FanHouse Gun

Football players used to get Omega brands on their biceps. Hell's Angels cruised the streets with large patches on their vests. And L.A. gangs flashed hand symbols to show allegiance. Every tough guy group out there has a mark. But, hey, us gun guys want an identifying mark, too.

Well, perhaps the best candidate is a snake bite scar. A snake bite is the cut we get over the eye when a combination of factors (usually culminating with the recoil from a high-powered rifle) jams the scope back into your forehead. Yes, it hurts. Yes, grown men also cry.

It doesn't happen much, but it is bound to happen if you shoot a lot and shoot a lot of big guns. It could be because the scope is improperly mounted or because the gun is too powerful or because of human error (read: you did something really dumb). But it's a reality of the gun range. Eventually the recoil of a rifle and an ill-placed forehead will result in a gash in the vicinity of your shooting eye. From this day forth, I'm considering it the brand of a marksman.

David Petzal, the legendary gun writer for Field and Stream, wrote up an account of some of the best scope cuts he's seen on his blog, The Gun Nut. I've pasted them on the next page for your enjoyment. Consider it an early Christmas gift.

A vote for change seems to have also been a vote to buy a gun. President-elect Barack Obama is apparently the best advertisement the gun industry could have hoped for. NPR, the Denver Post and the Wall Street Journal have all published articles in the two weeks after election day noting the spike in handgun and "assault rifle" purchases.

Sales numbers began their climb at the same time Obama built his lead in the polls, roughly at the beginning of October. But since Election Day, new gun purchases have really taken off.

One quote from the Denver Post drives home the point:

"I was selling guns before I even opened the door," said George Horne, owner of The Gun Room. "It's gone completely mad. Everyone is buying everything I've got on the shelves. Sales have been crazy."

The general consensus among those interviewed for each story is that with a Democratic White House and a Democratic Congress, those two forces will be the death knell of the second amendment.

What a terrible way to start the season. Or to end it. Or to happen at all. Period.

WPBF in northern Florida reported that a 73-year-old man died over the weekend when he tried to remove a loaded muzzleloader rifle from his truck. The gun accidentally discharged, hitting Johnny G. Hurst in the chest. He was pronounced dead on the scene. And what makes it even worse is that his wife and two sons witnessed the accident.

Hunting, as a sport, has to deal with a lot of public relations issues, probably more than any other recreation. For instance we all hear from the bunny huggers that try to shame and guilt us for "slaying bambi." But that stuff is trivial compared to safety issues. No doubt the worst thing to happen in our community is when someone is killed.

So, I'm going to have to be a nagging teacher. A few reminders from the hunter safety handbook are after the jump. Study up. We all have a responsibility to be safe in the woods.

A major news item in the lead up to the Super Bowl is the judge allowing Tank Johnson to travel with the Bears and play in the Super Bowl, even though he's facing serious weapons charges.

A minor news item reported on KFFL is that new commissioner Roger Goodell is moving ahead with plans to install radios in the helmets of offensive linemen to combat the effects of crowd noise. The piece below is from the KFFL.com Hotwire:

NFL | Offensive players to have radio receivers in helmets?
Sun, 21 Jan 2007 08:59:04 -0800

Mark Gillispie, of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, reports the National Football League is developing plans to put radio receivers in the helmets of all offensive players, which would enable them to hear the quarterback's signals and line calls. The system is scheduled for testing during the 2008 NFL season.

As a fan of the Seahawks, who boast arguably the loudest home crowd in the league, I am opposed to this new technological wrinkle, as should all fans. This is basically discouraging the fans from coming to the games, because other than a handful of wealthy supporters in the good seats, it's much better to view a game on TV than from the nose bleeds in most stadiums. One of biggest reasons to go to a game, especially for Seahawks fans, is knowing you can have a small but direct impact on the proceedings if you just yell loud enough and long enough for the home team.

Starting in 2008, this will be 'much sound and fury signifying nothing.'

Now onto a more important topic and the higher exposure headline. The league also spends a ton of time and money protecting its image, as evidences by the expanded drug testing policy and stringent uniform restriction. But while they're focusing on keeping the players 'clean and neat' they're missing an area that's potentially more devastating to the image and the on-going success of the league - which is players getting involved in weapons related incidents.

If the league wanted to seriously stop all this nonsense, it could do it easily by writing in standard clauses that nullify players contracts if they are involved in a weapons related incident. They already do this kind of thing for motorcycle riding, bungee-jumping, hang-gliding and other dangerous activities, to protect the player's health and the team's investment in them.

Why not do the same thing regarding guns?

And before I incur the wrath of the NRA or the Civil Liberties Union, I acknowledge that it's every American's right to bear arms, as it is to ride motorcycles and hang-glide, but it's just not a privilege you can enjoy if you want to pull down millions of dollars for playing a kid's game.

And in case David Stern is lurking, consider yourself carbon-copied on this memo. Your league has a much bigger problem with gun charges and the perception of your players as gangstas and thugs. You've got the most control of any of the four commissioners, so you could blaze this trail with just a snap of your fingers.

Make it happen before another football player is gunned down after a high speed chase, or another innocent chauffeur is blasted to oblivion in the mansion of some careless hoopster showing off his shotgun.