"Tactical"

When I was a kid, my dad and I would occasionally go to gun shows. We're gun people, and like to look at guns, even if we're not particularly in the market for one. But we've stopped going to gun shows, largely because, as my dad put it, all that's on display is "black plastic or cheap Chinese shit."

Specifically, a lot of what's shown and presumably sold at guns shows nowadays are AR-15 clones or Chinese semi-auto versions of the AK-47, and lots of "wondernines" such as the 15-shot M9 pistol. As this writer puts it, a fetishization of 'tactical' weapons has descended on the American gun market.

Now, the AR-15 is a good weapon. It was designed to kill people (soldiers) at ranges of up to 300 yards. The M9 was designed as a close-range defensive weapon. Both guns have high-capacity magazines because the military has a concept called "suppressive fire." This is basically shooting in the general direction of the bad guy, not so much to hit anybody (although that's a good thing if it happens) but to keep their heads down while you do whatever you're going to do.

In short, the only civilian self-defense need (including police) for either class of weapons is if you intend to take on the entire local outlaw motorcycle gang single-handed. Even then, for non-police usage, I'm betting on the motorcycle gang, if only because I doubt they'll launch a frontal assault on you.

Don't get me wrong - both classes of weapons are cool to shoot, and 99% the weapons in those classes will only be used to poke holes into cardboard. But I'm damned if I can come up with a reason that anybody except military or a police SWAT team would need them.

I'll have a few thoughts on mental health tomorrow.