Three local former Marine friends want to open an indoor firing range and retail gun store in Maryville.
David Perry, Johnny Anderson and David Stone want to purchase the old Waters Grocery building at 2208 Old Knoxville Highway, Maryville.
Currently the structure, owned by Dwight Price and Lyman and McDaniels Builders, is occupied by a consignment antique business.
Perry said that the firing range would be located in the basement of the building and would be surrounded by dirt on three sides.
He said handgun carrying and personal protection classes would be available.
The plan would be to have a retail business selling guns and accessories, such as holsters and belts, on the upper floor that fronts Old Knoxville Highway.
Before the business can become a reality, operators must get permission from Maryville City Council.
Just booked my flight to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno, NV. It’s organized by Mr. Completely and last year, a good time was had by all. It’s open to gun bloggers and commenters. So, head to the link to get info on the shindig and I hope to see you there.
The “I have a tear” speech from Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale
By now most people in Knox County and the surrounding counties have learned of the incredible turnaround that happened in the Knox County Commission meeting on Monday. Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale gave his best Bill Clinton “I have a tear” speech complete with pained emotion and the carefully picked words, “Let’s pull it back together. Let’s get some things done. We’ll work with you. We’ll work with Mr. Cosby. We’ll do the best we can.”
Mayor Ragsdale then inexplicably took all of the good will he had just made and forever destroyed it with one word. As concerned taxpayer Lewis Cosby was speaking at the podium in the Public Forum Mayor Ragsdale turned his head to Cosby and softly said, “Showboat.” Cosby and the audience was stunned. Cosby turned to Ragsdale and asked, “A showboat, what did you just say?” Then Cosby shook his head in disgust and said “Incredible.”
You can see the entire episode on YouTube Channel Nine or on the WBIR website. Most people believe it is not possible for Mayor Ragsdale to run for Governor. Yet three years is a long time.
I would count SayUncle as one of those sites which censors and threatens those who do not ‘toe’ the party line. I was banned there while another poster who advocated violence was not.
You’re afraid, Kevin. It’s not against the law to live in fear of having your worldview sliced and diced. But it’s kind of hypocritical to pretend you aren’t. It explains your..eerr..fascinations. – Ad hominem.
Kevin’s afraid of debate. – same lie repeated (familiar theme, no?).
All in one post. No threats, no bans, nothing.
Lying to win is par for the course among the antis, though.
This matter seems to warrant some discussion. It involves pit bulls, which have been the subject in a number of cities. I sometimes feel sorry for responsible pit bull breeders and owners who treat their dogs with proper care. These dogs are more aggressive by nature, but so are other breeds.
Sorta yes, mostly no. Dogs commonly referred to as pit bulls (pit bull is not a breed but a class of dogs) have it in their nature to more aggressive to other dogs. They are less inclined to be aggressive toward humans unless such aggression is encouraged in the animal. The dogs have a history in dog fighting (hence their aggression to dogs) and, in a fight, the humans had to maintain control so the dogs were bred to be tolerant of humans.
Also, and I hate to break it to folks, but bully type dogs often make horrible watchdogs. Their curiosity will probably get the better of them (assuming they awake from their slumber) and they’ll often sneak around to investigate things. That’s what my dog does. True story from a friend is that someone was trying to come through the window of his house. The dog, apparently, sat patiently and quietly by the window waiting for the intruder to enter. Once the intruder did enter, there wasn’t a sound other than the intruder trying to get out and cussing because a dog had clamped on his heiny. Said burglar was later caught at a hospital when he was getting his tail stitched up. The dog never barked. Watchdogs alert by barking more than defending their castle with force. A poodle makes a fine watch dog.
My politically incorrect dog is probably scary looking:
And he’s got big gnarly teeth. But watchdog, he is not. That’s what the alarm is for. However, if there was any escalation of violence in my home, rest-assured he’d be there doing his damnedest to put an end to it. I have no doubt he’d take a bullet for anyone in the family but, barring a physical altercation, he’d probably just watch. Anyway, enough of that. A few things of note about the incident:
Unsurprisingly, the dog was an unaltered male (which is the case in most dog bites, particularly fatal ones)
The dog was tethered, which, in addition to being bad pet ownership, also tends to make dogs more aggressive.
Why did the police get so close to the restrained dog? Seems to me it could have been avoided by simply not going near the dog. Other than that, I tend to concur with Aunt B:
If your dog bites a police officer, chances are that your dog is going to get shot. That’s unfortunate, but that’s a fact of life. If you don’t want your dog to get shot by the police or you want to have a credible way to dispute the police officer’s account of what happened, keep your dogs in the house where you can control them and witness the police’s behavior.
Apparently, Fred Thompson has gone from: speculating about continuing to think about considering the possibility of maybe trying to ponder chewing over the prospect of flirting with running for president. Maybe next weekish, if, you know, you’re not busy.
To: announcing that he’s announcing some time soon but after the YouTube debate. Fred, get in before the debate.
Tom King, President of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, has a blog at Timesunion.com that is pro-gun running counter to the PSH of Robyn Ringler. Now, Robyn has been deleting pro-gun comments faster than John Ford is stocking up on soap on a rope (see here and here). She claims she’s only deleting comments that lack civility. And that is bullshit. Just click the two previous links to see. The fact is lack of civility means eviscerates her point or makes her look stupid. So, we gun bloggers came down on her.
PLEASE!!! I don’t care that Ms. Ringler is too insecure to post opposing views, that will never happen on this site. However; Jadegold and Warvet if I find any more posts containing wishes that our children or anyone else is injured or killed I will edit it and ban your posts from this blog. Shame on Ringler for allowing posts like that.
And she does. Tom subsequently banned Jadegold. But, here’s the deal, let them say those things. And link to them to show what vile disgusting people they are. Let their vile flummery stand to show what their side is like. They’re losing and desperate. Highlight it, don’t hide it.
Now, I will say that it’s Tom’s sandbox, and he can definitely set any rules he wants for his blog. But we don’t do things like this in the gun blogosphere. Let them post their hysterics, cliches, and faulty data, an let our people tear it apart. That’s how it works.
[...]
We’ve spent a lot of time, here in the pro-gun blogosphere, trying to build a reputation of being willing to debate the anti-gun people on the merits of their arguments, and they’ve lost every time.
Ayup.
Update: Tom responds. I concur that the VPC is not a reputable source for, err, anything. But I like pointing out their hysteria and lies. They are their own worst enemy.
In their analysis, Kates and Mauser compared different countries, different population groups and different types of interpersonal violence, homicide and suicide throughout much of recorded history, and found that the old anti-gun axioms that you so often hear are false:
* More firearms do not equate to more homicide or more suicide.
* Fewer firearms do not equate to less homicide or less suicide.
In fact, more often than not, just the opposite is true.
The FBI has quietly built a sophisticated, point-and-click surveillance system that performs instant wiretaps on almost any communications device, according to nearly a thousand pages of restricted documents newly released under the Freedom of Information Act.
The NYT doesn’t care for rights actually enumerated in the Constitution. But rights not in the Constitution are peachy. And, apparently, they think they’re in the Constitution.
Today, this blog is five years old. Wow, that’s old for a blog. I usually run some numbers on the birthdays (here’s last year’s). I’m an accountant, it’s what I do.
12,507 posts
42,416 comments
629,910 spam messages
1,676,578 words in posts
2,744,935 words in comments
1,520,729 visits per sitemeter
2,630,856 page views per sitemeter
3:28 Average Visit Length per sitemeter (note: i don’t even look at my internal stats package any more)
I used to go to Lowe’s and Home Depot about the same number of times. I recently switched completely and became a Home Depot only guy because, since I moved, they are closer to my house and they installed self check out, which absolutely rules at a home improvement store. But, despite convenience and proximity, my dollars will now go to Lowe’s only:
Dustin Chester is job hunting this week, after The Home Depot fired him and the general manager for thwarting a thief from running away with a pocket full of stolen cash.
Last week, the 24-year-old department manager confronted a man who was standing by a soda machine in front of the Murfreesboro store off Old Fort Parkway holding a crowbar and a wad of cash. When the suspect started running, Chester said his instincts took over.
He was fired Monday for violations of company policy in the incident.
“When he ran, I ran after him,” he said. Chester caught the thief and restrained him in the parking lot until police arrived.
Chester was shocked to find out that for managers and most employees, catching and detaining thieves is against company policy.
And:
The Home Depot said its policy, which directs workers to notify loss prevention specialists or police to handle criminal situations, is in place to protect its employees and customers.
“The associates involved were not following company policy, resulting in this disciplinary action,” said Don Harrison, spokesman for the Atlanta-based company. “Safety is a primary focus for our company.”
Doing the right thing should also be a primary focus.
At the end of the day, the Brady Campaign “wins” by taking away your rights. The NRA “wins” by protecting them. And ultimately, I believe that’s why we’ll win more battles than we lose.
I look at it this way: we are already winning. 48 states have CCW provisions, of which 37 are shall issue and 2 states don’t require a permit. The AWB expired. The gun maker immunity bill passed. The DOJ’s official position (bucking 40 years of precedent) is that the second amendment guarantees and individual right. Both major political party platforms say that as well. I predict Wisconsin will go shall issue in the next two years. 2/3rds of Americans oppose additional gun controls. A circuit court in DC struck down draconian gun laws based on second amendment grounds. States are passing castle doctrine laws so fast, my head is spinning. And they’ve expanded self-defense laws. The Democrats won’t touch gun control with a ten foot pole. And anti-gunners like Romney and Giuliani are recanting their old positions. We’re winning and we will continue to do so. The best that anti-gunners can do is spin the NRA supported NICS Improvement bill as a gun control measure, which it is not.
That scares the Brady Bunch, the Gonzos, the Ringlers and the Millers.
I hate being a cheerleader for the NRA. I would love to be able to sit down with pro-gun people, and have a reasonable discussion about things that I think the NRA could be doing better, things I wish they wouldn’t do, and things I wish they’d pay more attention to.
But all too often I get the sense that a lot of people are more interested in flinging poo at the NRA than they are at fighting gun control. There’s even an active contingent of pro-gun people out there who believe that flinging poo at the NRA amounts to fighting gun control!
Yes. He concludes with:
To the extent that the pro-gun movement is a bickering family, we’re healthy, and I don’t worry. But as soon as it turns into the Hatfields vs. McCoys, we’re in serious trouble. Too many people want to make this a feud, and it gets tiring. I can think of no better way to enable a resurgent anti-gun movement than to spend energy fighting each other.
To prove my sincerity, I will today (for the first time) join the NRA.
In light of the upcoming Republican YouTube debate, people are getting their questions on. Perhaps this time, CNN will pick questions that do not evoke PSH (unlike last time). So, here’s one I’d love to see asked of the Republicans:
The city (my the city) is getting a mobile command center. I don’t know what that is or why Maryville needs one but they’re putting their drug and Homeland Security money to use.
The Violence Is Rooted in the Culture, Not the Gun Store
[...]
During my visit to Realco, several young African American men were checking out large-caliber firearms in a display case. I asked some of them why they wanted a gun.
“Protection,” one replied.
“You never know who you might run into,” another said.
Nobody mentioned shooting tin cans with Dad.
Well, shooting tin cans is indeed fun but one’s duty to protect themselves is much more important. And:
This fight is not so much over guns as culture. Largely rural, conservative whites are protecting a gun-loving lifestyle because they care more about it than they care about the loss of black lives to gun violence in urban areas. And if you want to fight that culture, you have to have a culture to fight with.
Ya know, you may have had me had you not states something that stupid. It’s not that I don’t care or care less about the loss of black lives. It’s that the propositions by gun control advocates will impact me, a law-abiding man, and will not prevent young black men from killing other young black men. And we rural, conservative whites have a gun-loving lifestyle because we choose to defend ourselves and, unlike DC where guns are banned, there is not as much violence here in these rural parts.
Ya know, if Joe Lieberman were to actually become AG, I’d ponder leaving the country. Last thing we need is a law and order guy who is also a big government nanny-statist in that office.
The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said.
U.S. citizens own 270 million of the world’s 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies.
About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United States, it said. [but the anti-gunners tell us that gun ownership is at historic lows - ed]
“There is roughly one firearm for every seven people worldwide. Without the United States, though, this drops to about one firearm per 10 people,” it said.
You say that like it’s a bad thing. In other countries:
India had the world’s second-largest civilian gun arsenal, with an estimated 46 million firearms outside law enforcement and the military, though this represented just four guns per 100 people there. China, ranked third with 40 million privately held guns, had 3 firearms per 100 people.
Germany, France, Pakistan, Mexico, Brazil and Russia were next in the ranking of country’s overall civilian gun arsenals.
On a per-capita basis, Yemen had the second most heavily armed citizenry behind the United States, with 61 guns per 100 people, followed by Finland with 56, Switzerland with 46, Iraq with 39 and Serbia with 38.
France, Canada, Sweden, Austria and Germany were next, each with about 30 guns per 100 people, while many poorer countries often associated with violence ranked much lower. Nigeria, for instance, had just one gun per 100 people.
“Firearms are very unevenly distributed around the world. The image we have of certain regions such as Africa or Latin America being awash with weapons — these images are certainly misleading,” Small Arms Survey director Keith Krause said.
So, places prone to mass violence have fewer weapons? Who knew? Last bit:
Weapons ownership may be correlated with rising levels of wealth
The Mrs. calls and says Junior’s school offers a service where a private agency will take fingerprints, pictures, descriptions, etc. of Junior to be retained in the event she (God forbid) goes missing. I’m not opposed to the idea (provided it’s not some state mandated thing) and think if parents want to do that on their own that is fine. She calls me and the conversation goes a bit like this:
The Mrs.: I just wanted to make sure you were OK with that.
Me: Sounds fine to me.
The Mrs.: Because you’re kinda weird about stuff like that.
Moi? No idea what she’s talking about.
Oh, and I’ll save you the trouble: it’s a scam. Seems dude shows up, gives you a kit to do this yourself and you keep the kit in a safe place, and then he tries to sell you life insurance.
Update: this particular paragraph is quite amusing:
What a blueprint for a culture, that of the NRA. Paranoid people who imagine murderers and evil government agents are at every street corner, waiting to strike at innocents, and therefore arm themselves to the teeth, which legitimately terrifies their neighbors and helps produce exactly the kind of distorted world that the gun extremists believe already exists–i.e., a world in which everyone is deathly afraid of everybody else.
Yet, your anti-gun ilk want to arm up because they’re afraid of who? Loser.
So, today the Rearend Jesse Jackson and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership are supposed to be doing some protests, which is what you do when you’re ineffectual in the political realm. People who are effective do something other than try to get cheap media time. They’re protesting, err, not sure what. But it’s because guns are bad and people can buy guns. Except in Chicago, which is odd because that’s where he’s protesting.
Some on the gun rights side have said we should buy ammo. So, I did. I bought a couple of boxes of 9mm Winchester White Box.
Seems the good Rearend is planning on protesting DSA, who import and make a lot of goodies like the TP9 and some pretty sweet FALs.
If you wish to support them, go here and buy a shirt.
Sylvester Stallone circa 1998: Until America, door to door, takes every handgun, this is what you’re gonna have. It’s pathetic. It really is pathetic. It’s sad. We’re living in the Dark Ages over there.
Activists should be aware that as the “Parker” case heads to appeal at the Supreme Court, it may no longer be the “Parker” case. The pleading for certiorari will be titled “District of Columbia v. Heller” another of the original plaintiffs.
Asked why the change was made, an insider with knowledge of the case suggests, “D.C. has switched to Heller probably because Parker is an African-American female and Heller is a less sympathetic figure as a white male. Our side will probably keep the name Parker when responding to the D.C. cert petition, and ultimately, it’ll be up to the Supremes.”
I thought it was because Parker moved out of the District and now lacks standing so another plaintiff stepped in.
Seen in comments: The Protest Easy Guns videos have now disabled comments after people completely destroyed their arguments. Hmm, what does this remind me of?
One of the shows that the Mrs. records for Junior is Lou and Lou: Safety Patrol. The shows are short (like five minutes) and Lou and Lou run around with little badges declaring things to be safety violations. One such show was fire safety and another was putting on sunscreen when at the beach. Aside from the creepy nanny nature of the show that makes me want to tell the kids to mind their own business, it does teach kids important things. And it also could lead kids to shame their parents into things.
However, one episode taught kids about having a disaster preparedness kit (with adequate food, radio, batteries, etc.). And the same show taught kids to have a BOB, though they called it a Go Bag. I suppose with Katrina and 9-11, what used to be an activity of the survivalists is now rather mainstream.
To watch the video, go here and click the one that says Get Ready, Get Set, Emergency. I told the wife that one of the items they did not include in their kit was a carbine.
Seems Mike Pfleger (AKA Snuffy) is abusing his church’s non-profit tax status by putting up various billboards against guns that advocate legislation. Meanwhile, the IRS cracks down on the finances of churches who issue a pro-life message.
The government’s terrorist screening database flagged Americans and foreigners as suspected terrorists almost 20,000 times last year. But only a small fraction of those questioned were arrested or denied entry into the United States, raising concerns among critics about privacy and the list’s effectiveness.
And this is the same database some folks want to use to restrict gun rights without due process of law?
Finally, the local press has driven me to talk about the recent shenanigans in Knoxville. Seems the elected officials are calling for a do-over in light of a lawsuit by the News Sentinel that says the commissioners have done it wrong and potentially broken the law. It’s funny. I didn’t realize that Knoxville was being run by the quarterback and head of the cheer leading squad from back when I was in seventh grade. Seems Buffy and Tad are, like, totally talking about each other and stuff. And like, ya know, it’s all confusing.
Personally, I think if they broke the law, they should all be arrested. But then, they’re better than you and me so that won’t happen.
And, also, those Protest Easy Guns folks are gearing up for their protests in various cities. I’ve linked their schedule. And so have the folks at ar15.com. And I have alerted some Nashville folks about the one in Nashville. Now, when you go to these events, don’t scare white people. Show up, act and dress professionally, calmly and clearly make your case. Drive your opponents to PSH and avoid it yourself.
And you can go see all the protest easy guns videos here. You know, if you’re inclined to engage in Reasoned Discoursetm.
Senior social workers have given warning of the dangers posed by a new government register that will store the details of every child in England from next year.
They fear that the database, containing the address, medical and school details of all under-18s, could be used to harm the children whom it is intended to protect.
[...]
The database, which goes live next year, is to contain details of every one of the 11 million children in the country, listing their name, address and gender, as well as contact details for their GP, school and parents and other carers. The record will also include contacts with hospital consultants and other professionals, and could show whether the child has been the subject of a formal assessment on whether he or she needs extra help.
It looks like the petulant, gun-toting NRA stalwarts have won the first round.
I smell Reasoned Discoursetm coming!
Last time, I used this space to ask where you stand on the issue of gun control. A torrent of e-mails later, it’s clear: Gun-control advocates were outgunned, four to one.
The gun lovers were legion, robust and vitriolic. Many of you told me to go places where the sun doesn’t shine and the temperature is way too hot. Yet, if you believe public opinion polls, that reaction is an anomaly. For instance, last April, ABC News polled adults nationwide, and asked: “Do you favor or oppose stricter gun control laws in this country?” Sixty-one percent favored them, 36 percent were opposed, and 3 percent were “unsure.”
CBS News asked, “In general, do you feel the laws covering the sale of handguns should be made more strict, less strict, or kept as they are now?” Two-thirds of respondents nationwide opted for “more strict.”
I don’t think you’re reading the samepolls that I am. More:
What is the problem with the advocates of gun control? Why are their voices not being heard? They are consistently cowed and overmatched. Gun violence is out of control, yet the gun lovers are ascendant.
See, the gun controllers are righteous and pure. The fact their agenda is failing in the public arena must be the fault of the evil gun lobby.
Do you want to be standing in line for gas, popcorn or a gallon of milk and find yourself next to someone who’s packing heat?
Why not? When I’m in line, I am packing heat.
Still, despite the polls, it seems the gun control advocates have been outmatched. Abigail Spangler acknowledges as much. Spangler is the founder of ProtestEasyGuns.com, a Virginia-based group that has been spearheading a slew of anti-gun protests around the nation.
Gun control activists, she wrote me, “are TRYING HARD but they are seriously affected in state after state by lack of funding and contributions.” She recently met, she says, with the leader of Virginia’s only gun control group. “He says they may not even be able to afford any lobbyist at all soon in Virginia!”
And there it is. The begging. The idea doesn’t sell and they don’t know why. They just don’t understand why people aren’t passionate about restricting the law-abiding. And why people are passionate about their rights. They don’t grasp that their philosophy is a losing one that simply cannot stand to scrutiny. And since it is failing, they have to do it harder.
Over a few beers a friend of mine said the Harborgate, Lobstergate, P-Cardgate, and Finchgate scandals in Knox County government would make a great reality television show. What a great idea.
If the politicos cannot get their house in order I know someone who can.
Appearing this fall, Jesse James is the Mayor. A new reality TV show where Jesse James of “Monster Garage” takes over a town for a week as the Mayor.
I have a candidate for the first show. Knox County.
I need shades. I’m very hard on sunglasses and keep busting them. Of course, I also buy cheap sunglasses (not sure if that’s why they’re busting or if I buy cheap ones because I bust them). I once had a nice pair of Nikes that I spent about $90 on. Had them for years. But when the Mrs. and I went to Mexico a few years back, I jumped into the ocean and there they went. I’d been swimming with them quite a bit and they’d never done that before. Now, I’m more inclined to buy cheap ones and not because of ZZ Top. I dunno why. But, I’ve had three pair in the last month and about to get a fourth because the shades I bought last Saturday broke on Tuesday. So, what to get? Caveats:
I prefer the wrap around style (you know, kinda look like this).
I don’t really need any sort of tacticool gunny shades but haven’t ruled them out.
They need to be tough. As far as I can tell, the only thing breaking my shades is either 1) rattling around in the truck or 2) the sheer strain of being wrapped around my massive melon.
Has anybody seen the latest instalment of The Power Of 10?
The week of August 20th, 2007, Host Drew Carey posed a question about gun control to the contestant: what percentage of Americans believe that Americans should be allowed to own automatic weapons?
The answer was 41%. I watched the show and the audience applauded. If, as Drew notes from time to time, that the Poll was conducted of New Yorkers, man, am I impressed! The significance is that on the question of ‘automatic weapons’, the finding is not 1 or 2 percent or even 10 or 20 percent, but a thriving 41%.
And Drew, thank you for your service. I didn’t know you are a Marine.
A Flushing man arrested last week for allegedly threatening his sister with a handgun was arraigned on a litany of gun charges after police found more than six dozen weapons in his home, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Leos Tseng, 29, of 141-04 Laburnum Ave., was arraigned before Queens Criminal Court Judge Steve Paynter last Thursday on several charges of criminal possession of a weapon as well as menacing and resisting arrest stemming from his Aug. 6 arrest, according to the DA. A spokesman for Brown said Tseng was held on $500,000 bail and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Now, the guys at subguns.com say that at the press conference, all but a few of the weapons were Airsoft toys. Are the press and the police really going to leave that fact out of the story?
A long time ago, I responded to the question ”Why do you spend so much time looking at news from Britain?” with ”Because if we’re not careful, all that could happen here.”
Here’s hoping not. Notably, this bit about banning thinking about drinking (which Greg thinks is cause for shooting the bastards) is particularly scary:
People who even think about going for a drink face being banned from their town centre for up to two days under wideranging new police powers.
And here’s some scary bits:
The banning orders – called ‘directions to leave’ – can last for 48 hours and any breach can be punished with a fine of up to £2,500.
Fingerprints and DNA samples will be taken.
[...]
Police can act against someone for doing nothing more illegal than looking like they might cause alcoholrelated disorder, whether they have started drinking or not.
Two Knoxville lawyers who convinced a chancellor to strike down the state’s so-called “crack tax” as unconstitutional now have won a rare restraining order against the agency that collects it.
Attorneys James A.H. Bell and Richard Holcomb, representing a Livingston pharmacist accused of peddling painkillers, have won an order barring the state Department of Revenue from disposing of the more than $1 million in property they say the agency seized.
Unlike last time, this ruling seems to affect the whole agency. More:
Bell and Holcomb contended that the tax was no tax at all but punishment for people who were accused but not convicted.
Bill Richardson didn’t create ANY jobs. The hard working people of New Mexico created the jobs and the only contribution of Bill Richardson was to keep government out of the way.
Politicos only create jobs to the extent they hire people or create more bureaucracy, which hires people.
The US might skew your numbers quite a bit. Rumor from folks in the know is that an AK-47 in Iraq costs about $100. In the US, they go for about $15,000.
