Unearthen is a company that makes jewelry out of empty bullets. Each crystal is chosen for its “distinct qualities” and the stone with “the right properties for your needs will inherently attract you.”
This could be why these necklaces don’t attract me: I don’t need to have a bullet, either around my neck or lodged in my skull.
The medium sized bullet necklace (9mm, .38 SPECIAL, .40 S+W, .44 CALIBER, and .45 AUTO) will cost you around $400.
When I first saw these necklaces on some shopping website, I was not impressed. The whole idea seemed kind of pseudo-avant garde and lame, like wearing a silver razor blade or coke spoon on a chain.
Now, I feel more strongly.
A few nights ago, a Loved One was dropping me off at my house, early in the evening. I opened my door and walked inside. I was startled by the sound of shouting in the street. Outside, a figure I could barely make out in the darkness was screaming at my Loved One’s car, “Ima fuck you up, motherfucker!” The voice sounded unhinged with rage.
My Loved One was making a U-turn in the street, evidently impeding the speed of the gangsta and his female companion. I heard the girl screaming something plaintive, like “Stop it, stop it!”, trying to talk the guy down.
I instinctively ran down my steps, and yelled “No no no! What’s the matter?!” hoping to placate the gangsta. As my LO’s car sped away, the guy took a step toward me and screamed, “Homie didn’t get out of my fucking way! Why don’t you shut the fuck up, you stupid fucking bitch!”
I turned and ran inside and locked my door. I heard an engine start up, and the girl’s hysterical laughter.
I called my LO, who was glad the cracked-out guy hadn’t followed his car. He told me that the girl was actually yelling “Put it away, put it away!”, not Stop it.
My mind keeps wanting to go back and complete the scene with an alternate ending, an ending where one of us gets shot by a crazy gangsta for no reason at all.
I don’t want to see any guns, ever. And I don’t want to see bullets or death being glamorized. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with people who oppose better gun control. But they better not make any U-turns.
It’s really nice to have you here blogging this morning, sister. Life’s some bitch.
Guns are bad. People are bad and guns are bad and they are very bad together.
I had a boyfriend in high school (my first love etc etc) whose whole family (mother and 3 year old sister) was shot to death in a murder/suicide by his father. Wouldn’t have happened if there wasn’t a gun in the house. I learnt that lesson early. The other day here a 14 year old boy accidentally shot his best friend to death while clowning around with his dad’s shotgun, and we have much much stronger gun control here.
Bad.
Very glad you’re still her SW.
That is scary! And I agree, glamorizing it by making bullets into jewelry is sick. I’ve been mugged at double gun point (one jammed in my neck, the other pointed inches from my head). And years later, I was at a bar that was robbed, and the robber was shooting randomly to prove his seriousness. And then he shot the bartender in the hip to reinforce his point. Some “hero” type ran toward and out of the back door to get the gun out of his truck, which caused the robber to shoot at him, instead hitting the jukebox which was no more than 2 feet away from me. Guns are fucking scary. The second incident put me in therapy and on Lexapro to deal with the PTSD. Thank god your cracked out gangsta didn’t pull his gun out on you or your friend. It’s really scary how so many people in this country pull out a gun as a knee jerk reaction.
As for gun control, I think it would be impossible at this point. There are so many out there illegally, how on earth would they ever be accounted for, turned in, licensed, etc.? Only the honest people would come forth, and it’s the dishonest people that cause most of the trouble in the first place. Like Chris Rock said, the best way to institute any sort of effective gun control would be to charge a shitload for the bullets. Thugs would think twice about shooting if each bullet cost $1000. Maybe your jewelry designer here is trying to make that point via fashion. (or not).
There’s been a rash of these incidents around Columbus lately, it seems. The bartender of our fave neighborhood watering hole was held up on his way home last week. He was in a bad mood and called the guy’s bluff by screaming “go ahead. shoot me” … the cops told him to get a conceal carry license.
Given that Columbus has one of the higher per capita murder rates in the country, we keep a glock and a P12 in the house. I hope I never have to use either one, but I refuse to go out at the hands of someone else in my own home.
I have this fantasy that one day all guns will melt. Gun barrels will bend over in permanent erectile dysfunction. Chambers will freeze up. Ordnance will turn to dried leaves and blow away.
One of the greatest sorrows of this nation is our lack of gun control. Two teenagers have been shot within a couple blocks of my house in the past two years. In one case, the bullet missed the targeted person and hit a 16 year-old girl. In another, gang members shot the wrong guy (he was 17). Their families have to live with the loss of a loved one forever.
Thank God you are here to write this for us Sis, and your loved one too.
Guns are shit.
xx
SW, thank goodness you and your LO are safe now. That is so awful. The lack of gun control in the US is shameful. But is lack of gun control the problem or this there a bigger epidemic of decreasing respect for human life?
That sounds like every night at my old apartment. There was a lot of screaming about “baby mamas” and stuff. You know. Just another day.
Scary story! I have to say, I always thought those bullet necklaces were shameful publicity stunts. But they got attention, that’s for sure. Just making something beautiful won’t get attention, but make something ugly and magazines fall all over themselves.
What a terrifying experience.
My recent move from a sketchy city neighborhood was put into motion this past summer when a young guy rode by my house on his bike and his shirt blew up to reveal a gun jammed into the waistband of his pants. My kids both gasped and said “Is that a gun?!” and we put our house on the market, with disastrous financial consequences, shortly after.
One of these days, when I’m old and tired of living, I’ll go to the nearest bunch of pusher kids on my street and ask them: “Is that all you want to be and become in life? A bad caricature of an even worse gangster-rap video?” Then I’ll make my best impression of them, their poses and their hand signs I’ve been harbouring inside me all these years, and die in a hail of bullets. You know what I’m sayin’
But I’m glad to hear that both you and the LO are alive and well.
What a horrible experience for you and your Loved One.
Who knows why people live their lives “guided” by their egos. That guy wasn’t any more deserving of free passage on the street than anyone else, but he sure seemed to feel he was, and apparently was ready to back up his wrong-headed sense of entitlement with a gun. If I reacted to life’s dozens of daily inconveniences in a similar fashion, a lot of people would be dead.
That is so scary. Yes, we need tougher gun control. I don’t understand people who don’t understand that fact. Once you’ve had a gun pointed at you or within fifty feet of you, it’s the most startling moment of your life.
Hmmmmn! But as it is a given that it is the bad guys who carry guns with impunity, then I would like very much to carry a gun, myself.
Oh, Sister … how utterly terrifying. So glad you and your Loved One are both safe, and completely agree that stricter gun control is just common sense. And yet, it keeps slipping away. They passed a conceal and carry law in MN a few years back and I STILL can’t believe it.
I agree!
That was an awful thing that happened, luckily you were not physically attacked.
Your story reminded me of an experience a couple of friends and I had while driving several years ago. This cracked out dude was driving crazily, and my friend who was driving the car we were in, tried to pass him. The dude in the other car obviously got pissed of at that, and pulled out a gun and pointed it to us while we were still driving.
My friend quickly whipped into the closest place we could find to get off the road, and out of his craziness. Luckily nothing more than the fear of death overcame us,
Guns are absolutely too easily gotten.
Oi, it’s scary for sure!!! Last year, Mr. Bex and I were waiting for the bus across from our building and this 15-year-old gangbanger wannabe got into an altercation with a rival gangmember (who looked about 11 ). The 15 year old ran up to his house, grabbed a gun and started shooting, in broad daylight, right about the time kids were coming home from school. Mr Bex and I ducked behind the bus stop bench and fortunately the bus rolled up right at that moment, and we got to safety. I busted out crying..first time I had been involved in a crossfire…sheltered much??? But our hood is a Mexican hood, and a couple of different gangs live up the street. Scary shit. Fortunately our landlord ‘s a cop, so knock on wood, our building’s safe.
Nick -Thanks xo
Skye -How horrible! Scary, too.
Honeypants – Oh, I’m so sorry that happened to you, of course you’d be totally traumatized!
Tobi Lynne -I couldn’t possibly have a gun in my house. There’s too much drama and theatrics already.
Kelly – aaaaah, stupid fucking gang bangers, they get younger and more inhuman all the time.
Danielle – I hear you.
WendyB -You are absolutely right. Beauty trumps shock-value.
Iheartfashion -that’s why you moved?!
Juri – I’ve had a similar fantasy. I understand completely.
enc -He probably thought it was a ‘respect’ issue…that’s how fucked up is a gangsta.
Aja -yep, exactly.
David -But you’d be more likely to shoot the missus than a bad guy!
Sal -Thank you xo
Arline -Horrible!!!!
Bex -I bet you hear sirens all night….Venice used to be like that, too.
a few things i learned in dc – just walk away, the cops will do nothing to helps you, and when you find out your neighbor’s dog’s name is Cocaine, you should think about moving.
You did the best thing you could in that situation. But what if the gangsta had followed your LO, or came after you?
I’m against gun control because, given the few options one has in those kinds of situations, I don’t see why I should take one off the table for myself. You can always choose not to use a gun you’re carrying – but you can never use a gun you’re not carrying.
Granted, I’d feel safer if nobody was carrying guns – and that includes the cops and the soldiers, too.