I’ve been watching a lot of the History Channel’s Gangland series and Investigation Discovery’s Gang Nation lately. One thing I’ve noticed is that much of the gang violence is due, directly or indirectly, to drugs. Well, no duh.

When Prohibition was enacted, the outlaws had a ready source of easy money. Bootlegging, moonshining, the speakeasies, et al. were extremely profitable to gangsters. The associated violence that the gangsters used was almost a natural side effect; turf wars, robbing each other, fighting law enforcement, etc. were just standard business practices for many criminals. People were willing to pay big money for their illicit hooch. Criminals who were limited to small-time crimes previously found big money bootlegging alcohol. > more <

First, I am not a Constitutional lawyer. These are strictly my opinions and interpretations. Everyone has their opinions about gun control so I thought I’d weigh in on the matter and hopefully apply some “common sense” to the argument, if possible. Second, when I mention “Army” below, I mean all branches of the military. It’s just easier to use one term for them.

If you read the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, this is what it says:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. > more <

I just have to mention this for the simple fact that the military, in my opinion, can be run by complete idiots. (Again, I will keep my comments to a minimum since I’m still in the Navy and don’t want to temp fate.)

From an article at Military.com, a 22 year old Air Force Airman 1st Class will be sent to jail for 4 months and reduced in rank for having a threesome with two other Air Force members. One of the other “partners” is also facing charges but the third isn’t because it’s felt that she was too drunk to be aware of what was going on. The original charges were asking for 10 years in prison and a reduction in rank. > more <