Three bottles of whisky abandoned in the Antarctic ice by British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton more than a century ago returned home to Scotland. Such a tragic waste. I mean the whisky, not Shackleton's fate. Abandoned in 1907, the whisky was flown to Scotland by private jet.

Travelling home better than most tourists, the whisky is to be analyzed by Master Distillers before being returned to the Artic deep freeze under Shackleton's cabin. Tasting the stuff would probably be a disappointment, and returning it to Shackleton's hut for future generations to explore is a good idea. Once again the 2nd Amendment Right to Bear Arms is in the news after the Tucson, Arizona violence. In a unique move, criticism is aimed at the capacity of the subjects ammunition clip. Fourteen bullets v. thirty bullets being the issue. Perhaps we shouldn't outlaw guns, just the ammunition....

Whether the shooter's pistol carried fourteen bullets or thirty is really an irrelevant point. He could have brought two pistols, or just practiced at being more adept at changing clips. The six people killed, were hit with bullets, not an ammunition magazine. Controlling the far rights pious obsession with firearms is a lost cause. Whether we like it or not, guns are here to stay. The State of Utah has a state flower, a state fossil, a state cooking pot and 21 other official symbols. It might soon add it's own state gun. The M1911 .45 cal pistol has been nominated to be the official State pistol. Two Representatives in Congress have put forward motions to permit them to carry concealed weapons in The House. Great! Just what America needs, the appearance of armed bandits running the country. Actually we already have the bandits in Congress, they're just not armed at the present.

There are some unstable individuals sitting in Congress and allowing them to carry weapons is not a good idea.

Packing a pistol wouldn't have helped Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy. All of whom were assassinated. Presidents Truman, Reagan, Ford, Roosevelt and Jackson all dodged the 'big one' and survived. The United States leads the world in political assassinations. Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X, Huey Long are only a few of a very long list. The authors of the US Constitution were fallible, and made a mistake in allowing the right for all individuals to bear arms as it was amended in the Bill of Rights. Republican Tea Party supporters seem to have elevated the signers of the US Constitution to God-like status and as such can do no wrong.

Well, they were wrong, and we have twenty seven Amendments to the Constitution to prove it.

Some people in this world should never own a gun. I served in the military with certain soldiers who were allowed guns and ammunition � just not at the same time. Society needs to do a better job of weeding out those not permitted to buy guns. Any sportsman or hunter who feels he needs an automatic weapon, or a thirty round ammunition clip to hunt, is in the wrong sport. Across the Pond Follow 'Across the Pond' on Twitter: www.twitter.com/fraefife