Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
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.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Delayed Updates

I know it's been forever since I've updated Codename: White Knight. Chapter 4 is turning out to be very, very long, and it's been very slow going. It will be completed, I just don't know when. I will make an effort to finish it within a week. I had a great idea of what I wanted to have happen in Chapter 4, but since I stopped writing, I cannot remember what it was I wanted to write. It is slowly coming back to me, though, so don't worry.

Part of the probem is that I recently had a great idea for the ending of the third book in the trilogy, which is now (very) tenatively titled Guardian and Angel. I was originally going to have the climactic fight would be very fast-paced and very action packed and would take place inside David Pierce's house. Now, however, I'm thinking of setting it outdoors, making it a little bit slower-paced, and having be more suspenceful than action-packed (kinda like the ending of the movie Patriot Games.) Remeber how in More Than A Job I mention that Pierce was a Marine Sniper, both before and after he joined Force Recon? I've never really had a chance to play up those abilities, and this could be the perfect chance.

By the way, I'm also thinking of re-posting More Than A Job. Any objections?

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for additions to my Guide For How To Be An Evil Overlord, feel free to submit them.

4 comments:

Sam Austin said...

Only 1.4% of homicides are labeled (by the FBI) as "Civilian Legal Defensive Homicides". Also, "non-fatal" gun defenses to non-fatal violent crimes involving handguns is one to nineteen. In the U.S., where 29% of all households own guns, there were 13,429 handgun murders. In Switzerland, 1% of households own guns. Handgun murders? 33! (Per 100,000 in the U.S.: 5.28. In the U.K.:.06. That's 88 times!)

Raptor said...

True. But guns in general are banned in Columbia. Tell me, what is the homicide rate in Bogota or Mendellin?

And in Switzerland, they have good control laws where you can't buy a gun unless you have a government-issued permit. Plus, every male age 17+ serves either in the army or the reserves, and therefore has a SG-500 assualt rifle in his closet. (I am not making this up. Go to wikipedia and look up "Gun Politics in Switzerland.)If you were a burglar, would you really break into a home where you knew the owner'd probably have an assault rifle? I think not.

And you don't have to actually shoot an attacker to stop him. Usually simply brandishing a gun will diffuse the situation.

Scenario: You're a cat burglar. You've broken into a house at 2:00 AM. You're in the living room, reaching for the silver candlesticks on the mantle when... KLAK-KLAK! you hear the sound of a pump-action shotgun being cocked right behind you. Unless you have a death wish, you're probably going to do exactly what the homeowner tells you to do.

Sam Austin said...

I have no doubt that guns are scary enough to make people leave, but they also could be scary enough to make people pull a gun. If I'm a burglar with a gun and someone takes out a shotgun, there's a chance I'll be frightened enough to take out my own.

In Philadelphia this weekend, there were 11 murders. ELEVEN! To get a gun in Philly, you go to Walmart and pick one up.

If we don't ban guns (which I am in favor of), we could at least make a waiting period (90 days), an extensive background search (including criminal and medical records, interviews with family members, etc.), and a mandatory gun-safety course.

Raptor said...

Don't get me wrong, I am in favor of some moderation and limits (nobody needs a full-auto AK-47 or M16), but simply banning guns is not the answer. Like I said, look at Australia and the UK. While shootings are down in both these countries, violent crime itself has shot through the roof.

And in PA, if a burglar pulls a gun on you in your own home, it becomes self-defense if you shoot him. It's true; find Mr. Gicking and ask him. And if I pulled my trusty 12-Gauge on a burglar, I wouldn't make him leave; I'd hold him at gunpoint until the cops showed up.

What the boneheaded politicians either don't see refuse to understand is that a criminal is, simply put, a person who ignores and violates laws to get what he/she wants. So if we enact a law banning guns, criminals will ignore that law like they do others and will therefore obtain firearms, while law-abiding citizens will be unarmed and defenseless.