Welcome! The Non-Smoking Gun’s Inaugural Post

Hello, and welcome to The Non-Smoking Gun. That’s what we call our blog. See, our site offers non-firing replicas of historic firearms (Although we now have blank-firing and black powder guns that DO SMOKE.). If they don’t fire, they don’t smoke, either (and neither should you, for any number of reasons. But hey, as a former 3-packs-a-day chain smoker myself, I know it’s hard to quit–no matter how bad it is for you–and I also know the world doesn’t need another ex-smoker getting all “more smokeless than thou” on all the remaining smokers! )
And on that subject, my state of residence (Arkansas) just passed a hefty tax on each pack of cigarettes, which is supposed to pay for creating an emergency trauma system. (You heard me right–there isn’t a single emergency trauma unit in the entire state! Can you believe it?)
Now, I realize that a trauma system is a good thing, and certainly every state in this day and age should have one, what with all the cell phone yakkers and texters too preoccupied with their cell phones to drive and other hazards loose on the highways. So yeah–it’s long past time this state got with the program and set up a network of trauma units! But–and feel free to correct me here, if I’m wrong–is it only smokers who get injured in accidents and end up in the hospital in need of trauma-trained medical staff? So . . . if smokers aren’t the only ones to benefit from it, then how come they are the only ones being made to pay for it?
I’m not so naive as to believe we have equal protection under the law anymore, but what happened to it, and when did we lose track of that concept? Well, it’s more than just a “concept”, actually. It’s only a key principle upon which our Constitution rests. Or rested. Sadly, the past-tense is more accurate in this brave new 21st Century world.
Even though I don’t smoke anymore and haven’t for many years, this still makes me crazy. When I did smoke and resided in Washington state, the state decided that Puget Sound was polluted and needed to be cleaned up. And how did they pay for that? Why, with an additional tax on smokers, of course–as if the smokers were personally responsible for the dirty water in Puget Sound!
All I’m saying is this tendency on the part of policians to single out a group of people and make them pay for something that benefits everybody is not only grossly unfair, it’s un-American! But see, it’s what they call a “sin tax”. They figure they can levy taxes on our vices all day long, and we won’t have the bad taste to complain, much less quit doing the thing they’re taxing. And it’s worked for them all these years, too, so there’s really no incentive for them to alter their un-American behavior. I’m thinking about the only way they’ll quit doing that is if it doesn’t work anymore.
So if you are a smoker, and you’ve been saddled with another one of these “special” taxes whomped up by the legistlature just for you, well, hey, there’s one more good reason for you to quit, right? That’d show ‘em! Just think of it . . . what if they passed a new tax on smokers to pay for something that benefited everybody, and all the smokers just said “Enough is enough”, and up and quit?
I wonder if they’ve considered that in these hard economic times, the smoking cash cow is probably already on its last legs, if not in need of some of those fancy medical techniques they use to revive trauma victims (or would, if they’d had the foresight to set up a trauma system!) And if they kill off the cow that laid the golden eggs (well, my metaphor just fell apart there, didn’t it! ), then where are they going to get the revenue to replace the extra taxes all those former smokers won’t be paying any longer?
Well, okay, I guess I’ve made my point. That clattering sound you hear is me climbing down off my soapbox. So, back to business. Here’s the kind of stuff we want to include in this blog:
(1) Articles and information about historic firearms and the people, places and wars that made them historic.
(2) Current issues concerning firearms and Second Amendment rights to be commented upon and open for discussion.
(3) Resources for Civil War and Old West re-enactors, living history performers, quick-draw competitors, etc. We’ll be working on developing a calendar of those types of events for people interested in participating or attending, along with articles and information on developing a character, creating a costume, etc.
(4) Other subjects as they arise
And speaking of other subjects . . . I’d sure appreciate it if you’d take a minute to let us know what you think of our site. Did you find it easy to navigate? Did you find the information you were looking for? If not, what kind of information would you like to see? Is there a product you were looking for and would like to see but didn’t find? We’d like for this site to be useful and interesting to you, our visitors. And the best way for us to make it useful and interesting to you, is to find out from you what kind of features and information you want to see. We look forward to seeing your comments and posts!
Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em (and can afford ‘em!) Or not.