Annotated 45-23
FB: Lots of people debate the morality of the gun market, but nobody talks about all the upselling.
Flo wrote this obvious parallel to Shanna buying her own gun, setting up Carol and Shanna’s final confrontation and reminding us that they have some things in common. Neither’s really built for violence, but they find themselves dealing in it anyway; both are intellectual and practical, sometimes brutally practical.
There are some key differences too. Carol’s money…and her air of money…ensures that she won’t get a salesman who’s a creepy flirt like Shanna did. And while both Shanna then and Carol now were/are isolated and in desperate straits, Shanna’s dialogue remained colorful and lively if bitter. Carol was capable of wit once, but that seems like a lifetime ago now.
Funnily enough, there’s one more similarity. Carol’s buying the same gun as Shanna did, largely because our gun consultant made the same recommendation after hearing Shanna’s circumstances and after hearing Carol’s.
Because I just had to look for it, and in case anyone else is looking for it, here’s the Shanna gun shop scene:
https://guildedage.net/comic/chapter-29-page-6/
I wonder how much and which part of Hannah’s and Carol’s stories the “consultants” heard. And whether the guy here in Carol’s scene isn’t maybe just a bit worried that Carol already has a somewhat too concrete idea of what she plans to do with that gun.
Using the company card seems like an especially poor choice.
Carol is purchasing the gun legally so it’s already registered under her name. Considering she is more or less running the company at this point, easily can be justified as a business expense. After keeping a hit man on retainer and helping her boss cover up a murder, this is the least trouble thing she has done.
At the risk of invoking recent News, buying a gun in the US in a mundane activity.
There is not much downside in buying a weapon in a very visible, traceable way, and plenty of upsides. For one thing, no-one will care.
If, later, Carol had to get rid of her gun? No problem. “I’m sorry, officers, I left my gun in my office’s drawer, but it seems someone stole it. I was sure I locked it, but, you know how it is. We suspect someone from the cleaning staff. Mr Norton here will tell you all about Hurricane security investigations. Mr Norton, you did notify the authorities about the theft, as I told you to do?”
Plus, at that point, Carol doesn’t seem to care.