A forest fire of teh Burning Stoopid in the Northwest. . . .

First, apologies to all for the hiatus: been sick as a dog, and the potions dispensed by the healer at the Wizard's Conclave had all sorts of nasty side effects.  And Obamacare hasn't even kicked in yet. . . .

Many of you have read the Ms. Magazine article on "My Month with a Gun: Week One".  And many more have, wisely, ignored it, for teh Burning Stoopid inside is truly a conflagration of idiocy not seen since. . . .  January 20, 2013. . .

But here we are.  Meet Heidi Yewman.  Anti-gun activist, Ms. Magazine occasional writer,  failed influencer of StarSchmucks, and wielder of weapons-grade burning stoopid. . .

To prove JUST how evil guns are, she's decided to buy and carry a gun for a month, and chronicle her adventures.  But Lara Croft, she's not. . . .

Let's follow her adventures, shall we ???

Getting the permit to carry a concealed weapon was simple. I filled out a form, had my fingerprints taken for a background check and paid $56.50. No training required. It took far longer to get my dog a license.

It turns out Ms. Yewman lives in Washington State.  And, yes, it IS easy to get a Concealed-Carry Permit in the State of Washington. You basically need to not be a criminal or a recent drug-user, submit to a background check and a fingerprint check, fill out a form, and pay $52.50. .  .   And so ???  Last time I checked, the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.  For those of you unfamiliar with Liberty, living in some godawful place like Red China, Chicago, or Maryland, that would be the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, and appears to be working as designed. . . .

She goes on. . .

I started my 30-day gun trial with a little window-shopping. I visited a gun show and two gun dealers. I ended up buying a Glock 9mm handgun from Tony, a gun dealer four miles from my house. I settled on this model because it was a smallish gun and because Tony recommended it for my stated purposes of protecting myself and my home.

Good thing she didn't use the dreaded, and non-existent Gun Show Loophole. . . although I'm more of a Kel-Tec or STI man, myself. . . .Glocks aren't bad, I owned a P-80 years ago. . .

It was obvious from the way I handled the gun that I knew nothing about firearms. Tony sold it to me anyway. The whole thing took 7 minutes. As a gratified consumer, I thought, “Well, that was easy.” Then the terrifying reality hit me, “Holy hell, that was EASY.”  Too easy. I still knew nothing about firearms.

 Of course, had she gone to Lowes and bought power tools, or Home Depot and bought a chain saw, they ALSO would have sold it to her, no questions asked.  Just like any OTHER legal product: the buyer is responsible for the operation of a tool, not the people who sold it to them. . .

It's also interesting that she FAILS to mention part of that waiting time in the sale was her NICS check and filling out her ATF 4473.    But, unless it's a heavy weekend, the legally-required eligibility check to see whether she was banned from owning a firearm probably took around 30 seconds, after the technician at the call center picked up the call from the dealer and got the dealer's Federal Firearms License number.  And a rather extensive and expensive network of computers (and FOUR 9s worth of uptime: they are allowed less than 8 minutes of downtime per year. . . )  with links to all the criminal records in the US (and elsewhere) go to work with the detailed information she provided on the ATF form. . .

(Once upon a time, your Wizard worked out at the FBI Data Center where all the computers are for the checks.  Average transaction time exceeds 30 seconds, management gets involved.  One of the FEW examples I can point to of our Benevolent Federal Masters actually doing something right. . . )

But it gets better. . .

Tony told me a Glock doesn’t have an external safety feature, so when I got home and opened the box and saw the magazine in the gun I freaked. I was too scared to try and eject it as thoughts flooded my mind of me accidentally shooting the gun and a bullet hitting my son in the house or rupturing the gas tank of my car, followed by an earth-shaking explosion. This was the first time my hands shook from the adrenaline surge and the first time I questioned the wisdom of this 30-day experiment.

A pity she didn't look in the box.   She'd see something like this:

 

And what IS that strange white object in the pocket in the lid of the case ??? Why, it's an OPERATOR'S MANUAL. . . .

 And there's ALSO a brochure about Firearm Safety !!!

 But for our Heidi, the were OBVIOUSLY TL:DR. . . . .  not to mention that, nowhere in this missive of hers, was there ANY mention of buying, much less LOADING ammo into the pistol.

A quick review for Heidi, care of the Dissident Frogman. . . all she needed to know about actually handling a gun. . . .

 As George Takei would say. . . Oh, Myyyyyyyy!!!  And she goes on . . .

I needed help. I drove to where a police officer had pulled over another driver. Now, writing this, I realize that rolling up on an on-duty cop with a handgun in tow might not have been fully thought through.

Ya think ???

I told him I just bought a gun, had no clue how to use it. I asked him to make sure there were no bullets in the magazine or chamber. He took the magazine out and cleared the chamber. He assured me it was empty and showed me how to look. Then he told me how great the gun was and how he had one just like it.

The cop thought I was an idiot and suggested I take a class. But up to that point I’d done nothing wrong, nothing illegal.

Au contraire, Heidi, you've done PLENTY that's wrong here.  Shall we start a little list ??

1. You decided, on your own, to purchase and carry a tool that, when handled improperly, can potentially cause grievous injury or death.

2. To show JUST how smart you are, you didn't even bother to RTFM.  While embarking on your quest to show that Guns are evil, icky, et cetera, you proved YOURSELF to be Dangerous.  Because, contrary to popular opinion on the left, there is no such thing as a dangerous weapon.  They do not load, carry, aim, or fire themselves.  Only adding a human being to the picture, can ANY gun be used to do damage.  Or in short, YOU, Heidi Yewman, are dangerous, and an irresponsible threat to any and all around you. . .

3. And then, you approach a cop about it.  You COULD have asked the friendly gun dealer, Tony.  Gun people are more than happy to give you any and all advice about selecting, buying, maintaining, and using a weapon, and we all do it for free.   Because we're not just Gun People, we're RESPONSIBLE Gun People.  Carrying a weapon implies the responsibility to use it wisely, and YOU, Heidi, are doing for the most idiotic of reasons, as a political stunt. 
 
Surprisingly, at least to you, the officer did not draw down on you, because you were at LEAST smart enough to not wave it around, not to look like a threat to him or others, and had the bare presence of mind to identify your situation and problem.

And now the MINOR ones:

4. As noted, you haven't indicated you bought any ammunition for your pistol, much less a cleaning kit, ear protection, perhaps even shooting glasses.  Hint: even by themselves, guns DO get dirty.  Perhaps not over the 30 days you plan to own your Glock, but a gun, like ALL machinery, needs maintenance and lubrication.  ALSO mentioned in that manual you didn't bother to read. . .

5. The cop gave you the single best piece of advice you'd gotten all day: if you're going to carry, then get trained.  It will reduce the danger to you, and more importantly, to those around you.   Because, at the moment, you are an extreme danger to anyone around you, even if your weapon is NOT loaded. . .

This truly IS weapons-grade Burning Stoopid.   And yet, we're likely to see three more articles.   Well, Heidi: you write 'em, I'll Fisk 'em. . . .