Last week’s column outlined two essential facts regarding the horrendous problem of human slaughter administered by gunshot. First, the weapon itself gives unlimited opportunity for the destruction of life: it is extremely easy to use by anyone – man, woman, child. Secondly, the universal possession of guns is irreversible. Humans have them and will not give them up and will continue to use them for good or ill. All the laws – present and proposed – to control the deadly use of forearms fail – and will continue to fall far short of solving this ongoing plague of death by gunshot.
Murders of fellow men by other fellow men is the undeniable and irrefutable fact of human history and human nature! Humans are ruled by their emotions, emotions that can create sublime beauty one day or the most abject depravity the next day – or even the next moment. In our rages, our grievances, our self-defense, our madness, our selfish impulses, our jealousies, we act out against those we perceive have harmed or thwarted us or have what we want. Most often we use words only to inflict some pain on these violators of our “peace.” But too often, we go a step further into physical violence in serving our anger: assault, blows and ultimately the use of a weapon.
While the type of weapon used is not the cause of this human mayhem, firearms by far escalate the damage and destruction to a totally intolerable degree. People – you and I – have millions upon millions of firearms at our disposal, and most of us are unwilling to give them up for various reasons – recreational hunting, second amendment, self-defense, dangerous neighbors, etc.. Registering gun ownership – the current legislative remedy – will only insignificantly, if at all, reduce the problem. (On a personal note, I own a single shot bb/pellet gun and have only executed one armadillo in the past nineteen years. I don’t trust myself to have a firearm within one hundred miles of myself as I am not as stable as some might think I am).
Our society has chosen to elevate individual freedom over public safety. We opened the mental wards in the 1960’s and today it takes an act of Congress to confine a person exhibiting mental instability. Only a George Orwellian society could effectively control gun violence and our society clearly rejects this approach. The bottom line is that Gun Control and People Control offer no reasonably hopeful solutions!
So what’s left to slow down the gunshot slaughter? Are there some helpful ideas out there that can really help? Is there some type of Maginot Line out there to ward off bullets? Is there some Star Wars gadget that can pick off bullets in the air? Once again, I have turned to Smedley Research Associates for some answers.
As you may recall, the Smedley people gave us the Kevlar vest a few years back, to say nothing about what they did in Roswell, New Mexico in the 50’s. They were also knee deep in bringing down the Scuds coming into Israel from the Hezbollah a few years back. Perhaps their biggest technovel (their word) was putting the Moon over Miami in 1935. This group of profound thinkers is, as we speak, working on a prototype that has monumental implications for Mankind in their battle for survival against the gunshot holocaust.
Bouncing off the Scud knockdown concept, Smedley and his boys have developed the REVERSO SHIELD ( pat.pd.). In Layman’s terms, this is a lightweight super plastic shield that is so designed that when it is struck by a bullet, it will re-send that bullet right back between the eyes of the shooter! It is obvious that the REVERSO SHEILD, when perfected, will serve as the ultimate deterrent to firing a gun.
The Smedley Group has completed a series of successful trials at the white mice stage. They are now ready to do the human trials and are casting about for paid volunteers and interested investors. If you are either interested in saving Mankind OR making a good buck, email Smedley. This is your opportunity to be wealthy or a hero or maybe even both!