Monday, December 17, 2012  The Gun Problem  Round about 1860 a
monumental advance occured in firearms development. The metal
cartridge was invented. Until then a round of small-arms
ammunition consisted of a normally lead projectile, then some
form of wadding, and a flammable or explosive powder ignited by
a spark produced from a flint, burning cord, or percussion cap
located on the outside of the weapon. Cartridges of the day
sometimes wrapped all but the cap  in paper in order to make
loading faster and easier. Then people got the idea of replacing
the paper with metal, usually brass, and then adding a
percussion cap at the end, and voila, the modern cartidge was
born. Now ammunition was effectively weatherproof, durable,
self-contained and safely stowable. This technological advance
also allowed for new kinds of magazine-fed firearms, from
hunting and target rifles, to handguns and assault rifles. The
marvels of the Industrial Revolution and capitalism permitted
the mass production and distribution of reli