Guns have been around for a long, long time. But it's been only recently that they have been getting a bad rap. I do understand people's concerns about guns and the modern day violence that some people commit while using them. All I ask is that people also understand why many of us love our guns.
First, we need to go back a few hundred years. Guns were actually tools. The pioneers that traveled over the western states from the back waters of our country heading to California and the west, brought with them many tools to use along the journey and for their new homes. Tools such as saws, hammers, etc. And they brought another tool...their guns. Saws and hammers were needed to repair or build with. Guns were needed for hunting for their meals to feed the family and to protect their families as well against Indians, bandits, etc. So, the gun was a vital part of the tools carried by the pioneers.
And, of course, guns were a very important defense tool in all of our wars. We would not have gotten very far throwing rocks. Sadly, America has been involved in our far share of wars.
The gangster period in America, 1910 - 1940, involved guns. The Thompson machine gun was originally invented for use during World War I. But it got most of it's use by Al Capone, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger and many others. It also got some use by the FBI who was trying to stamp out the gangsters and their trail of crime.
Old west outlaws and lawmen alike used guns to ply their trades. Against each other! Where would we be if the old west outlaws had used pea shooters? All the western movies that have been made would not be the same with western bandits getting spitwads stuck to their necks. NO! Only guns could add to the excitment.
Gun protesters who watch Chuck Norris and Bruce Willis movies should think twice. They are protesting guns and then getting excited when the good guys fight the bad guys in the movies with guns. Kind of a double standard.
Is there gun violence today? Sure there is! But the bad rap should go to the shooters, not the guns. I have a gun collection. My father was a collector and reloaded all his own ammo. I got my first rifle, a .22 caliber bolt action, when I was four years old. At age six, I got a Winchester lever action 25.20. (That was my favorite). I got my first 12-gauge shotgun, double barreled, of course, when I was twelve. I was raised with guns. In my entire life, I have never even thought of harming anyone with a gun. I was taught early on about gun safety from my dad. He fired a .38 caliber police revolver bullet into a tree when I was seven. He made me look at it and said, "You see that hole? If this gun can make a hold in a wooden tree, it will do the same thing to a person." I always remembered that.
I grew up watching westerns, gangsters, war movies and TV shows in the 1950s and '60s. But I have never gone out and wanted to shoot anyone. My dad was a deer hunter. But I never got interested in hunting. I am a target shooter. I like going to the range and I like the big BOOM!
Personally, I am an historian. And guns, like it or not, are historical artifacts. I collect antique firearms from the western period and the gangster era. I am fully against gun violence. School shootings make me sick. The Vegas shooter was plain crazy and when a crazy person gets a gun, look out! If we are going to impliment laws for gun violence, the laws need to include something for Crazy People. For once lets call it what it is. Crazy people kill other people. Hunters and gun collectors do not kill other people. Taking our guns away will do nothing about crazy people getting guns. If you don't believe me, than look at this fact:
Awhile back, Camden, New Jersey held a gun buyback program. Thousands of guns were turned in...by law abiding people, just for the money. The criminals did not turn in their guns. They need their guns to commit crimes which pay them better than the buyback program would have. My problem with this is knowing that all those guns, some antiques, were distroyed. For what? New Jersey's crime did not go down. They have as much, or more, crime today as they did before the program was held. So, what good did it do? It allowed the democrats to say they had a successful buyback, but in reality, they didn't. They only managed to use taxpayer's money once again for something foolish.
In most of the cases of school shootings, now that we have the internet, most of the shooters have posted their plans on Facebook or other sites. But no one wants to do anything about it until they have followed through. It's a little late then. We need to start putting these people away right off. Don't wait until the bloodbath begins. And when they are caught after their violent acts, no 20 to 25 years on death row. They need to be executed within three years. Look at Timothy McVey. It didn't take us too long to get rid of him, now did it? And these people that do not believe in capitol punishment, they don't believe in guns and crime either. So which is it? You can't have both. That doesn't work.
This blog is dedicated to the gun lover. Not the criminal. Criminals do not have a love for guns, or anything else for that matter. But there are us out here who enjoy the act of shooting and going to the range for an afternoon. Then we stop on the way home with our gun buddies and have a drink and enjoy the day. And no one is dead afterwards. Imagine that! The whole day full of shooting, noise, gunfire and no one dies. I've been doing that my entire life. It's pretty cool actually.
