during the winter by running occasionally and lifting weights. My goal is to lower my body fat percentage by several points to bring it more in line with what is considered normal.

I had some dramatic changes to my blood chemistry, but not the ones I expected. I expected there to be a significant change in my cholesterol, because I heard triglycerides where tough to move with our medication. It turns out that triglycerides are very weight sensitive, and were adjusted the most. I think a picture will explain it.



Triglycerides and VLDL both decreased dramatically. HDL and LDL increased. LDL had the largest increase. Looking at the data, I have come up with my own theory concerning cholesterol and I think it holds a bit of truth (further research revealed my theory to be somewhat true. Read here and here).

First a little background. VLDL, LDL, and HDL all make up your total cholesterol level. VLDL is the smallest, LDL is the next largest, and HDL is the largest of all (update: actually the size information is wrong.). I believe that my VLDL got rolled up into LDL. Additionally, some LDL was rolled up into HDL. The decrease in VLDL shows a general trending of my body creating larger lipids (or cholesterol). How much of this is true, I am not totally sure. Either way, I feel my overall cholesterol improved a bit more than my raw number shows.

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Truth in googling…

"At the suggestion of Say Uncle here’s a google bomb effort to counter the anti-gunners google efforts.

Sensible gun laws

Sensible gun laws

Ban all guns

Ban gun ownership

Just doing my part, feel free to join in."

via Moral Flexibility

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Don't Forget

Don't forget, it is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. Heh, that never gets old.

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A few Zim Dollars for your soul.

Recently a friend just happened to be passing through Zimbabwe and picked me up 200,000 Zim dollars. These dollars happened to be right during the currency redenomination, before three zeros got cut off the national currency. These 200,000 Zim dollars would buy you a coke, from what I am told.

Philosophy of self-defense: What is your life worth?

Remeber your life is only worth the price of a bullet, to a criminal with a gun.

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Global Warming Debate

Recently, Justus gave his point of view on global warming and I thought that I would chime in with my particular take. I feel my insight into the situation, is fairly unique.

Naturally and without any real thought, I tend toward the environmentalism side of the argument. This tendency is based purely on the fact that I grew up in a very rural area and also enjoy hiking and backpacking, when I get a chance.

Most importantly, I feel that the entire topic of global warming and the environment has become a political football, which each side supporting the science it wants to hear. The few scientists who do not know the answer and are seeking the truth, don't get the airtime they deserve. Their voices are drowned out by the scientists, political activist, and media on both sides who have already made up their mind on the issue. In other words, the information you hear on global warming is devoid of objectivity and useless for making up your mind.

I also feel few key facts poke holes in the environmentalists and anti-global warming arguments For example, the air is cleaner than it was 20 years ago, which might actually cause more heating of the earth because more sunshine reaches the ground. Then on the environmentalists side, there is the correlation of CO2 gas with the estimated temperature of the earth.

So without a clear answer on Global warming, I am forced to decide that I am neither for or against polices that could stop, slow, or even reverse global warming, within reason.


Political maneuvering

On the way to Europe I watched Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth". During this movie, it became apparent to me that the left has done a great job of spreading the faith of global warming to the American people. The right has attempted to fight back using science and other political means. The right, by putting science in the middle has done the debate a disservice. By trying to oppose environmental rules and regulations, they have made themselves easy to demonize. I am not proposing that they right should lay down and give the left what they want, that would be disastrous You would probably be forced by law to wipe your butt with recycled cardboard, spend a minimum of two years getting to know nature in North Dakota, and be forced to save all of your poop in a big plastic bag to avoid harming the environment. So what should the right's response be to the talk of Global warming?


Al Gore's Idea

Recently, Al Gore suggested replacing the income tax on American businesses with a tax on CO2 (it is there, I read until I found it then threw up.). As long as the tax was revenue neutral, the GOP should take the idea and run with it. I am sure other unique combinations could be created that achieved the environmentalists goals while reducing the tax burden, rolling back gun laws, privatizing social security, removing the personal income tax, removing the capital gains tax, removing the death tax, applying term limits on lawmakers, disbanding the ATF (all those goons could be made to work for the EPA), strengthening eminent domain, letting principals and other teachers carry guns, making sure every person has castle doctrine in their own home and the ability to enforce it, etc.


The environment is a loser for the republicans. The GOP could get some serious swing votes
with a few moves that make republicans and environmentalists happy.

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Friend

Friend,

The xd is a great gun, but there are certian key drawbacks. I probably would choose a glock or a 1911 if budget allowed, if i could do it over again. Keep in mind, that I have never had a misfire, FTF (failure to fee), or FTE (failure to fire). It has functioned flawlessly, though I don't shoot much. I probably only have a few thousand rounds through the gun.

I purchased the 4 inch .40 caliber version. I like the XD because it is a bit heavier than glocks (by six oz if i remember correctly), it has a grip safety, which I think is a wonderful feature. I don't understand why all guns don't have them. It has a better grip angle than glocks (it has the same grip angle as the 1911). The cocked and loaded chamber indicators are also wonderful additions.

My main complaint is that the finish sucks. I have holster wear marks. If the finish was better, i would not have that problem or rust. I did experience some rust once, it was not serious, just cleaned it off with a little oil. It happened when i was carrying it and sweated a little on the back part of the slide. Sweat is especially corrosive. Springfield has fixed the finish issue on the new XD 45's, but i don't know if they have rolled out those changes to other models yet. I could send the gun off to be finished somewhere (springfield would do it for me) or do it myself, but i have not really messed with it.

Other problems include springfield parts policy, which is due to either liability concerns or supply problems, depending on who you talk to. Basically, if something small goes wrong I cannot replace the part myself, because i can't buy it. I would have to send the gun to springfield and have them replace it. Glocks and 1911's don't have that problem. Springfield will do it for free, though. Also because the xd is a bit newer there are less aftermarket items, though there are a lot more than there were two years ago.

They only modification I have made was changing out the guide rod: http://www.pistolgear.com/products.php?id=8

I feel the stock guide rod is the XD's greatest weakness. I choose a 22 pound spring, but I am going to try a weaker spring to see how it shoots (the stock on is 18 lbs.). I think that the slide could be causing my sights to dip when it slams home, though not sure.

Here is an xd forum, if you want to do additional research: http://www.xdtalk.com/

I choose the 4 inch model because it is easier to conceal than the five inch and is more accurate than the 3 inch. Basically, it is a good compromise between lengths. I choose the .40 cal, because it was a compromise between the 9mm and .45 cal.

Presently, my gun feels fairly snappy when shot. Don't know if it is just he .40 caliber round or the strong spring, but my next handgun will probably be a .45 of some kind.

Here is a video for complete assembly and disassembly for you XD.

http://gunvideo.com/pgroup_descrip//6762/?return=%3ftpl%3Dsearch%26search_val%3Dxd

I would suggest at least breaking down the slide every few years if you don't shoot much and carry it a lot. If you shoot a lot and carry, I would probably clean the slide once a year.

If you buy it, you won't be disappointed. Springfield also has a great warranty and will fix it if anything goes wrong at all.

General questions

How do you plan on using your gun? House gun? Car gun? Conceal and carry? Range gun only?

Have you looked at other pistols? Sig, S&W, and Beretta have entered the polymer market with the last few years. HK and glocks have been around a long time and are time tested. I have fallen in love with the 1911 myself. As to metal framed guns, you can't go wrong with a 1911, though in general they are more expensive, though Tarsus recently came out with one for about 500 dollars.

Are you going to get your CCW?

if you have any more questions please email me.

hope this helps

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You Tube + Google = ????

The thing that has me most confused about the whole You Tube thing is that Google already had a video service. Here is the site. You can find it form their homepage. Why would Google purchase another video service?

The only reason i can think of is that, there must be a video that can bring Google to its knees on You Tube and Google wanted it.

Unlike Les, i don't feel this purchase is odd. It is either genius (because I don't understand it) or Google just made a 1.65 billion mistake.

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Greatest treasure

America's greatest treasure is not the lives of it's young men, it is the freedom that those young men protect.

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Europe

Leaving for Sandcastle's wedding today. It is not till next Saturday, but the girlfriend and I will be enjoying some time off before that. I have become less and less excited about traveling as I have gotten older. I get settled in my ways and really don't want to change. All I see is the risks associated with traveling and none of the reward. My ways might be boring and unnaturally regular, but I kind of like it that way.

So did you hear about the experimental train accident? It was probably Japanese engineering. Just another thing to add to the list of things to watch out for, while I am over there. So far the list included terrorists, Nazi's, airplane crashes, and lost/stolen luggage. I feel the time of my death is near. The dark horse in the race of things that will kill me, is spinach. I can see myself being the unlucky bastard who eats the only helping of American spinach and dies because I can't get enough fluids while on the plan ride home. Which indirectly, the terrorists caused the fluid scare, so I would have to score another one for the bad guys.

Wish me luck (not like your sentimental thoughts could change the course of my history anyways, but at least you can say you tried.)

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John Titor, CERN, and me

Earlier posts on Titor. I am going to Europe and might visit CERN, so the fox article here caught my eye. Also for the conspirators view point of what is going on at CERN please take a look at this site

On the top towards the left there is a combo box that says posts by date. You can read all of John titor's posts. I will give you one of the FIRST one in November 2000.

"I was just about to give up hope on anyone knowing who Tipler or Kerr was on this worldline. The basics for time travel start at CERN in about a year and end in 2034 with the first "time machine" built by GE. Too bad we can't post pictures or I'd show it to you."

Another one in February 2001

"When I first started posting online a few months ago, I said that major breakthroughs in particle physics were around your corner. Soon, CERN will bring their big machine on line and they will be smashing very fast and high-energy particles together. One of the more odd and potentially dangerous items produced from this increase in energy will be microsingularities a fraction of the size of an electron."

From the fox article, which prompted me to look the above quotes up.

Black holes possible

"The accelerator, known as the Large Hadron Collider, is under construction in an underground circular tunnel nearly 17 miles long at CERN, the world's largest physics laboratory, near Geneva, Switzerland. At its maximum, each particle beam the collider fires will pack as much energy as a 400-ton train traveling at 120 mph. By smashing particles together and investigating the debris, scientists hope to help solve mysteries such as the origin of mass and why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe. If theories about the universe containing extra dimensions other than those of space and time are correct, the accelerator might also generate black holes, Landsberg and his colleague Savas Dimopoulos at Stanford University in California calculated in 2001." (emphasis mine)

Please Play X-Files music.

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On the pope

Link:"In Iraq, the main Sunni party warned the pope's comments could lead to violence between Muslims and Christians. The pope "should not be lured into returning to the Crusades," the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party said in a statement."

The muslim leaders constantly speak in veiled threats. They use our own political correctness against us, while preaching hate and intolerance. Could lead to violence!?!? From whom would the violence come and to whom would it be directed.

From the same article, "Two churches in the West Bank were hit by firebombs Saturday, and a group claiming responsibility said it was protesting Benedict's words."

If you have been following Dilbert's posts on the middle east (here and here), I think you will understand how serious this problem is and also how fruitless it is to engage religious fanatics.

Do you welcome the coming war or are you afraid?

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1 degree of separation

Romans 1:28 - 32
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Each of these events happened with one degree of separation between myself and the victim in the last week or so..

A man moved into an apartment and was robbed at gun the very next day. No link.

Jesus "Jesse" Talavera and his mother were killed by a career criminal. Jesse had cerebral palsy.

A 11-year-old boy who was mowing his own yard was killed when he was struck by an overturned vehicle which had been taken out for a joy ride by some teenagers.

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Steve Irwin

You know I actually saw Steve in person at his zoo in Australia with the United States Track and field in 2000. That was awesome and somthing I will always remember. I feel sorry for his family, though I also realize that he knew the risks he was taking.

Though on a more morbid level, I really would like to see the video. Can you imagine the look on his face? Can you read his lips saying, "Oh Crikey"? You know this would have been a lot funnier if he had just lost a leg, eye, and hand.

I would also like to thank Steve, for making me say, read, and write the word crikey more than I had at any other time in my life.

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Coworkers theory

My boss is not a supporter of hybrids or technologies that reduce the amount of gas that America uses. He wants a complete end to end solution, such has fuel cells, not patches on the current state of things.

His reasoning is that as oil and gas consumption is lessened the price of gas will actually go up because as the oil companies lose money, they will raise the price of gas to make up for the loses. Is there anyway for this to happen, without illegal activity, assuming supply stays at its current level?

I actually think it is possible, if for some reason that alternatives to gas are only sold in some parts of the country and not others. The areas without options, will see the price of gas rise. If the government stays out of it though, it lessens they chance of that happening.

There is also the fact is that oil companies are heavily invested in new forms of energy and probably will still be making money off of you, though not from gas.

Are there any cases of commodities not following the supply demand curve when the market has been allowed to work?

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Shooting

In sequence to this post I would like to catch you up on the recent adventures and also throw in a teachable moment that I forgot the first time around.

At the range I shoot at, they have a Springfield 9mm 1911 for rent, that looks like this. I know I am probably going to hell because I shot one, but I guess you could say I was curious and just wanted to have a good time. Well, it shot well and handled great. The girlfriend likes the size, weight, and aesthetics of the 1911, but I will not let her get on in 9mm. I guess you cannot have everything. Ours had adjustable sights which seemed to crowd the top of the slide and make it harder to operate for Stewardess.

This gun really marked a milestone in our gun search. We settled on a caliber and Stewardess also decided that she does not like the plastic guns, after shooting my 40 caliber and holding many others. So we are looking at metal framed 9mms. We have finally made enough progress to start hitting the gun stores. So far we have been to one and the only one she found that she liked was the 9mm Sig 226, in stainless. She has expensive tastes.

In out next shooting session before the gun shop, I got Stewardess to shoot a Smith and Wesson model 64. I really did not think there was a chance Stewardess would like this gun and I was right. Though I felt of I was necessary to at least shoot a revolver once, just to make sure. She shot high with it, but she was more accurate with it than she was with other guns. She also shot it better than me. Revolvers are weird.

As to the teachable moment. Have you ever shot 9mm ammo in a .40 caliber gun? I have. It happened to the Sig we shot first. It was my fault, I should have checked the gun before I loaded it up with 9mm. It could also be related to the fact that I was probably less than clear in the gun I wanted and did not actually see the gun range worker get it. If I was watching more closely, we would not have made it to the range. Make sure you gun matches your ammo. In fact I think that should be the real (as opposed to Jack Bauer's) 5th rule of gun safety, if it is not already. Oh well, it was a rental anyways.

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Unintended consequences

I would like to mention one possible unintended consequence. I will throw out the idea, without any fanfare, to the blogsphere to see what you think.

The media is partially to blame for the successful adoption of CCW laws in the many of the States.

The news at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 shows all the bad things that have happened in you area today. They show the murders, robberies, and all the ultra-violence they can to get their ratings up. They have increased their coverage of crime, even though crime is lower than it was 10, 15, or even 20 years ago. You could believe that they had other motives, such as making the average person believe they need more police or to have some other unknown effect on the population. If that was the case, I doubt the coverage of crime would be so uniform, because producers would make widely different choices nationwide.

The result of bracketing prime-time with crime, has been the feeling that you must do something to protect yourself. Which most reasonable people come to the conclusion that a gun is a fine protection mechanism. I believe this is evidence of the interrelated nature of the media and the consumers of media. The concentration on crime by the news media is not the only reason for the success of CCW laws, but it is one influence. Of course the fact that CCW laws, at worst do no harm and at best save lives, probably has something to do with it.

In other news, there was a recent study linking sexual songs that teenagers listen to with teenagers that have sex. What if it is the other way around? Teenagers who have sex tend to listen to songs that talk about sex. I have no doubt, that both influence the other. The media you consume has an effect, those effects might be fairly predictable or they might even have some unintended consequences.

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