November 16, 2004
Tuesday

My recent article, "My Position on Gun Control," generated more email than anything I have written before. Looking at it from the bright side, at least people are reading the stuff I write. I'd hate to think I was working in a vacuum, although my head feels like that a lot these days. It has to be sinuses; I'm too young to have Alzheimer's.

As correctly pointed out by at least two readers, Tom Hanks did not carry an M-1 Carbine in the movie "Saving Private Ryan." I have received irrefutable evidence, as shown here, that Tom carried a 45-caliber Thompson submachine gun, which is an order of magnitude more effective at killing people than the M-1 Carbine. I also stand corrected regarding the accuracy of the M-1 Carbine. In fact, you can hit an elephant at 50 yards. (When I originally wrote the article for Kanoe, the target was Bill Clinton's nose, which had grown enormously while he was in office because of the "Pinocchio effect," but has since returned to normal proportions.)

Interestingly enough, none of my correspondents seemed to get the real drift of the article, which was a story about fatherhood, and how we imprint our beliefs in our children. My M-1 Garand sits on a shelf in the closet, unused for more than 15 years. On the bulletin board in my office, I have photos of my son shooting the rifle when he was 11 years old. He's 26 now and works down the hall in our communications department as an audio-visual technician. Based on the unsolicited feedback I receive from people who work with him, he is a fine young man, who is always respectful, holds no prejudices, believes in God, and is looking forward to becoming a father in February. I'd say the M-1 and I did a pretty good job.

 

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