Walking back from the funeral parlour, Kurtz was upset. He strolled the streets thinking back over the devastation gun related accidents had caused in his city. Detroit had suffered incredible bad luck in recent times. He shook his head in disbelief and walked on.

Finding himself in a local square, more by chance than intention, he decided to stop and share a few thoughts with the bustling thrum of morning activities.

Guns! guns! GUNS!

Looking around he noted the large amount of eyes on him almost instantly.

Funny how that will always grab the attention huh. And why wouldn't it? So much emphasis is placed on guns these days. They do cause such a fuss.

We have so many miscreants roaming the streets, branded troublemakers just looking to get shot. We have so many shady characters looming out of the darkness handing contracts out to virtually anyone they can find. And of course we have the relentless attempts of the spectacularly inefficient Durden gang, to wipe us all out. Fact is, its almost hard to go through normal events these days without having something to kill, dangled in front of you.

Now as seductive as this may be for a great many of the unhinged trigger fingers wandering the streets like soulless wraiths, it is prudent to deliver a warning for the less experienced or less sensible among you.

Taking a second Kurtz catches the eye of a waiter from his usual corner coffee house, makes a cupped hand and throws him a wink. The young man acknowledges he's understood and rushes off into the cafe. Kurtz's attention returns to the crowd.

Guns are really fucking dangerous! Through no lack of skill or fault of the user, things can always go very badly wrong. Or in some cases, very badly right. In my own city alone we have had some incredible incidents with guns in recent months. Not one but two Godfathers falling foul of critical incidents when taking shots at the most mundane of street vermin. We are talking about Insanely Well Protected Godfathers shooting at some unknown chump in the street for being disrespectful. As simple a shot as it is possible to conceive of but look at the outcome. Godfather Marcus and Godfather McDermott both lay dead. God rest their souls.

In another case a well calculated defensive shot went horribly wrong. One of our fine Waffle community arranged a pro shooter to carry out his task. The pro shooter had the required lack of accuracy and was an absolute certainty to miss the good Syrup as requested. But then, the wonder of that slightest of chances and the inept cretin found one sure shot in an ocean of failures. The right honourable SyrupWaffle lies dead and our city was saddened because of it.

Now this night just past. One of our fine upstanding mobsters from our city head InspectorGadget's own crew, fell to another critical chance happening. In New Orleans he was requested to remove a less than desirable member from the family and as simple a task as this was for a marksman such as he, something went critically wrong and now my friend Gian occupies a casket surrounded by flowers. It is a terrible stroke of luck for a man on his way up. I vibrant life with so much to offer.

Kurtz looks down for a moment of silent reflection before the young man from the cafe, unaware of what he'd been saying, interrupted him to hand him a piping hot coffee. Kurtz took a sip and nodded to the young man who scurried off inside.

The point of my saying all this is simple. If you are thinking of using your gun, be you young or old, experienced or not, keep something in mind... No matter how good you are, or how simple the shot, there is always that slight chance that your next shot could be the end of you.

No one is safe. From the most insanely well protected Godfather to the most basic of gangsters. We all take the same risk, every single time. You have been warned.

Taking a seat at the cafe, Kurtz glances at the day's paper while sipping his coffee.

Guiseppe was wondering the streets when he heard the word Guns, instantly stopping in his tracks he saw his father's friend. He stopped a listened to the wise words spoke before waiting for him to finish.

Kurtz those words cannot be said any truer. I used to watch my Father all the time follow him when he would randomly get up in the middle of the night. His actions precise and never missed a thing. He would empty the bullets from his gun. Take the gun apart clean the gun not missing the smallest area. Put the gun back together reload the bullets placing one in the chamber.

He would then go out, do a couple of jobs before finding his intended target and one shot and he would be done back home to bed. No one but me and the odd person the wiser. Then last night was different same rountine to the minute but this time his missed and this time it was fatal I can still see the bullet crashing into his chest. His intended victim laughing as he walked off. My father BGs standing there in shock and getting gunned down as I ran to my father's side nothing I could do but pray.

As I have said my Father didn't do anything different but this time he died and like Kurtz said everytime you pull the trigger no matter who you are, how efficent you are, how protected it can all go wrong in a split second. There is always the chance that when you pull that trigger it could be the last thing you do. It was th last thing my Father did.

No matter how big and bad you think you are that one piece of metal in your pocket can end your life. So next you pull the trigger have a think is it worth it?

Guiseppe tips his hat at Kurtz before walking off on his charity drive

Very well said, Kurt. Each of those deaths you mentioned were a complete shock to everyone, they were all well loved and respected mafioso who left us in tragic circumstances. Alas, such is our way of life that there is an element of risk in everything we do, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Having the fortitude to take that risk day in day out is what makes a good hitter so valuable. Many of those new to our shores think its so easy to walk in the shoes of a hitter with all those "easy" kills dangled in front of you, but many of them fail to realise that a good hitter WILL die, either by gun malfunction like those mentioned, or for the good of the family in times of war.

So, those of you new to our world, take heed of Kurts advice, think about your actions and the life you want and be sure of the risks you take in your daily tasks.

Apologies for my speech impediment, I seem to have a little trouble with the letter z. I of course meant Kurtz.

Very well said, as usual Kurtz.  While I was pondering your atriculate speech, a poem came to mind.  And since you have such a nice crowd gathered, I thought I would share it. 

Dre steps up on the soapbox, clears his throat and begins.

Guns, Guns, the magical flute,

the longer you live the more you shoot.

The more you shoot, the higher the risk,

Shooting that gun, make sure you don't miss.

Oh, I make myself laugh.  Maybe I've had a little too much "juice" with breakfast, but that doesn't matter.  The point in the original speech is not lost on me, but will likely be lost on many in this community who think the only important thing they can do in this life is shoot a gun.  To those of you who think that's true - it's not.  There are so many important things you can do for your family.  And my hope is that those who are in that younger generation of learning mafioso will learn to do more than just shoot a gun.  Get involved in some business,  make some cash, interact with your family and others.  Be more than just a hired gun. 

Now, I'm off to write more poetry.  Book coming soon.  Or not.

Jimmy sits in a wooden rocking chair, smoking on a cigar as he walks people walk across the street about their business..he notices some young kids running by playing with fake guns, shooting at eachother, playing dead as they got hit or not

Kurtz my friend, you are so right with everything you said and when I look around these streets all I see is kids and youngsters trying to make a name for themselfs, get a few kills under their belt and be a hitman for the city they reside and work for. They think they can just learn the basics such as trigger manipulation, gun control and learning how to reload quickly for round two if needed, but like you stated above there is so much more to it, plus the risk every single time they could die right then and there.

Jimmy trips one of the kids as he runs by.. his toy gun flying into the air and shattering when it hit the ground as Jimmy laughed a bit helping the kid up, handing him a few dollars so he could go replace the toy

Every family and every city wants hitmen.. just like we all want to be rich and live on a yacht and never worry about our business troubles - but we know they cannot always happen, and even when it does happen the life of a hitman is often cut short with the blade of life for the work you put in.

A lot of it comes with greed, that last kill, 'one more' etc. Should a Godfather with years experience be walking the street shooting at homeless bums? I dont think so, I mean hell we have a hitsquad for a reason, but then again this is just a quick example. What about that new hitman who has his eyes on a shot way too tough for him, but he just has the itch that he will hit..

Hell my friend Kurtz, sometimes people just never learn and have to learn the hard way...

Jimmy glances over to the table next to him and picks up the paper somehow hard left.. putting his cigar out on the ground before reading the paper and going on amongst his business