I grew up in a 'gun family'. My father was an avid hunter all of his life. His hobby was to take old military rifles (1903-A3) and convert them into modern sporting rifles which were an expression of his art.
He bought me my first deer rifle when I was 13, and I was thrilled to finally get to go hunting with him. More frequently (because it didn't depend on a 'season') we would go 'varmint hunting'.
And as bloody as it must have seemed to the varmints, it was a much more humane solution than the alternative. (Of course the hares and the rodents of all kind probably resented our predation.)
I did some hunting of deer and antelope, and the meat which they provided to our dinner was welcome. Mom was never a good cook, but fresh venison is a welcome supplement to our diet. I ate Deer, Elk, even Bear meat.
I became involved in competition shooting. For 15 years I was a Gallery Rifle shooter, both indoors and outdoors. I spend a few summers working in harvest (both wheat and peas) so that I could buy a Valment "Lion" Free Rifle, with which I won a few junior matches.
In later years, I chose to shoot pistols in competition. I'm now certified as a "not very good, but determined" shooter in three divisions of USPSA shooting.
People enjoy shooting. It's like throwing darts in a pub, only louder, and without the drinking.
Some people are more involved in self-defense shooting. Nobody wants to hurt anybody else, but sometimes the circumstances are such that one needs to protect Hearth and Home, Self and Family.
But that's not what a lot of people envision when they think of the term: "Gun Culture".
THIS is the image that they see:
(continued)
Another Shoot-out in Waco!
Rival motorcycle gangs kill 9 in Texas gun battle - NY Daily News:
(May 17, 2015)
A trio of rival motorcycle gangs is believed responsible for a large gunfight that killed nine bikers and injured 18 outside a Waco, Texas restaurant, authorities said Sunday.Another Shootout in Pennsylvania!
There's nothing unique in this "event". In January in Pennsylvania, a couple of rowdy groups mixed it up.
Another Shootout in Chicago!
And in Illinois, after a brawl between "The Outlaws" and (civilians?), the Outlaws want their leather vests back.
Well, you can't blame them. It's all about honor, y'know?
Okay, so yes, I DO blame them. This is a violent subculture, an atavistic approach to life which is inimical to civilization, They put The Bad Face on firearms ownership, because they are NOT responsible and they are NOT the kind of people that I want folks to think about when they consider Responsible Civilian Firearms Ownership.
In fact, they're not the kind of people that I choose to associate with.
The Thing Is ....
... this is not the "Gun Culture" that I know.
But it IS the thing that most people who didn't grow up with guns-as-tools think of first.
This is the image of "The Gun Culture" that we need to work to eliminate.
I'm not sure what we can do to eliminate THEM, and not eliminate US. Unfortunately, the 'other people' (the ones who espouse drastic measures of Gun Control" lump us all into the same category:
Gun Nuts.
What we can do to define the difference between peaceful, law abiding folks and these violent felons is a question which I'm unable to answer. All I'm sure of is that more laws are NOT the answer. No law can be envisioned which differentiates between the law-abiding and the law-ignoring.
It's obvious that, after all these years, we cannot pass laws which will sort out the outlaws without unjustly penalizing law-abiding.
Remember Shaneen Allen? In 2014, she was arrested after a traffic stop because she had carried a concealed weapon across the border to New Jersey. She had a permit from her home state, but didn't realize that she was deemed a felon because she drove across the bridge to NG. The Governor of NJ finally had to declare her not-a-felon. he knew that she was a law-abiding citizen, but the laws which had been formulated to protect New Jersey against felons.
That was a travesty of justice, and any laws designed to keep felons from owning guns is bound to end up hurting the law-abiding more than the law-abusing amongst us.
"One Size Fits All" laws are not the answer. I don't know what the answer is, because I'm not so vain that I think I can define "gun culture" to the perfect level.
Unfortunately, we are left with Politicians to make the laws. And in my mind, anyone who strives to be elected to public office is suspected of hubris.
And convicted, if elected.
They want it too badly.
3 comments:
"Gun Culture" is the left's way of demonizing gun owners.
"No law can be envisioned which differentiates between the law-abiding and the law-ignoring."
With all due respect, programs like "Three Strikes, You're Out!" and "Hard Time for Armed Crime" DO target criminals and leave alone the law-abiding. Now, whether upping the sentence for "gun crime" versus "knife crime" or "axe crime" or "baseball bat crime" is the answer is still a philosophical bone of contention, but it's a program that the law-abiding don't have to worry themselves over, and as such, they were proposed, championed, and passed by the "gun culture".
But such "common-sense, reasonable" programs aren't acceptable to the "gun control" fanatics, for one reason: they don't target you or I enough.
(Seriously, I got into this debate with a well-known anti-gun person. Her position was that these programs are "flawed" because [paraphrasing] they are "punitive in nature" [i.e. they don't kick in until after-the-fact]. My question is, WTF is she expecting a criminal statute to do, exactly?)
The "ban all guns" crowd will never understand.
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