Happiness is a Warm Gun

The AA12 is a fully automatic 12 gauge shotgun that is capable of firing 300 rounds per minute. The weapon is designed so that all of the energy is absorbed by the auto loading mechanism, so there is virtually no recoil. In addition to standard 12 gauge shells, the AA12 is designed to fire explosive rounds.

This post is the most political post that I have made yet. The cartoon that I made represents the stupidity of these kinds of weapons. I am not anti-gun or anti-war or a peace loving tree hugger, but at some point enough is enough. A weapon like this in the wrong hands (what are the right hands?) could unleash deadly havoc on a crowd of innocent people. The weapon is supposedly designed for close range urban combat, where it would have a ridiculous advantage.

I came across this weapon while watching a TV show. The bad guys were smuggling these dangerous weapons into Miami. I was curious if there was such a thing as an automatic shotgun, so I Googled it.

The AA12 came up with a number of videos demonstrating the weapon. I came to the realization that as grown men, we are really just little boys inside who like to blow stuff up.

I am a fan of shoot-em-up video games and have shot actual shotguns and hand guns so I too have this innate curiosity. My son runs around fighting imaginary battles using imaginary weapons of all types and I am both horrified and intrigued by this behavior. As we get older, there is some understanding that these weapons are designed to actually kill real people, not just imaginary evil creatures. What is disturbing about the videos is the child like thrill that the shooters seem to be getting from firing the weapon at unsuspecting plastic canisters. Again, I am not without guilt here as I would probably not turn down the opportunity to shoot-em-up.

Our desire, some say need, to create ever more vicious ways to kill each other is never ending.

To create the cartoon, I traced an actual soldier firing the weapon and then created another overlay that made the soldier into a clown shooting a bubble gun. I then scanned these sketches into the computer and added color and texture in Photoshop. The result is what you see.