I have always professed to hate guns. In the abstract, ideological sense. Guns kill people. So do overzealous right-to-lifers, mind you. But guns make it a lot easier. There is no reason to own a handgun. It's not as if people go deer hunting with semi-automatics. The only reason, in my mind, to own a handgun, is to kill someone. That's it.
But damn, when they're not killing people, they're a lot of fun.
At lunch today, a colleague was expressing what a tough week she had had in court. It's true, too. From Friday until today, her job has been annoying and unfair. She's had to deal with a lot of difficult people and I do not envy her that. She mentioned cutting out a little early. To get away from it all. We all suggested she do something, some activity, to get out the negative energy.
Somehow, the idea of shooting came up. And so, five of us left a tad early today and went to the local shooting range. We had a minute long lecture of gun safety and operation. For $28, we could get a shooting lane, a gun, and a box of .22 caliber bullets. We purchased four lanes and had at it.
I was paranoid at first, paying more attention to safety than shooting. But it soon became evident that I wasn't going to shoot off my hand, and I began to relax. It was at that point that I realized that I am a crappy shot. I hit the ceiling more than I hit the target. Nevertheless, it was great fun. For me, it wasn't a power trip. I didn't feel powerful. Quite the contrary, I felt foolish. If given a gun in an uncontrolled environment, I'm way more likely to shoot my own foot than to ward off danger (or kill a would-be rapist or murderer before he raped or murdered me). But it was, quite simply, great fun.
I have always professed to hate guns. Guns kill people.
I just wish they weren't so much fun to shoot.
4 comments:
I agree! I have been going skeet shooting with my Dad and cousin since being back in the red states and it is a blast. I too am a bad shot. The skeets are safe with me around. :-P
Have not yet done handguns, but once I get a little better with the 10 gauge shotgun maybe I will try the handgun range out. It's more physical than I expected. I get a bit sore after. Pretty much everyone in my family keeps guns in their homes, which doesn't really seem out of the norm for this part of the country.
Shooting guns is a hell of a lot of fun. (I was in the military.)
But I have to disagree with you about your distaste for them. People like me can afford fancy alarm systems that mean that only a complete lunatic would come into my house. However, many Americans protect their homes with firearms, and I don't know about you, but if there were 100 people trying to come into my house to do my family harm, I would not hesitate to kill every last one of them.
And I would feel good about it. Not in a bloodlust kind of way, but that I did my utmost to defend my children.
I think most people are remiss in using guns to protect their homes. Why? Because most folks aren't very good at shooting. They're more likely to hurt themselves than the intruder.
The other problem is having loaded firearm in a home with children. Common sense says to keep firearms locked up with the bullets in a separate place. On the off-chance that one were a marksman and able to accurately shoot an intruder, getting the firearm unlocked and loaded quickly would be difficult. It's not a good idea to keep a loaded gun in a night table when kids are in the house, even with a safety... Thus, while I understand your point, I don't find it practical.
If there were a hundred people trying to come into your house and do your family harm, what would a single gun do for you? A call to 911 or an alarm system would be a much safer deterrent.
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