It's a great country, but it's a strange culture

[beige_alert]

Right here in Wisconsin, two people were injured in a gun-should-have-been-loaded-with-blanks-but-wasn't incident at a staged train robbery of the "Santa Train." One of the actors got hit with 46 shotgun pellets, and a 14 year old spectator ended up with a pellet in his finger. According to the Sheboygan Press "The re-enactment unfolded with the actors engaging in a simulated shootout with police on Second Street near Harris Bank, after pretending to steal dynamite from a local hardware store for use in robbing the train, which was carrying Santa Claus."

I'm trying to imagine explaining the whole concept of a staged train robbery involving Santa, guns, and explosives as wholesome entertainment for the children. Never mind the accident, isn't this, you know, weird? I guess every culture has its traditions that seem bizarre to foreigners. This is the Random Lake, Wisconsin example.

Comments

[jaelle-n-gilla.livejournal.com]

Everything that's involving guns in the US seems weird to Europeans... really. So as a larper I am not surprised there is a Santa shoot out, nor that there is an accident like this (oops, I took the real bullets, sorry).

D'oh!?

Geek part:
I saw a documentary once about German props. They use real guns and a person who is entitled to buy and handle the real things turns them into harmles props. There is a metal bit welded in the place where the real bullet goes. It makes the space shorter so only the small blanks fit in. Also, the hole that releases the bullet is welded shut somewhere down the middle, just to make extra sure.

There is a photo book by Kyle Cassidy "Armed America", which I find beautiful and frightening at the same time. I shouldn't advertise the guy. He seems to be half as nice as he tries to appear, at closer look...