Guns, Fictional and Real
Jun. 27th, 2017 09:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chris_gerribGuns, Fictional
One of the writers I follow, Tanya Huff, recently released a new book A Peace Divided. It's pseudo Mil-SF, in that the lead characters are ex-military who serve as a SWAT team for the interstellar police. It's an entertaining read.
However, in Huff's fictional world, civilians are completely disarmed. I've had issues with that before, in that a society that can repair toasters can make guns. Here, she's gone to even more extremes - her ex-military types literally do not have the word "pistol" in their vocabulary! All guns are long guns. I like the story, but this I don't buy.
Guns, Real
Readers of this blog know that I recently purchased a Ruger LCR. This "light carry revolver" is, as advertised, light. With full-power .38 ammunition, it's frankly painful to shoot. At my dad's recommendation, I purchased some Hornady Critical Defense bullets. These have lighter recoil and are designed for light carry guns. I shot some last night. My LCR still bounces, but it's gone from painful to unpleasant.
One of the writers I follow, Tanya Huff, recently released a new book A Peace Divided. It's pseudo Mil-SF, in that the lead characters are ex-military who serve as a SWAT team for the interstellar police. It's an entertaining read.
However, in Huff's fictional world, civilians are completely disarmed. I've had issues with that before, in that a society that can repair toasters can make guns. Here, she's gone to even more extremes - her ex-military types literally do not have the word "pistol" in their vocabulary! All guns are long guns. I like the story, but this I don't buy.
Guns, Real
Readers of this blog know that I recently purchased a Ruger LCR. This "light carry revolver" is, as advertised, light. With full-power .38 ammunition, it's frankly painful to shoot. At my dad's recommendation, I purchased some Hornady Critical Defense bullets. These have lighter recoil and are designed for light carry guns. I shot some last night. My LCR still bounces, but it's gone from painful to unpleasant.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-27 04:08 pm (UTC)The novel Logan's Run (1967) did the same thing but NO firearms of any kind! People resorted to every possible substitute, from David-and-Goliath slings to weighted throwing knives to harpoon launchers to the “Popsicle,” which made a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance in the 1976 movie - a cryogenically super-cooled billyclub that would flash-freeze any part of you it hit, including your heart from a chest blow. They even used rocket-pods! *
The one exception was the Gun, capitalized, carried by Sandmen - a pearl-handled Colt Single-Action Army replica that fired specialized-function cartridges.
There was a great deal of mythologizing here; those charges were one-shot magic spells, each different, and like Excalibur and Mjölnir only the Gun's assigned bearer could use it. Save for the cosmetic, traditional appearance the entire concept was lifted verbatim for Judge Dredd's Lawgiver.
* Much of that “New You Shop” sequence appears to have been edited with a machete, and an entire bit where Farrah Fawcett and Jenny Agutter get into a serious catfight (!) was removed, to the chagrin of hormonal adolescents thereafter…