On This Date In ISBL History: My Two Cents: Guns v Cars

As Carlos and I are in sunny Miami for business and pleasure, I thought I’d do something I’ll call “On This Date In ISBL History” and repost some things from back when the blog was new, and newish … this was originally published January 8, 2015:

My Two Cents: Guns v Cars

I’ve told this story before, but, well, Carlos posted something to Facebook about guns and got some vile responses so I’ll talk about it again.

It all began when we learned that Kroger stores in areas where open carry — being able to carry a gun, rifle, assault weapon openly in public — is legal, and one day, while shopping at our Kroger store, we expressed our displeasure at their policy.

We were told by the manager that what Kroger has is a ‘neutral policy’ on open carry which we then explained was really a ‘We don’t care’ or ‘We look the other way’ policy; we made the suggestion that maybe a sign could be posted in store windows asking that people refrain from bringing weapons into a grocery store when they stop for a carton of milk, and, again, we were told Kroger’s policy is neutrality.

Since then our policy has been to shop anywhere but Kroger because I have this aversion to asking someone to move their AK47 so I can get some eggs, but that’s just me ….

And, when on Facebook, I often repost stories from Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America; I also reTweet some links from the group. Well, Carlos shared a photo from the group one day and was inundated with all kinds of gun nuts who basically told him to STFU … funny, they want their Second Amendment rights protected while seeking to deny Carlos his First Amendment rights but what do you expect from people who want to carry a loaded firearm into a grocery?

Anyway, one nut suggested that cars kills more people than guns and does Carlos want cars outlawed? I commented that with cars you have training and licenses before you drive, two things you don’t always find in the homes of gun nuts. I also said that, with cars, most people carry insurance, so that if they hurt, or goddess forbid, kill someone with their car there is some form of restitution to the victims. Not so much with guns; if you are shot by a gun nut because, well, their gun just happened to go off, or maybe someone nudged them or ... whatever ... there is no form of restitution for the victims.

Plus, and I’ll say this again: cars were not invented as a weapon; guns, however, were. And it bears repeating that people who own guns, who carry guns, intend to use them … to shoot at something; maybe a tin can on a fence post; maybe a deer in the woods; maybe a bird on the sky. But they intend to put a hole in something, or someone. People who drive cars are not intending to kill anyone.

Still, I don’t want guns taken away from people — at least not those people who are mentally sound and don’t have a criminal history; I understand some people feel the need to have a gun for protection; I get that.

But we need to remember that guns are designed to kill, or maim, or injure, while cars are designed to move us from place to place. If someone gets hit by a car, or hurt in a car accident, it’s because a mistake has been made; something’s gone wrong. If someone gets shot it because the gun was being used in the way in which it was intended.

Guns are for killing; cars are for driving. Big difference.

I still have not changed my mind ... I still cry when  I read about gun violence—I was gonna say “senseless gun violence”—but that seems unnecessary as all gun violence is senseless. 

My Two Cents: Guns v Cars

I’ve told this story before, but, well, Carlos posted something to Facebook about guns and got some vile responses so I’ll talk about it again.

It all began when we learned that Kroger stores in areas where open carry — being able to carry a gun, rifle, assault weapon openly in public — is legal, and one day, while shopping at our Kroger store, we expressed our displeasure at their policy.

We were told by the manager that what Kroger has is a ‘neutral policy’ on open carry which we then explained was really a ‘We don’t care’ or ‘We look the other way’ policy; we made the suggestion that maybe a sign could be posted in store windows asking that people refrain from bringing weapons into a grocery store when they stop for a carton of milk, and, again, we were told Kroger’s policy is neutrality.

Since then our policy has been to shop anywhere but Kroger because I have this aversion to asking someone to move their AK47 so I can get some eggs, but that’s just me ….

And, when on Facebook, I often repost stories from Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America; I also reTweet some links from the group. Well, Carlos shared a photo from the group one day and was inundated with all kinds of gun nuts who basically told him to STFU … funny, they want their Second Amendment rights protected while seeking to deny Carlos his First Amendment rights but what do you expect from people who want to carry a loaded firearm into a grocery?

Anyway, one nut suggested that cars kills more people than guns and does Carlos want cars outlawed? I commented that with cars you have training and licenses before you drive, two things you don’t always find in the homes of gun nuts. I also said that, with cars, most people carry insurance, so that if they hurt, or goddess forbid, kill someone with their car there is some form of restitution to the victims. Not so much with guns; if you are shot by a gun nut because, well, their gun just happened to go off, or maybe someone nudged them or ... whatever ... there is no form of restitution for the victims.

Plus, and I’ll say this again: cars were not invented as a weapon; guns, however, were. And it bears repeating that people who own guns, who carry guns, intend to use them … to shoot at something; maybe a tin can on a fence post; maybe a deer in the woods; maybe a bird on the sky. But they intend to put a hole in something, or someone. People who drive cars are not intending to kill anyone.

Still, I don’t want guns taken away from people — at least not those people who are mentally sound and don’t have a criminal history; I understand some people feel the need to have a gun for protection; I get that.

But we need to remember that guns are designed to kill, or maim, or injure, while cars are designed to move us from place to place. If someone gets hit by a car, or hurt in a car accident, it’s because a mistake has been made; something’s gone wrong. If someone gets shot it because the gun was being used in the way in which it was intended.

Guns are for killing; cars are for driving. Big difference.

Photo of the Week,

Gosh, I love an old Jag convertible. 

I'd start speaking in a clipped English accent; I'd act like some sort of British super-spy. I'd ... I'd ... hang it on the wall of my house and use it as a bookcase?

Sheesh, you'd have to have a boat-load of cash to turn a full-sized Jaguar into wall art. 

And it begs the question, how do I get it off the wall and out of the house when I want to go for a spin?

Must Have Car: 1939 Rolls-Royce Phantom III Cabriolet

from the Coolist*:
In a world of plastic cars with hybrid heartbeats, the joy of driving is a dying art.  
This 1939 Rolls-Royce Phantom III “Vutotal” Cabriolet by Labourdette recalls an era when driving was always an artful experience.  Yet this is not your standard Rolls Royce Phantom III, this is the result of a complete rebuild by the Parisian designer Henri Labourdette. 
Labourdette tore the Phantom III down to the bones, adorning its body with gold plating and brass fixtures on a shape that stretched sensually from bumper to bumper.  The “vutotal” term comes from that heavy slice of glass that rests above the instrument panel, a sharply-squared windshield that sits in a welcome contrast to the curves below.
Must.Have.

Must Have Car: 1938 Hispano-Suiza Dubonnet Xenia

Since we're still in DC today, I though I'd share with you some of my Must Haves, even if I may...may...never get them. So let's start with something a little sleek, a little curvy, a little sexy.

And it's sexy. And it's 74-years-old.

from The Coolist:

"The 1938 Hispano-Suiza Dubonnet Xenia represents the peak of pre-war automotive design from an era now forgotten.  This art deco dame is one-of-a-kind, hand-built in France on custom schematics developed by the wealthy heir of an apterif fortune.  André Dubonnet developed an independent suspension upon which this Hispano-Suiza H6 was to be customized, one built for smooth riding and high performance.

It’s not the suspension that has us spellbound, it’s the smooth curves and flawless metal finish which make this car more of a “relic” than a “classic”.  It is part of an era in design where vehicle styling was inspired in part by art deco architecture....where the curvy features and slatted vents reflected the character of the art deco movement.  This Hispano-Suiza is yet another jewel in a short period of automotive design where luxury cars were hand-crafted works of art.  It’s sad to say, but they just don’t make them like they used to.

The 1938 Hispano-Suiza Dubonnet Xenia is currently shown at the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California."

It's a Must-Have.

Weird Wild Stuff

The 1938 Phantom Corsair

I was just milling about the interwebz recently, and I stumbled across a picture of the 1938 Phantom Corsair. Suddenly I wanted a time machine, so I might wander back to '38 and get me one, but, alas, the Phantom Corsair is just a prototype.
It is a six-passenger coupé designed by Rust Heinz of the H. J. Heinz family and Maurice Schwartz of the Bohman & Schwartz coachbuilding company in Pasadena. Although it is sometimes dismissed as a failure because it never entered production, the Corsair is regarded as ahead of its time due to its futuristic features and styling cues such as faired-in fenders and a low profile.
The Phantom Corsair's steel-and-aluminum body measured just 57 inches in height and incorporated fully skirted wheels and completely flush fenders while forgoing running boards. The car also lacked door handles, as the doors were instead opened electrically using push-buttons located on the exterior and the instrument panel on the inside.
The instrument panel also featured a compass and altimeter, while a separate console above the windshield indicated when a door was ajar or if the car's lights or radio were turned on.
In 1938!
The Corsair's body was mated to the "most advanced chassis available in the United States" at that time, the Cord 810. The Lycoming 80º V8-powered Cord chassis also featured front-wheel drive and an electrically operated four-speed automatic gearbox, as well as fully independent suspension and adjustable shock absorbers.
Though these features from the Cord 810 chassis were all retained on the Phantom Corsair, the chassis was modified in order to accommodate the Corsair's large body, which measured an impressive 237 inches long--nearly 20 feet--and 76.5 inches wide, enough to accommodate four people in the front seat, including one person who sat to the left of the driver.
The back seats only held two passengers, however, in large part because of space limitations posed by on-board beverage cabinets.
OMG. On.Board.Beverages.
And even though the Corsair weighed in at 4,600 pounds, it could still reach speeds of up to 115 mph because of its modified Lycoming engine as well as its aerodynamic shape.
Rust Heinz planned to put the Phantom Corsair, which cost approximately $24,000 to produce in 1938--about $370,000 today--into limited production at an estimated selling price of $12,500, but Heinz's death in a car accident in July 1939 ended those plans, leaving the prototype Corsair as the only one ever built.
The Phantom Corsair now resides in the National Automobile Museum (also known as The Harrah Collection) in Reno, Nevada.


Man, I so want one.

via WikiPedia