In 1984 Charles Murray wrote the book Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950-1980 which was an analysis (replete with plenty of data) of federal meddling in social welfare. Although I was a bit reluctant to read this book at first (Luke’s choice in our book group), I found it thoroughly helpful in understanding the paradigm shift in this country’s social policy. We met to discuss the book early this morning and it proved to be a good discusion (despite Ben’s incessant appeals to panarchy).
Ben and I went shooting later in the morning at the Tucson Pistol Institute. I have been shooting my .40 Glock pretty exclusively lately, but one thing I like about TPI is that they have a vast array of firearms you can use for $6/day (including semi-automatic assault rifles). They have a number of subcompact 9mms at a fairly reasonable price that I am contemplating for purchase. My Glock 23 is the compact model, but it’s still pretty bulky on the hip when concealed. The price of ammo has been making a steady reduction in price now which is quite helpful. It is nearly half the price for .40 S&W as it was only a few months back (50 cents a round then versus 26 cents a round now). It was pretty difficult to go shooting when one clip cost $6.50 to fire under 60 seconds.