Mike Love: You Rat Bastard...

When I heard, earlier this week, that Mike Love had effectively "fired" Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks from the 50th Anniversary Beach Boys, and their tour, I tried to keep an open mind.

Maybe, thought I, the three in question were trying to reshape the band as a grindcore group, intent on some sort of bloodcircus/gore show that might alienate at least some of their core audeince.

I'm told this is not the case.

Maybe, thought I, about a thousand other scenarios that might make at least a little sense of this metaphoric machine gun in a geek's nightmare of a record store tragedy.

Believe me, people, I have run every realistic, and unrealistic, scenario I could possibly envision.

Trust me when I say that NONE of those test situations made ANY sense.

At fucking all.

(Yes, my use of all caps in certain moments is entirely-- ENTIRELY-- with merit. This is that kind of time...)

It should be noted that I think Mike Love one of the greatest voices in the history of music. I say this without a bit of qualification. To call his voice, and the words he wrote for the Beach Boys, merely "iconic" is to do Mr. Love a grave disservice.

Dismiss the contributions of Mr. Love to the Beach Boys in particular, and music in general if you must; but, do so at your own peril.

You will be wrong.

The Beach Boys would not have been what we know them to be without the voice, savvy and some key words from Mike Love. His contributions to not only the Beach Boys, but music in general, should be held well aloft-- and viewed as nothing less than monumental and legendary, as they are nothing less than that.

And possibly more.

However, in his firing of Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks (the American Pete Best...), Mike Love fucking well overstepped the bounds of everything that makes music sacred to us fucktards who have given our lives over to the sounds we first heard off Mom and Dad's vinyl way the hell back when....

Yes, it is understood that Mike Love somehow owns the Beach Boys' name/branding/etc.-- and that's all fine and well. Those of us long time fans GET IT that he's still (rightfully) pissed that Murry Wilson (father of Brian; and Carl and Dennis-- both of whom died way too young) sold their Sea Of Tunes catalogue to Irving/Almo Music in 1969 for the paltry sum of $700,000.

We get it, Mike Love! You were ripped off by Brian/Carl/Dennis' dad (your uncle)! We get what it is like to carry a grudge, and all that!

You got something of the short stick, Mike; and we've always known how much you've hated the idea that Brian was lauded as the damaged genius, while you were always deemed the commercial prick mercenary.

Guess what, Mike? Same thing has been said of Paul McCartney, in the shadow of John Lennon. While, again, not denying your contributions to the Beach Boys, Mike; Paul McCartney pretty much played every instrument he could lay his hands on, wrote/co-wrote a good half of the greatest back catalogue music will ever see, and...

He's never been nearly the vindictive cunt you're being right now!

While Paul McCartney will never be able to get out from under the hagiographic portrayal of John Lennon as some sort of guitar-wielding Christ figure; he's cool with it. Why?

Because he knows who he is, where he was, and what he did. He was there, and lets the records speak for themselves.

On the other hand, Mike, you've seemed to let your rage go slowly bitter and curdle up good over the last 45 or so years. No one has ever doubted your vocal prowess on the early hits; or the crucial passes on "Good Vibrations"-- but this was never enough for you, was it?

As Brian's mind and body went all fat and well to shit during the crucial "Pet Sounds"/"Smile" era, you seemed to focus only on your star in what you saw as it's descending period. Right?

From every tome us Beach boys fans have read, there have always been a number of us who have long tried to rally in your favor. We've tried to, somehow, put ourselves in your shoes/sandals in seeing what it must be like to have tangible talent in the studio rated against intangibles when it comes to seeing a fragile, fat man-- made seemingly of spun sugar, somehow lionized as that thing you could never be.

A genius.

And now, in the twilight of your careers/lives, somehow the Beach Boys get back together. Yes, Carl and Dennis are sorely missed; but, still, it's Brian, Mike, Al, Bruce Johnston and David Marks-- which, in it's own way makes the world seem right, if only for a moment.

So, why blow it up, Mike? Why play the "I own the name!" card when the fans are finally getting a real good look at the genius they've only heard through their headphones these past several decades?

Why kill the last chance any of us remaining true believers have to experience the sound and feeling that's been inside us since our earliest memories? Just what the fuck satisfaction do you get from that, Mike Love? What purpose is served, other than your insufferable ego, your sense of spite, and the dictator-like boner you get from burning down our memories?

Fuck you Mike Love. I know this was your big middle finger to Brian; but, in reality, you flipped us all off, all in the name of your pompous and petty arrogance.

Just goes to show that 45 years of Transcendental Meditation cannot erase a lifetime of being an insufferable narcissistic asshole...

chris checkman

The Zebras Matter

Did you see that? DID YOU FUCKING SEE THAT?!

Tonight's Monday Night Football contest between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks came down to one last play: A Hail Mary from about the Green Bay 27 yard line. With little time on the clock, Seattle's quarterback, Russell Wilson (a surefire star, as long as his coaches don't change him, at all...) dropped back, then stepped back even further. Although I had the Packers in my season-long pool, I found myself shouting at the television words along the line of  "no! Just throw it, you stupid cunt!".

So, Russell Wilson threw it. A floating, arcing spiral, it eventually found it's way to a clusterfuck of defensive and offensive players in the end zone.

All converged on the precious ball, for even at this very early point in the respective campaigns, the fortunes of an entire season rode upon the outcome of this one, sigular, play.

Green Bay defensive back M.B. Jennings leapt over the pile, grabbing the ball with two hands and pulled it to his chest, as Seattle receiver Golden Tate wrapped one arm precariously around the ball-- after having obviously pushed a Green Bay defender out of the way, in what anyone with eyes would've said was an offensive pass interference penalty.

One official ran in, signalling an interception for Green Bay; just as another ran in, giving a very unconvincing signal for a Seattle touchdown.

Cue the chaos.

Monday Night Football annoucers Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden took a look at the replay, went berserk, and just lit up the replacement officials that have been administrating the games since the beginning of preseason, owing to a league dispute over finances/other contract terms with the real referees.

Anyone with eyes could plainly see that the Packers got royally fucked on the Hail Mary call; but, because, by rule, who actually possessed the ball was not a reviewable call, the Seahawks wound up getting the win.

The Seattle Seahawks are going to be a fun, gritty team to watch in the next couple years. Even later this year, this mix of players (featuring the QB, Wilson) is going to coalesce and become an ever-increasing force in the league.

BUT, LIKE THIS?!!!

Say it ain't so, Roger!

One of my favorite sports reporters is Dan LeBatard of the Miami Herald. For the past year, he (and his father, Gonzalo) has also hosted an ESPN2 show called "Dan LeBatard Is Highly Questionable"-- a show some internet people seem to hate with an almost unreasonable amount of vitriol.

Personally, while I do not always agree with LeBatard, I like the show; as it is a mix of serious sports discussion, without taking ANY of it too seriously.

Anyway...

Last week, LeBatard said something that really took me by surprise, pissed me off to no end. In a discussion about the "real" refs who are holding out for a better deal, LeBatard kinda casually dismissed them as guys who "work 20 days a year", yet want increased salary/benefits.

(I'm paraphrasing, here)

I see the basic idea of the "20 days a year" argument; I do.

However, moreso than baseball or basketball, an NFL ref is someone who is not only a steward of the rules; but also an administrator whose application of said rules and regulations can also help safeguard players against possible catastrophic injuries...

Same, as I see it, as an NHL ref.

In baseball, balls and strikes are balls and strikes. In basketball, double dribbling or traveling are fairly self evident. This is not to minimize baseball umpires or basketball referees: I say this merely to point out that those sports depend on their on-field/on court administrators to look for rulebook violations and enforce the basic rules of the game.

In football, if the referees cannot control the game, shit can get out of hand to the point where the safety and well being of the participants can fall under great risk.

In these first 3 weeks of the NFL season (and the preseason before), we have seen a great pile of evidence that suggests that these replacement officials are, at best, greatly overwhelmed by the task they've been given.

At worst, it appears, more and more each week, that they are easily cowed and intimidated by the bright lights under which they're asked to perform-- and coaches and players are taking full advantage of the substitute teachers who are now all but hiding under their desks!

The result has been a through-the-looking-glass freakshow at the beginning of the 2012 NFL season-- and the litany of bizarre calls/non-calls/bad spots/inept interpretation of rules/etc/etc is so long and fucked up and weird that I believe this season should have some sort of small asterisk affixed to it so something like this can never happen again.

So, as much as I normally agree with LeBatard (which is about 75% of the time), I COMPLETELY disgree with him on this issue!

The ineptitude of the replacement refs would be one thing, in terms of the administration of what some might see as petty rules and whatnot-- and EVEN THAT FUCKING SUCKS BALLS!

But, given the increasing amount of concussions meted out during games that are now played by ever faster, stronger and heavier guys willing to go lights out on anyone they perceive standing between them and a sweet paycheck; LeBatard's dismissal of the officials as guys who "work 20 days a year" but want full time money/benefits is losing ground by the second.

Sure, tonight Green Bay was fucking jobbed by refs who were overwhelmed by the stage and bright lights. Yeah, it's mathematically possible Ed Hochuli and his guys might've missed the Hail Mary call tonight in Seattle; but, I doubt it...

chris checkman

More Acceptable Losses?

If the Batman massacre in Aurora, Colorado two weeks ago wasn't enough to convince me; then the carnage today at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin finally did the trick.

With seven dead, including that great partriot of a shooter who was only exercising his God-given 2nd Amendment right to carry lethal weapons and use them at his discretion, I am finally convinced that guns are NOT the problem here in the United States!

Yes, folks, you heard me right!

This heroic patriot of a shooter exercised his born to the manor right to just walk into a place of worship, where he proceeded to blow 6 people off to their eternal reward, before he himself was gloriously taken out by yet another gun; and we should all stop our hand-wringing and just know that it's okay.

IT'S OKAY! LET'S FEEL GOOD ABOUT THIS EXPRESSION OF OUR 2ND AMENDMENT RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS AND PROTECT OURSELVES AGAINST ANY AND ALL INVADERS!

The NRA and other like-minded folks are way smarter than we are; and they know what's best for us! We should be grateful that they continue to patiently take time out of their busy days to kneel down to where we can better see them, speak slowly (with small words, so we can better understand their more highly-evolved brilliance) to us, pat us on the heads, and reassuringly tell us that this is what God wants.

It is His will!

I used to be somewhat cynical and skeptical about this; but, the rising body count between Aurora and Oak Creek are fast accumulating numbers even a previously Godless heathen like I can no longer ignore!

IT'S TRUE! IT'S TRUE! IT'S TRUE!

God, who it is clear totally really exists, has chosen America as his country; and, with his son, Jesus, beside him, it is OUR God who is gonna show us the way to the big lifeguard high chair at the top of the world!

Oh, PRAISE HIM! PRAISE HIM!!

God wants us to have guns! He does! God believes that there might come a time when the government decides to just invade each and every city and town in which we live, and try and take away our guns-- so we have to stock up on food and water (God suggests beanie weenies and Dasani, as he has a deal in place...), and GUNS, 'cause we love 'em!

Then, GOD wants us to just wait for the invasion. But, while we're waiting, GOD wants us to go and mete out justice in a way we think he might. You know, sort of like a hillbilly action film.....

Just go and find people living their lives, and bukkake a bit of precious 2nd Amendment hot lead all over their faces; just to show we mean business.

So fucking what if innocents were killed watching a movie or at their house of worship? It's all about the 2nd Amendment, right?

I admit that I stopped participating in the political process a long time ago. My girlfriend forced me into voting in 2004; but, before then, I'd last voted in 1988.

And I've not voted since.

The easy joke answer to the question "why?" has always been "jury duty". Cue the bad slide whistle or detuned bass drum 'boing' effect, right?

The real truth is this: I was really heavily politically minded as far back as grade school. In 5th grade, I not only wore a POW/MIA wrist band (Capt. Darryl F. Pyle, if you were wondering), I also was so obnoxious as to wear a button endorsing George McGovern for President that year. I did NOT understand everything I was hearing from the political news I craved so oddly for a 10 year old; but, the things I did understand I grabbed onto with a fierce grip, in that way that kids do with certain things.

Through high school and college, I was politically oriented to a point well beyond what reasonable folks might consider obnoxiousness-- and my brother was even more pushy and annoying about it.

And, it ended, very suddenly, in 1988. Michael Dukakis posed in a tank; tapdanced around the word "liberal" like it was some sort of disease, and I just fucking checked out....

I admit I am lazy; and, in the years since, I've wondered what those with a less blackened/less cynical heart might've done in my shoes. Ideally, I imagine they would've been less a fatalist quiiter than me, and would've made a decision to not quit while making an even greater ruckus calling attention to our cause.

Me? I simply gave up. Not saying it was cool; it's just what was.

But, I've always known that if anyone would ever come up through the ranks who wasn't ashamed to be a liberal; whose views balanced utopian vision with responsibility to constituents that I could get behind, I'd fucking be there.

Obama kinda tries; but, the whole centrist/being everything to everyone vibe just leaves me limp. If they only wanna be politicians, and not statesmen; why the fuck should I care?

I'm not saying it's the most sensible or forward-thinking stance; I'm just saying that the would-be leaders I've waiting on have never arrived, and I just finally got sick of waiting and checked out.

Yeah, it's kind of a chickenshit, lazy-assed move; but, you get your heart broken enough, you begin to retreat. It fucking sucks sometimes to see certain things, even small ones, in the political news, and just have that feeling like you chest is being caved in knowing that the kind of people this country needs are not likely to enter the political arena.

It fucking hurts. Bad.

If there were candidates that were balls-out proud of who they were, and weren't just gonna trawl for votes by pretending to be some biblically-endorsed charlatans, I'd get my ass out there tomorrow-- back in the game.

Instead, we are given lame choices on both sides, every fucking time: Candidates on the local, state and national levels who are watered down by allegiances to the monied lobbies they need to please by tapdancing through any number of loaded financial minefields. While these clowns are trying to line their pockets by making careers out of talking from both sides of their mouths, regular people are going without basic medical care, food, and shelter (to say nothing of a shit job market); and, oh yeah, getting murdered at the movies or their houses of worship.

For the 2nd Amendment. That holy-assed Amendment; which only benefits the powerful gun lobby and the billions of dollars it's participants hope to make.

It's funny how the anti-drug Republicans/Christian right wingers will tell you that every bag of grass leaves theoretical bloodstains on someone's hands; but, none of them ever acknowledges the actual bloodstains left in our schools, temples, theaters, workplaces and homes by the precious guns they'd fight to the death to protect.

I'm fairly certain I'm not nearly the only one who lost the fire and got beaten down and just gave up on the liberal cause. I'm guessing there's a bigassed number of us out here, lying dormant, waiting to get back in to it.

Give us statesmen instead of politicians; give us a stance instead of posturing; give us conviction instead of commerce....

If you're really liberal, don't just say it-- fucking scream it! Make us believe and we'll come off the bench.

We can't bring back the people in Aurora and Oak Creek; but, maybe down the line we can honor them by making sure the psycho money-grubbing gun lobby knows our future representatives and leaders cannot be bought.

And fuck you if you disagree.

chris checkman

Baby, You're A Bitch, Man

I may or may not have gotten a Facebook page recently. If I did, it would definitely not be under my actual name; nor would any of my friends know about it.

Though it would confirm everything I've ever suspected or felt about the entire culture of Facebook.

A long time ago, in December of 2004, I decided it might be okay to jump on a trend. That kind of shit is rare for me. Not because I am such an iconoclast; but really more because I hate new shit. So, back then, I signed up for Myspace.

It was okay, for awhile, though I clearly was too old/set in my ways to see the point of it. My fascination soon cooled to the level of "oh, right, I have a Myspace page!"-kind of mindset, which seemed to happen less and less as time went on.

I tried to embrace Myspace; but, even for someone as narcissistic as I, it just seemed a bit like jerking off in an intersection while wearing a pinwheel hat.

No one needs to see that.

In time, Myspace and I grew ever more estranged; and I think it was fine by both of us. We did not miss one another.

Then I found Twitter; and, to be honest, my reaction to it has been mixed. On one hand, I fucking love the immediate access to those who are just riffing their asses off. It can seem, at times, like one big room full of writers and comedians, each and all throwing out their best shit and seeing what sticks.

"Great!", thought I; but, the results have been lackluster to say the least. I'd like to say that it's because the world doesn't get me; but, even with the obvious clannish anti-outsider nature Twit comics exhibit, maybe my idea of what is funny just does nothing for those on the rungs above me.

Which brings us back to Facebook.

Though I really enjoyed "The Social Network", I have pretty much hated Facebook from the very first time friends told me about it. I dunno, maybe I am too old and stodgy a crank to get it; but, from the get go, everything I ever heard or saw about Facebook hit me like a cheese grater across the face:

Farmville. Pokes. Likes. Pictures of children doing lame staged bullshit things set up by their drunken, attention-seeking parents. Etc.

The "Wall".

Kill me...

Having had some time to formulate what some might misinterpret as an ill-informed opinion on Facebook, I think the things I hate most are the lame pictures of children doing "hip" things Mom and stepdad stage up; and the whole culture of the "like".

The first part of that is easy enough to explain from my end: Not everyone (insert Jerry Sandusky joke here) is in love with children, period. Count me firmly in that group. If I had had kids, I know I'd have been a good parent; and would've loved my kids to the point where they might not have run off to be underage prostitues, hopefully.

But, I didn't have kids for a VERY specific reason: Kids grow up to be...

Us!

And, since every other person on the planet saw fit to extend their sometimes dodgy bloodlines and bark 'em out as fast as the stitches would heal, why would I participate in such apocalyptic shenanigans, when pulling out only costs a couple of paper towels or a rewashing of a previously clean t-shirt?

Am I right, ladies?

Yet, Facebook is essentially a dumping ground for all manner of baby/kid bullshit from overproud parents who think they've done something fucking special by barking out a wall-eyed fuckhead whose major talent is falling asleep, on video, after sucking a dozen or so of mommy and daddy's spent wine corks.

Fascinating.

While there are, of course, obvious privacy/security breach issues anyone with a brain SHOULD have with Facebook; the main gripe I have is with the culture of the "like".

When someone posts on Facebook a picture of a potted plant, there is now an accepted form of currency they are hoping to receive in return for them favoring you with an image of their chrysanthemums or upside down hanging tomato patch they drunkenly purchased from TV one night at 4:30AM.

The "like".

They want you to like them. Fuck, they'd love you to like them! It pads their stats; which makes them the envy of their friends-- both real, and Facebook friends.

(If you haven't figured it out as yet, Facebook friends are NOT your real friends. Now go hang yourselves if this is in any way news to you...)


But, where the like thing gets me the most is the idea of how it has been used. Originally, the like was used to say more about the person whose image, post or whatever received the like. Now, it's gone all funhouse mirror, and the like is really all about the person who SENDS it to another Facebook user!

EXAMPLE: If you post a picture of your kid in a tiny Plasmatics shirt throwing up gang signs in front of your '74 Vega wagon, what are you asking of us?

You're asking for some sort of weird validation or approval-- ie: "Hey, jerkoff; way to assure your kid hates fags and reading as much as you do!"; but, since the "like" is more generic, you'll settle for the stats, of course...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the equation, there are some truly socially inept desperate idiots, just looking to suck up to anyone who might give them a bit of attention; so, they're naturally gonna "like" the pic of junior going all V13 or Crip in front of your shitmobile.

Which makes you both stupid fucking fucks.

The person seeking the like for stats purposes gets hooked up with a stalker; and the thanks that said stalker perceives only pushes him/her to further explore this realm. They "liked" you; and now they're a part of your life, no matter what the restraining order says.

It is a fucking sick and twisted system.

I may or may not be there; but, if I am, I'm gonna pull the rip cord soon.

Again, people, maybe I am too old to understand just how cool Facebook is. But, having read on it for years, and having observed it from afar during that time, it will take a massive argument to make me think anything other than this:

Facebook serves nothing, other than itself and it's own interests. If your experience has been different, great; you're easily smarter and less paranoid than me.

From what I've seen/read/experienced, Facebook is serving no one other than that little weasel shit guy in the hoodie....

Guns-- Only Relevant Or Necessary If You Are A Fucking Idiot...

Hello Folks,
I have not posted here much in the past year, as sometimes I tend to forget all the sites I am signed onto, so forgive what might seem like a newbie just busting in for the sake of mere flash. This is not the case.

I'm just really the shit worst at keeping records (taxes, pin numbers, passwords/screen names for various sites), which leads to-- from time to time-- me dropping out of sight on sites I really like; though, like now, I eventually always return...

Oh joy, right?

Anyway, I was about to drift off to sleep, as it is now 7am here in California, when I saw on the local dimwitted early morning coffee/headlines news program the grim report that yet another unfortunate freeway driver has died from this recent rash of freeway shootings we have had here in southern California. Everyone again, said all the allegedly right things: the field reporter, the authorities, the grieving family of this poor bastard whose head was blown off, etc., etc.-- but, nobody had the guts to say the ONE overriding truth:

We, as human beings, private citizens, etc. are not, as a species as yet emotionally equipped to own our own guns.

In other words, it is time the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution be forever struck down!

And, FUCK ALL YOU GUN NUT IDIOTS WHO DARE TO ARGUE IN THE FACE OF PURE REASON!

This needs to happen, and happen now! Anyone still holding on to the 2nd amendment is nothing more than a dimwitted idiot; as, said amendment was written over 200 years ago when "America" was an entirely different place-- and a place it has not been since then! Hey, Red-Staters, remember the America back then? It was a place 'we' had no right in stealing or co-opting, as it was already inhabited by those who had been here for over a thousand years, right!?

Right.

And, all 'we' did was rape and murder and pillage and plunder from these very people who considered this place to be their own-- literally, not just in essence, stealing their land and lives from them, due to 'our' arrogance, using 'our' guns....

Kinda funny, isn't it, how 'we' steal (through murder, rape, pillaging and other forms of destruction) a land from those who were here 1,000 years before 'us'-- yet, 'we' get all shaken and violent when 9/11 is foisted upon us, a mere 200 years after 'we' enacted our own 9/11 on the people who were here way before we were.

But, I can hear some of you already saying the following : "fuck 'em, they was Indians and Mexicans, blah blah blah!!!!", as though Indians and Mexicans are somehow beneath you hillbillies, or anyone, for that matter....

Fuck you Second Amendment types; fuck you racist Red State apologist 2nd Amendment assholes. It is YOUR shortsightedness that has led to the modern gun culture which now sees people on the freeway systems here in Southern California just deciding to whip out their guns, for no reason whatsoever, and blow some poor fuk into the Hereafter.

Just because. A guy driving to his Mom's house-- blown away! Another guy driving to work-- blown away! More people, of other persuasions, doing other innocent things-- just...blown...away....

By your precious guns-- the guns you assholes fight so bitterly to protect; while totally ignoring such REAL concerns like social security, prescription medicine, the homeless, etc.; because you are nothing more than idiots, who only care to protect your "God"-given alpha male "right" to swagger about with a sidearm on your hip, and enact justice as you see fit. But, in so doing, remember always, that anyone (even you) who is carrying a gun, is always prone to doing something horrific in the flash of a second.

And, as longas this is so, it is people like you, the NRA, and all other braindead gun nuts who must be beaten back, and relieved of their weapons via a quick and sweeping voiding of the Second Amendment-- for the good of all American society!

Period. There is no wiggle room here. Hey if you wanna own a rifle for purposes of hunting well, while I think it barbaric, fine; but, handguns carried on your person, in your car, etc......

Uh, no. If Sweden and England have taught us anything, beyond the fact that said countries knew their shit when incubating modern porn as we know it and the Beatles-- the greatest band there ever will be; well, they also knew/know their shit when it comes to figuring out that human beings with firearms will only kill other human beings. Do not give me this "guns don't kill; people kill" bullshit PR routine, as I will only laugh in your face-- even if such reaction causes you, as a rational gun owner, to rationally conclude that it is well within your "God"-given ("God"-- what the fuck does such an abstract concept have to do with anything?; especially when not nearly all of us are so fear-driven as to buy into such a superstition?!) to blow my head clean off, as I believe you are probably just stupid enough to try it...

Though an agnostic, I have nothing against anyone who believes whatever they will-- with one exception: If your God is the now almost officially-acception perversion proffered by the Red-Staters: A raging hate-mongering twisting of the Bible suited toward your own needs, then I ask that you, in my name, fuck your "God" in the ass with a burning flag, and then shove the barrel of your beloved Smith and Wesson down your useless throats, pull the trigger, and then see that there is, after death....

POOF! Nothing.

Any idiot that says "guns don't kill; people kill" has, pretty obviously, not driven the local freeways as of late. Since March 12, there have been a number of fatal and near fatal gun shootings here in Southern California; but, unless I've missed the reports, there has not been one report of someone fatally lobbing another person into another driver's car.

Get what I'm saying, Cletus?

A gun, lying on a counter, cannot kill; just as a person, lying on a bed, cannot kill. However, a person who has access to a gun, can kill. Which is where it needs to stop.

Here and now.

After all, I've never once heard of a drunken, pissed off gun picking up a person in the interest of going out and looking for trouble....

Have I?

No; and neither have you...