Saturday, September 19, 2015

A Sunny Saturday in Pershore


Psych! I wasn't really in Pershore, which is an attractive market town in England, I was in rural Texas, somewhere between Waco and Dallas, with a truckload of guns.

The State Protects You in Pershore

The heat beat down, shimmering off the fields, and I shot away at a silhouette, steel plates, clays, a Sprite can and an old plastic bottle of root beer. And a steel turkey. 

Not Allowed in Pershore!

The guns worked, and I was especially pleased with my Ruger American .17 HMR. Well made, inexpensive, and dead on. Pistol performance wasn't bad either, with the plate swinging more often than not at 30 yards. Take that, steel plate, .45 ACP.

Ride On in Pershore

In Pershore you're not allowed to own a pistol or an AR 15, because the less able you are to defend yourself the safer you'll be. But don't worry, the State will look after you as you're attacked by the village toughs. 

Banned in Pershore

Still, Pershore does have pubs, a river, cider and Guy Fawkes night, but that's a different story.

Your Pal,

LSP



9 comments:

LL said...

There is a pub (not a proper one but it will do), bottled cider, etc. in Waco --- and you can give a penny for the man if you'd like.

Julie Culshaw said...

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/jul/22/gun-homicides-ownership-world-list

But the percentage rate of homicides by firearm per 100,000 people is a telling statistic: 2.97% in US compared to .07% in England and Wales, that is six times greater in the US.

I just don't understand the reasoning for firearms in the US, it seems pretty clear the more guns you have, the more homicides go along with them.

Julie Culshaw said...

Sorry, my multiplication is incorrect. I was looking at the % of homicides per 100,000 in Canada which is .51, six times less than the US rate. The difference between US and England/Wales is 42 times the rate of homicides per 100,000.

LSP said...

Too bad we don't have a pub here in H, even a fake one, LL. But no, the Baptists won't allow it. For them, alcohol is against the Bible.

So what was the miracle at Cana? Water into non-alcoholic grape juice?

LSP said...

I think you're more likely to glassed or shanked in the UK, Julie, though the crime stats are reported differently than in the US.

But lots of guns don't necessarily mean more shooting homicides, strangely. Switzerland is very highly armed, for example, and has a very low murder rate. Well, it is Switzerland... DC and Chicago, on the other hand, have/had very restrictive gun laws and very high murder rates, likewise Baltimore. Apparently that's going down where concealed carry has become legal (Illinois etc) though it's a bit too soon to tell for sure.

Canada, which has gun laws somewhere between the US and the UK, seems pretty peaceful. But you can't buy an AR 15 there, although you can buy pistols and bolt action, magazine fed battle rifles, like the Lee Enfield. Law abiding lot, Canadians.

Mattexian said...

Heck, those Canucks can still buy unaltered ChiCom SKS' s for cheap, while Bush the Elder shut off that faucet long ago, and no one has seen fit to reverse it. Maybe Cruz can get on that, right after overturning Obamacare.

I wish we had more pubs in my neck of the woods too, even a Bennigan's, but no, just one across town, with kinda a limited menu (and expensive for what it offers). Similarly, there's only one German place, in the next town, about a half-hour drive if traffic cooperates. It's run by two German sisters, so the kitchen is authentic, even if the decor is simple redneck.

LSP said...

The German sounds good, 30 minute drive sounds long though. Didn't know about the SKS/Canada thing. Interesting.

Anonymous said...

Who needs an AR 15 in Pershore, that Shetland pony is savage.

LSP said...

And that's just the pony, Anonymous!