The less I say about this photo the better. However, I suppose I can say a few words.
First, I am a staunch supporter of the FBI.
Second... well, I also like Cops. Especially the Cops in Okinawa.
Today, I had the privilege of spending a couple of hours inside the building behind me --- FBI Headquarters in Washington DC.
I visited several floors, and saw things that...
(1) Filled me with with the highest regard for the Agents and Analysts that work here, and...
(2) Totally frustrated me because I wasn't allowed to take even a single photo of all the fantastic stuff I saw !!!
Oh well.
GUN TALK :
Among the many interesting and eye-opening experiences I had there, the least expected one had to do with GUNS.
Although the US Army tried to teach me how to kill Asians with an M-16, I wasn't really into that whole thing, and, while out on the firing line at Fort Dix, New Jersey, I took greater pleasure in trying to shoot pine cones off the pine trees...no matter how much it incurred the wrath of the Drill Sergeants.
Eventually, I concluded that, occasionally, there are some people in the world (both at home and abroad) who do need to be stopped dead in their tracks by a well-aimed bullet, but by that time, I was already living peacefully on the disarmed island of Okinawa, Japan.
In Okinawa (and the rest of Japan) guns are not a part of the social scene like they are in America. Therefore, I was probably impressed more than your average Joe to visit the FBI's high-tech firing range (deep in the belly of this place), and watch a sharpshooting Agent demonstrate some live fire action with six different kinds of weapons.
This guy also emptied his modified Glock into the down-range target, hitting the center every time --- and changed out clips in only a second or two.
The modified sub-machine-guns used by the FBI SWAT Teams were nothing less than blazing dragon's breath with laser-point accuracy, and probably not available at your local Gun & Ammo shop.
Needless to say, shell casings were flying in all directions and coating the floor in a wide area all around the sharpshooter.
THE GREAT GUN DEBATE :
I've heard all sides, and lived all sides.
America's problem (or, as many there see it, America's blessing) in the matter of personal gun ownership, is the Constitution, and how the Courts interpret it.
For as long as the Courts allow the interpretation that America's Constitution permits almost the entire populace to be armed to some degree, sharpshooting Agents and Officers of the Law will have to be armed with best weapons they can find (or make).... the better to take out the idiots, misfits, wackos, and psychos who use their own guns to make life miserable for the rest of us.
MY POLITICAL POSITION :
I, for one, would prefer an America where only Hunters, Law Enforcement, and the Military have guns --- to quickly take out the guy who's holding someone hostage with a knife.... or take out an entire army that's invading the USA or any of our close Allies.
I'm not for using our guns to take out a distant regime leader just because we don't happen to like him, or because we want to put in another guy who is more favorable to the USA.
However, if the distant leader is a Religious Despot commanding his nation of armed militia to invade places that are not (or were not) his to rule over with his little religious code, then my attitude will change, and things will get "personal".
MY PERSONAL POSITION :
I would not mind if every gun in the entire free world was used to take out every last man and woman on the planet earth who, in the name of Allah or Religion, are using their own guns to impose death, destruction, physical maiming, forced conversion, forced marriage, and sexual slavery on those who do not agree with them.
When religious fundamentalists of ANY stripe start doing that ANYWHERE in the world, national boundaries and borders become meaningless in my mind, and if I had a gun with a big enough clip, and a fast enough trigger finger, I'd take out every last one of those demonic misogynists with a hollow point bullet aimed right between their eyes.
OK. Back to reality, and the FBI
*
If I ever figure out how to relate my other experiences inside FBI Headquarters without compromising anyone or anything, I'll do so.
Which means, I better leave it at that, and move on to the next photo.
PS. Thank you guys and gals in the FBI for allowing me the super-fine visit.
Now, it's back to Okinawa, Japan, where only Law Enforcement carry guns, and only the truly desperate attempt to rob banks using.... butter knives.