Raquel Welch's earring bomb: Passing thoughts on gun control

I like to watch old movies on television on Saturday afternoons, and I don't care whether the movie I watch is good or bad. This afternoon, I watched Fathom, a 1967 film starring Raquel Welch.

Raquel is involved in some sort of international terror plot. A guy with a British accent gives her a pair of lime green earrings, which happen to match the lime green bikini she is wearing. The left earring is a small bomb, the guy tells her. Just drop it down a ventilator shaft and it will explode in 30 seconds.

In the next scene, Raquel entices the villain, a creepy looking character wearing a green-tinted monacle, into the master suite of a luxury yacht.  He is so enchanted by Raquel's beauty that he doesn't notice her throw her left earring down a conveniently located ventilator shaft. Sure enough, in 30 seconds (maybe less), the earring explodes and sinks the yacht. Raquel gets away on a speedboat being driven by the guy who gave her the earrings.

This movie got me to thinking about gun control. I have a Remington 20-gauge shotgun for quail hunting and a  Remington 12-gauge shotgun for shooting ducks. I would be very sorry if Michael Bloomberg confiscated them should he be elected president. I wouldn't go postal, but I wouldn't be happy about it.

I'm a reasonable guy, and I'm not totally against all gun control. Nevertheless, I think the Democrats should start small with their campaign to take guns away from Americans.  Let them start by banning those dangerous earring bombs like the one Raquel Welch used to sink a yacht. I for one would not object.

Fortunately, earring bombs are rare. After the movie ended, I drove to my local Academy store and asked if they carried earring bombs. (I guilefully told the sales associate I was shopping for a Christmas present for my wife.)

The associate told me the store was sold out of earring bombs and wouldn't restock them until after the holidays.  He also said the lime green model had been discontinued.

Returning to my discussion of the movie Fathom, I highly recommend it. It is true the plot is a little thin but no thinner than an Ingmar Bergman movie. It is also true that Roger Ebert gave Fathom a "thumbs down." But the New York Times described the movie as "crackling good fun," and who would argue with the New York Times over matters of culture and the arts?

Raquel Welch, sans earring bomb.