RARA-AVIS: living in a book

Mark Sullivan (ANONYMEINC@webtv.net)
Sun, 18 Oct 1998 12:50:13 -0400 (EDT) Fred Willard's recent comments about many criminals seeing themselves as
living out an already-written fictional construct, either a book or a
song, as they go about their merry way, reminded me of something Andrew
Vachss wrote in a recent essay in Pulse magazine:

So, words (whether spoken, sung, read) don't so much motivate as
reflect. What they may do is provide some handy tips as to method for a
motivation that already exists.

That's why the Emergency Rooms of big cities are full of sociopathic
little triggerboys with unique facial damage -- from shell casings
ejected into their eyes when they held their precious nines parallel to
the ground, Hollywood style, instead of the way the pistols were
designed. Movies didn't give them the desire to commit homicide . . .
but they sure showed them "how."

Now that's a very interesting point, but it also raised a question with
me: Can someone in law enforcement, emergency services or with gun
knowledge tell me if this is accurate? I had read elsewhere that it is
damned hard to shoot straight when holding a gun sideways, but I had
never heard this. Also, where does the recoil throw a gun when shot
this way? Does it throw it back into the shooter's chest?

Just curious,
Mark

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