gunnage

In six days there were at least 20 shootings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  At least 5 of them resulted in deaths.

I heard it on the news.  I never really thought much about gun violence or what kind of statistics there are for the illegal use of firearms, but I am guessing that what happened in Milwaukee must be some kind of record or something.

Someone from the police department (I think) said that they have a good idea who some of the people involved might be, but that no arrests have yet been made.  Or, at least by the time I heard this yesterday morning.

When I was a child I belonged to the National Rifle Association.  We lived in the country and the only social activity was the local veteran's club or whatever they are called.  My parents were dedicated drinkers then, and the misuse of prescription drugs came later.  That was in the olden days, when street drugs were unknown in the country, at least in the country part where we lived.  Maybe the adults knew about such things, but I do not remember even hearing about any drug other than alcohol until I was out of high school.

So, anyway, whilst the parents were drinking, smoking and making out with each others spouses upstairs in the bar (or, maybe that only happened at all the house parties, just not sure), all of us kids were downstairs in the basement, on our bellies, shooting 22 caliber bullets at paper targets.

When I was a young adult, my ex and his friends fancied themselves gang members (think a kinder, gentler version of West Side Story...da-dum-da-da-duuuuuuum...) and decided that one of the times they took one of the guy's pistols out for skeet shooting, that they would take their wives (I was the only wife) and girlfriends along and show all of us how manly and gangsterly they were.  Unfortunately, when it came to be the girls turns, we beat the beans out of them.  Needless to say, we were never again invited to have that kind of fun.  I do not remember ever being invited to do anything with the group again, although that was during my training period, and I think that was near the beginning of when I was never again included in anything.  But, that is another story, best told on that other place.

I now live downtown in a relatively small city, as cities go.  There are always lots of neighborhood fireworks before, during and after the Fourth of July celebrations.  There are also random festivals, mostly church ones, I think, with short firework displays.

But, I often hear, like at least a couple of times each month, single pops that sort of sound like a single firework explosion.  I mean, it could be a family that is setting off a single illegal firework (is that the singular?) for a party or something.  It could be that.  It could also be a gunshot.  The only thing I know for sure is that it is not raccoons trying to feast in the trash cans down the street and a couple of blocks over.

During the transition period to this new life it was suggested by a couple of people that I seriously think about getting a handgun, taking lessons and having it around for protection.

I have to admit that there were plenty of moments when that appealed to me.  The possibility of someone harming me was, well, not an every day, in your face likelihood, but after the personal threats of harm at the final divorce hearing, the weird things that came in the mail and the ambush at work by one of his friends, it certainly was worth thinking about.

I have not done so.  I will not do so, not going to buy a gun.  The chances are more than excellent that I would, in a panic or in a state of fear, shoot myself, shoot the ceiling or a lamp or some damn thing, or even shoot someone who was trying to harm me, which I guess is the point of owning and knowing how to use a weapon, whatever it may be.

If it came down to that kind of necessary protection, I am pretty certain that I would not be able to shoot anyone, except by accident, and that means that having a gun is actually no protection at all.

With the occasional neighborhood pop, and the news and all of the women in abusive relationships that have been shot and killed during the past year, the notion of guns and shooting, injuries, death and accidents is not far from our collective mind.

Just saying.

Detroit - with update 07-20-2013

Update below

I read, this evening, that the city of Detroit, Michigan is filing bankruptcy.  It is the largest American city to do so.

Whilst they are not the first municipality in the US to do this, and they most likely will not be the last, there is something special, poignant about this ultimate admission that things really just are not going very well there.

There are a lot of reasons and I only know about some of them because they are a neighboring state, I had friends in the automobile manufacturing business, and there have been documentaries about some of their struggles.

At its best, Detroit was a shining and successful example of manufacturing and business, the arts.  They had major league sports and interesting city architecture, as well as wonderful neighborhoods, perfect for raising families.

Detroit had it all, manifesting the best of hopes and beliefs that form the American Dream.  The city hired bankruptcy expert, Kevyn Orr, who shared with Governor Rick Snyder that ..."he saw no alternative to filing for Chapter 9, blaming decades of fiscal mismanagement, plummeting population, decaying infrastructure and failing services."

Times are tough, pretty much everywhere.  Whole countries in serious distress, cities all over the world struggling to survive.  It would have been nice if Detroit was having a different result.  

Los Angeles Times
Detroit declares bankruptcy with $18 billion in debts
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0719-detroit-bankruptcy-20130719,0,7289375.story

UPDATE:

Detroit bankruptcy declared unconstitutional by judge:

Yahoo! News
Mich. judge calls Detroit bankruptcy unconstitutional; AG to appeal
http://news.yahoo.com/michigan-gov--snyder-defends-reasons-behind-detroit-bankruptcy-160222649.html