A Democrat Talks About Guns

I grew up around guns.  My dad hunted.  Every time I smell, Hoppe's #9 gun cleaner, it reminds me of Fall.  Because about September, my dad would start cleaning guns in the house.  The .20 Gauge for Pheasant season.  The 35 Remington with the 6X scope for deer season.  It was a pump.  The same kind of gun the guy used to shoot a bunch of people from the Texas Tower back in the 60's.

And this brings me to my point.  If you don't know about guns, you can't really know about American history.

Good, bad, or well, to tell the truth, MOSTLY good.  Even though there is some bad in there, we are who we are, and WHAT we are based on our relationship with guns, in this country.

Had the Colonists had to take on the British with swords, instead of figuring out how to hide behind trees during battle, we would not be an independent country.  The British would have had WAY more troops than we could have taken on.

When I took my kids to, Battle Green in he summer of 2010, and we toured the Inn where the Revolutionary War started (Someone tell, Michele Bachmann that's in Massachusetts, not New Hampshire) I actually stopped the tour guide, who insisted on using the words, "musket" and, "rifle" interchangeably.  They are NOT the same weapon.  The Revolutionary war was fought with muskets that had a smooth boar and were not very accurate.  The Civil War was fought with rifle's which had rifled barrels, and could be accurate to 1000 yards or more.

I also used that opportunity to show my son a three edged bayonet.  And explain to him why they were outlawed by international agreement after World War One, because they caused TOO much damage to be easily repaired by surgeons.  After 1918, your bayonet or military knife could only have TWO sharp edges.

Back to the Civil war.  Mini balls, rifled barrels, cannons loaded with, "canister".  You have to know what those things are, our you can't really understand what happened there.

 The Colt .44 Peacemaker.  Won the west.  They used to say, "God made all men.  Coronal Colt made them EQUAL!"  And a hundred and twenty years later, Steve Earl wrote, "My very first pistol was a cap and ball Colt.  Shoots as fast as lightning, but it loads a might slow.  Could get you into trouble, but it could not get you out."  Well, that was true.  So what did American ingenuity come up with next?  Repeating firearms.

We went from fast burning, Black Powder, to slower burning, Smokeless Powder that was much more efficient at moving bullets, metal cartridges that were impervious to water, pistols that would accept six rounds at a time, and lever action rifles that would hold as many as nine rounds at a time!  Sorry Indians.  Manifest Destiny, and all...

Then, the military needed a good sidearm.  And in 1911, John Browning, a Utahan from, Morgan invented the semiautomatic handgun.  The Model 1911, .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol.  Called that because, Browning, a GOOD American did NOT charge the Government for the patent.  He felt that if his government needed this, he should just give it to them!  And most of those guns were first made by, Colt.  During the war years of the first and second World Wars they were also made by folks as diverse as the Singer Sewing Machine Company, and Maytag. Who might have made your washer.)

Contrast THAT attitude of Mr. Browning with today's Tea Party, destroy government folks.

The war years of World War One gave way to Prohibition.  From which, it appears with as much money we spend trying to arrest and imprison everyone using Marijuana, and for that matter ALL drugs, we, as a Nation learned, NOTHING!

The Thompson Sub machine Gun was made for the military in WWI.  It ended up being the weapon of choice in the Gang Wars of Prohibition.  Came in .45 Cal.  Same ammo as the military side arm. But when you could push like, 1400 of them a minute through a barrel of a gun, could cut a car in half.  Pretty hard to hide from behind your, Buick.

Up steps Mr. Browning again.  And he gives us the B-A-R!  Browning Automatic Rifle.  The gun that finally brought down, Bonnie and Clyde!

Well, now it's the 1930's and the Government, decides that there should be some, "GASP", GUN CONTROL!  The average American shouldn't be able to own a machine gun.  And the average American agreed.  They didn't want that kind of fire power in the hands of bandits and gangsters.  Just the military and police.  Whew!  Glad THAT'S over!

Not so fast.  Police decided that the standard, .32 Cal was not strong enough to stop bandits.  Especially if they were, Negros, and on cocaine!  Out comes the .38 Special.  The standard gun for all police forces until the 1980's when the 9mm semi auto replaces it.

From the .38, we get the .357 developed by hunters that wanted a more powerful handgun for killing stuff like bears.  Next?  The .44 Magnum, developed FROM the .44 Russia, but with much higher pressure, and a longer cartridge to keep you from blowing up your .44 Russian by putting the wrong cartridge in it.  Same size BULLET, but more, "poop" behind it.

What does all this have to do with anything?  Well, it's history!  It's OUR history.  It shows our fears, and by doing that, it shows us why, sometimes, we as a people, did what we did!

Southern Cops were so afraid of Black people on cocaine, they needed to come up with a BIGGER gun?    They could have just become better shots, but no...

I understand why some folks like assault rifles.  By all accounts, they are fun to shoot.  I understand why ranchers want, Ruger Mini 14's to protect their livestock from Coyotes and other predators.  But I have a hard time understanding why anyone not in law enforcement needs a magazine in ANY gun that holds more than 10 rounds.  If you don't hit the Coyote in ten rounds, I'm pretty sure you're a shitty shot, AND you have scared him off.

I've shot assault rifles for work.  They were loud and should only be used by SWAT team guys.  In MY line of law enforcement, if I was going to get in a gun fight, it would have been over a kitchen table.  Less than ten feet apart.  The rifle would NOT help me.

So I have a BUNCH of handguns.  My friends at work bought me my Glock 23, .40 when I retired.  I like that gun.  Good concealed carry gun.

I still have my mom's gun.  A Ruger .22 my dad bought for her in the 50's when we lived WAY outside of Keyser, West Virginia, up in the hills.  I heard this story later, because I was too young to remember it.  One night, some prowler was trying to get into the house and my mom was home alone with me, and dad was still at work (or more likely, out with some girlfriend.  He was an asshole) and my mom picked up the party line and hollered for help, and a neighbor came up from a mile away and scared the guy off.  It's a sweet little semi auto.

I had my first .357 in college.  I bought it while I worked at Zinick's in Fashion Place Mall.  Any one remember, Zinick's Sporting Goods?  I used to backpack a lot and bought the Ruger with a six inch barrel.  I sold it years after because I wanted something else, or we needed something, and I couldn't use it for the job.  But I sold the gun I paid about $300 for, for about $110. 

A few years ago, I traded in my dad's 35 Remington for a new Ruger.  Stainless Steel.  Four inch barrel.  Great gun.

And since my son still plays soccer in West Valley and Magna, where I spent MOST of my career putting people in jail, I bought a five shot, .38 Special with a two inch barrel a few years ago.  It has a laser sight in the handle.  It's worthless when shooting it, but I hope that if I put in on someone who wants to do me harm, it might keep me from having to actually, shoot them.

And this year, I finally bought the gun of my childhood.  The model 1911, .45 I always wanted.  And after I did, I understood why this gun was never considered for the law enforcement jobs I had.  Big, clunky, SINGLE ACTION!  NOT a good gun for modern law enforcement.

But fun as hell to shoot!  Kicks like a mule.

When guys MY age were kids, we played, "Army".  And this thing was the gun you got in your, Marx Play Set with the fake, .50 Cal machine gun!  It was always green, and you didn't know what all the shit on the side of it was, but you didn't need to!  It was SO much cooler than the German Luger.

Let's talk about hunting.  I'm not anti hunting.  I used to hunt. But now, I'm more like, Ron White, the comedian.  I don't want to get up early, it's cold and I don't really like the taste of game.  He said he could HIT a deer at 50 miles an hour in his van and kill it just as dead as if he got up at, "O dark thirty" in the cold and had to sit around for hours before he shot it...

He's right.

So, I'm a Liberal who likes guns.  Thinks people who are not mentally ill or convicted felons should be able to buy, own and shoot them. 

I have mixed feelings on the assault rifle thing.

But, I buy handgun ammo by the case.  So who am I to judge?  I'll still vote for the Liberal every time.  Hope you do too.

And I assure you, R's.  The D's are NOT coming for your guns.  So lighten up.