Black Powder

[I. Marc Carlson]

<Leslie Miller <miller at pp.okstate.edu>>
>He did say that bows were exempt from the new rule.

Ah, at least *he* recognizes the existance of rules sticklers.

>Pure speculation on my part, but I would guess that our insurance would 
>have to change dramatically if we started *officially* allowing 
>muskets/pistols/cannon practice/usage at our events.  

I don't know.  The Buckskinners don't have that big a problem, of course,
in order to use Black powder at one of their events you are supposed to 
belong to the National Muzzleloaders Association.

>I don't know, I'm very fond of late period costuming, and I enjoy 
>watching light weapons.  I even like being rousted out of bed in the 
>mornings by the Black Orchid's cannon, but I confess that I was a 
>little distressed when I first heard via the rumor mill that somebody 
>ws pushing to allow black powder weapons ranges at SCA events.  I 
>think it has to do with a perceived difference on my part between 
>the ambience associated with the legends of King Arthur vs the 
>"Three Musketeers".  While both can be fun, the rules just change when 
>guns are introduced.  It's hard to explain without more thought
>on my part, but it would spoil *my* version of the dream to some extent.  

I won't speak to the specifics of your version of the dream, since that's
yours and not for me to address. However, beyond that, there is a *lot*
of ground between King Arthur and the Three Musketeers (I know these are
just the metaphors you've chosen) in which guns existed side by side
with swords.  Even were you to restrict the "end of period" (for the sake
of arguement only) to 1400, you would still be forced to deal with the
cloudy wisps of hell drifting across your battlefields.

"Mihi Satis Apparet Propter     Diarmuit Ui Dhuinn
  Se Ipsum Appetenda Sapientia"	University of Northkeep
 -- St. Dunstan			Northkeepshire, Ansteorra
				(I. Marc Carlson/IMC at vax2.utulsa.edu)