The Wifely Person Speaks: Don't Pour Iced Tea on Your Laptop...and other random thoughts.

David the Geek Guy

Yeah, yeah, I know I'm supposed to be on hiatus for the rest of the month, posting only select episodes and a few pithy comments.

However....and isn't there always a however?

In a stroke of genius, I knocked over a glass iced tea and hit my kitchen laptop in the process, thereby effectively killing it. Granted, it was slowly shuffling off its e-coils, and I had already been surreptitiously (lest it find out what I was doing, thereby hurting its feelings) looking for a replacement.

I ran over to Best Buy in Eagan. David the Geek Guy was really nice even thought he had to pronounce my beloved box D.O.A. But when I asked about the hard drive, he happily popped it out (yeah, it had a hard drive,) had it checked out, and pronounced the sucker intact (thank G-d.) I picked a new box, decided with the sale price, I would get the extra-special tech support and have them move the old hard drive files onto the new box. I took said new box back to David and he said he would take care of the rest. He did. And instead of having to wait until Thursday to pick up the new machine, he called me four hours later to tell me it was done. I ran over there lickety-split.

Other than wasting way too much time to install Chrome, I am up and running with all my old programs. I am ecstatic. Even Microsoft knew who I was on the first try. I was very impressed.

But I was more impressed with David the Geek Guy. Nice, competent, helpful...a veritable Boy Scout of a kid. Best Buy, if you're listening, keep the guy around if you can. He instills confidence in the process, not something that happens very often these days. Thanks also go to my friend Bill who dropped what he was doing to come over to Best Buy to help me evaluate laptops. Thankfully this is Prime/Anti-Prime week and the Dell 15.6 I liked at $509 was now $399. A clear win all the way around....except now I have to get used to a new keyboard. Feh! Always the worst part.

So, back to the hiatus part. For the next few weeks, I'll be posting some old episodes that I think are worth revisiting. The first, The Second Amendment ~ Stuff You Might Not Know, was first published on July 23, 2012. I think it's worth re-reading.

Did you know there are two versions of the second amendment?

This is the version that was passed by the Congress:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

And this is the one that was ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State:
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

A real "eats shoots and leaves" moment, eh? Well, it’s worse than just bad punctuation.

As conceded by the Supreme Court, there is a direct link between the Second Amendment and the English Bill of Rights of 1689, which protects the rights of Protestants from disarmament by the Crown. Their text reads as follows:
"That the Subjects which are Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law."

Charleville American Revolutionary War Musket

Lacking the phrase, “as allowed by law,” our version seems to circumvent the ability of Congress (or anyone else for that matter) to make a determination about what the law permits...and by extension, makes the passage of any law restricting guns a matter of constitutionality. So, there is actually no law that can be made (according to the NRA) that can limit the ownership of any gun.

In District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), SCOTUS ruled that it was absolutely okay to own a gun unconnected to a militia, and said gun could be used for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. It was the first SCOTUS ruling that considered the Second Amendment to be protecting an individual right.

Since day one, however, there has been debate over the intent of the Amendment, and whether or not firearm type was limited to the scope of a militia. SCOTUS has never defined the meaning of the word arms, and subsequently any attempt to limit the type of firearms permitted has become a constitutional debate.

What has been omitted from the debate is common sense.

Lots of people have permits for and legally own handguns. Some people feel safer having one in the house, and they are supposed to be trained in the use and storage of such a weapon. One does not leave one’s Glock lying about on the kitchen table for the kids to play with or take to school for show and tell.

Hunting guns are supposed to be used for sport and when not in use, I do believe they are supposed to be kept in locked storage. And lots of people participate in other marksmen-type events like skeet, decathlon and pentathlon safely and without incident.

But show me where in this country one needs to own a couple of Uzis, AK-47s, and a few customized M-16s thrown in for good measure? Does one need to ever stock thousands of rounds of armor piercing ammo for afore mentioned weapons?

National Priorities © 2012, Steven G. Artley, ARTLEY CARTOONS
It’s time to give up our delusions of frontierness; them days are long gone. Even in our most rural communities, there is not a single reason on the planet for ANYONE in the United States to own an assault rifle. Guns and ammo are not the same as laundry detergent and a 12-pack of toilet paper. You cannot point an empty cardboard spindle at someone and shoot them with Charmin'. We put warning labels on everything, but we still let people walk out of gun swap meets without so much as a name verification. How does New York City ban giant sodas and too much salt in your fries....but cannot stop assault weapon ownership?

I am not suggesting all guns be banned….although I wouldn’t exactly be opposed to that idea….but it’s time to stand up to groups like the NRA and demand common sense be allowed back into the conversation. The gun lobby isn’t about hobbyists or hunters or urban dwellers who feel safe with a gun in the flat. That lobby is ultimately about greed, arms dealing, and a willingness to bear hatred toward segments of our population.

It’s time to stop being afraid of the NRA. They are just a group of people who seem to think it’s more important to let anyone own weapons, and by extension, allow a crazy person who owns some of these to shoot up a movie theatre…..or a school…..or a community center….or a Long Island Railroad car…… The list just goes on and on.

We have a big election coming up. Maybe now is the time to demand common sense be restored to the gun debate. There are more of us who want to see assault weapons banned than want to see them protected. We, The People, are the only ones who can demand a halt to the insanity of insufficient gun control.