4 p.m. Update: Ok, I'm totally paranoid, but there's a non-zero chance of Ivan coming to Houston. Category 5 is scary. See here, slightly less than 10% chance is will end up near here. Ug!

Well, I basically did nothing all weekend. Went to Matt & Steph's very hot hot-tub. Slept in both days. Did the Lego party thing (and Nick cooked a VERY yummy dinner). Did some lawn work. Bought some new clothes (still don't have a dress though). Bought Sex Lives of Cannibals, the hillarious book that Aunt Nancy let me read in Peru but I didn't get to finish (I also got Reading Lolita in Tehran because I should be done with Sex Lives really fast). Never got around to doing the Peru trip report (oh well). Took the dogs on a walk. Got a little worried about the continued westward movement of Ivan (a little rain, wind, and destruction of a category 1 or 2 hurricane in Houston might be a nice meteorological diversion from the real world, but a cat 5 hit just scares the living daylights out of me -- the whole city would be under water!) Went grocery shopping. Had a goodbye dinner for Chris, who is off to Stanford for the year (making him yet one more person who will both start and finish his masters degree while I'm still working on mine). That's about it.

Gun rant

Today, by filling out some paperwork, you can once again buy an Uzi, AK-47, or one of several other semi-automatic weapons.

Just for reference, a semi-automatic rifle is defined by meeting two of the following characteristics: Folding or telescoping stock; Protruding pistol grip; Bayonet mount; Flash suppressor or threaded barrel to attach one; Grenade launcher

A semi-automatic pistol is defined by meeting two of the following characteristics: Magazine outside grip; Threaded barrel; Barrel shroud; Unloaded weight of 50 ounces or more; Semiautomatic version of automatic weapon.

These really sound like great things for "hobbiests" to collect.

The problem is, sounds like the weapons ban didn't really ban much anyway, so its not really such a tragedy that its expiring. It grandfathered in existing Uzi's and AK-47's (etc.), so you could still get a "used" one. It had so many exceptions that it was very easy to get a modified version of the same guns.

I'm always so torn when it comes to gun control. It freaks me out that anyone and their brother can buy a grenade launcher. Then you read the text of the Second Amendment: 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. It seems pretty clear here that the framers had in mind that people should be able to bear arms for the express purpose of "securing freedom", otherwise known as overthrowing the government. Or does "well-regulated militia" just mean the National Guard? Or does "well-regulated" give the government enough license to at least ban certain types of guns or heavily restrict who can get licenses to hold them? At the very least, you'd have to accept the basic premise that you'd have to eliminate/amend the second amendment for a comprehensive ban on weapons (an idea I wouldn't be entirely opposed to).

Personally, I would be happy with guns being legal if it was at least as difficult to posess a gun as it is to get a pilots' license. Filling out some forms and taking a short test is just not enough to protect people from the crazies.

This is an interesting perspective on the issue.