Amid the breathless flurry of gun news, I did the patient thing: Sit through all four hours of Hawkeye Firearms Instruction's class last Friday evening in an auditorium on the second floor of Boone City Hall. Stop to contemplate whether Iowa truly threatens to slide back into stereotypical Old West style justice, with gunslingers knocking back whiskey shots in barrooms as bullets zing up and down Main Street.The short answer is no. The only brazen gunfights I expect to encounter here will be on the big screen when I finally get to see "True Grit."

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