Robert Avrech…
…of Seraphic Secret tells the tale of how he become a gun owner.
[Hat tip: commenter “IGotBupkis.”
And by the way, as a public service to those of you who don’t know the meaning of the word bupkis, it means—well, it means this.]
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
Bupkis wasn t this a “song” in an episode of the dick van dyke show ?
My age & my phenomenal memory showing.
Thanks, Neo. That was an excellent piece by a very brave smart man.
I had never really appreciated the second ammendment until fairly recently. In my younger days I disliked and feared guns. But recent events have made me realize that I would rather own a defensive weapon and never have to use it than not exercise my right and risk have it taken away or severely restricted.
So, I purchased an American made handgun, took a safety class (that was mostly women), and put in some range time. Having never thought of myself as a wimp, I was a bit disappointed in myself to discover how loud and smelly shooting is. Oh well. It’s kind of empowering though and I’m looking for better ear plugs!
I view it as a tool that deserves respect just like you would your two ton car hurtling down the road at sixty miles an hour.
Now, I want to get a defensive length shotgun and/or a pistol caliber carbine. “Cornered Cat” has a lot of good info for newcomers.
Did you hear our dear leader today using the slaughter of those little children as a reason to agree to his fiscal deal? What a disgusting vile man. I’d rather be paranoid than underestimate what he’s capable of.
Great story, Neo.
I read another account in the past couple of days of a woman who was trapped in her home as an Urban mob rampaged through the street. She watched the Police, who had been on the scene, depart as the mob became more dangerous. She was lucky, that they did not breach her doors. That was when she decided to arm herself for self and home protection; and she did not think that she needed a purse size pea shooter.
I have mentioned before that when I was young, farmers kept weapons beside their beds, powerful ones; e.g., 12ga shotguns loaded with buckshot. There was no phone service, and they knew that the Sheriff was hours away. Now, we think that help will be instantaneous. That is foolish.
I read a news report that it took 20 minutes after the first shots for the first Police to arrive at the Sandy Hook school.
Robert Avrech can write. I have read a good bit of his writing, and have often been moved by it.
Not the same circumstance, but am reminded of a 9/11 story. Female feminist writer: no friend of traditional masculinity. Living in NYC. Has live in boyfriend. 9/11 unfolds. At some early point, boyfriend announces: “We are getting out of here. Throw some stuff in a duffel. We leave in 5 minutes.” Writer describes herself as a woman who does not take orders from men. Yet she went along, w/o questioning. Boyfriend directs them through the city, to a dock. She went along. Boyfriend tosses duffel over a fence. Then shoves and half tosses her over a fence. Then goes over fence himself. He cuts some lines and steals a kiyak, tosses duffel and her in the kiyak, then rows them to New Jersey. Feminist went along, the entire way, and liked it. Then she wrote the story, in wonderment at her own reaction, and somewhat bewildered about what it all means about who she actually is re the dance of genders.
That is an outstanding post. Thanks for linking that, neo.
KLSmith:
When I was a liberal, I was in favor of drug legalization but supported gun control. One day in the mid-90s I had an epiphany. I knew that the War on Drugs had trashed individual liberty, and turned otherwise decent, law-abiding people into criminals. I suddenly realized that a War on Guns would have the same effect, if not worse.
(Nowadays I consider myself more of a libertarian than a conservative, and I still think the War on Drugs has been an unmitigated disaster for liberty.)
When I took my beginner’s gun safety course, it was taught by a woman. Among my fellow students were a mother and her teenaged son and daughter.
The instructor had a very interesting story. I think I’ve probably told it here before. She said that her husband, a military veteran, had bought a handgun for home defense. He kept it in the nightstand, and she said that she was so afraid of it that she couldn’t sleep. So he took her to a range and taught her to shoot it. She said, “Within six months I was shooting in competitions.” And then she went on to become an NRA-certified instructor.
Badda bing. The best way to get over your fear of guns is to learn how to use them.
rickl,
The problem with the drug thing is that drugs have always been sold as cool to a young audience. There wasn’t an example of responsible adult usage (like having a glass of wine with dinner or getting a bit tipsy at a New Years party) to counter the full rebellion message of users. I fear that if pot is legalized, it will no longer be cool and that ever younger people will move in even greater numbers toward newer, more dangerous drugs. The real problem is that the left has undermined all the social standards that used to keep society somewhat on keel without specific legislation. Add to that the glut of lawyers in this country and you get anything goes, except that it doesn’t. the only thing the young know is that everyone and everything that came before then was evil, bigotted, racist, sexist, and imperialist.
If I can build on the term borked, I would say that our younger generation has been Zinned.
Some people are born into it, as I was. Some come to it through a “Come to Jesus moment” (can you say that in reference to Jews?) like Avrech, and some are lucky enough to have good friends like Elena Kagan: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/19/elena-kagan-antonin-scalia-hunting_n_1989567.html
Had a talk with Bill Bennett about this this AM.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/41339180/On%20Guns.mp3