Full auto . . .

So the governor of Kansas recently signed a bill into law that permits Kansans to own machine guns, silencers, sawed off shotguns and other fully automatic weapons.

Now I'm a second amendment guy. Although I don't have the bumper sticker, and have never sent a dime to the NRA, I pretty much think I should have the right to own my great-great grandfather's twelve-gauge Meridan shotgun. And my deer rifle. And .22 caliber rimfire. And the Remingron 870 that I used to not kill a deer last fall. Someday I plan to buy a handgun so I can go to the range with Tim and Dr. Joe and shoot up a paper target or two. Hey, I even think Charlton Heston and his, "from my cold dead hand" thing bit was pretty cool - even if it was ill-timed coming, as it did, on the heels of the Columbine shootings.

But, for the life of Smith and Wesson, I can't figure out why anyone needs to own a machine gun.

The AP story reporting the events in the Sunflower State quotes a politician explaining that the bill is attempting to benefit collectors who want to make, say an M14, part of their collection. Their collection of what - military grade killing tools? Do they plan to display their burp gun on the shelf next to their harmless bazooka and for-show-only claymore mine?

Kansans ought to just do what Michigan rednecks have been doing for decades - filing down the sears on their Model 7400s and attaching drum magazines to their glocks. Or, if they're more well to do, buying a conversion kit on the internet. Of course, we don't install them, we just put them on the shelf. For our collection.