I haven’t had a moment’s peace in the last couple weeks, so blogging’s been slow and I haven’t previously had a chance to give this the thought it deserves, but its the wee hours on a Monday morning and not quite time for work to start, so here goes:
You might recall that at a community meeting a couple months back I ran into “Becky”, a former adversary-in-Annapolis, a former combatant on the civil rights battlefield. Becky (not her real name) is a former director of a prominent Maryland anti-gun group (she’s asked I not mention her by name, and if I tell you the name of the group, you’ll know the name…but there’s only one anti gun group of any note that I know of based in MD anyway, so if you’re bright and from around here you probably know who I’m talking about anyway).
Living in Baltimore as a single woman apparently has really changed her outlook about firearms; she’s come to realize that A) the police cannot protect every civilian from every bad thing that might happen to them and B) sometimes you’re the only person who’ll have a chance to save your own damn life when the fit hits the shan. To that end, with the promise that I not use her name against the cause, she wanted to learn to shoot.
We met at my house and traveled up to Continental Arms in Timonium. Fortunately nobody behind the desk recognized her or made fun of her for formerly being a 2A opponent. We rented a lane and I let her try my Glock 22. Some quick thoughts–.40SW is too much caliber for most men to practice with, and it’s definitely too much for a first timer female student. A better move would have been renting a .22 revolver and letting her plink. The look on her face the first time she launched a cartridge downrange was priceless…but a not really the effect we’re going for. Excessive recoil will turn somebody off from the shooting hobby. That said, Becky was a trooper and probably fired about 100 rounds over the course of an hour–and by the end, was hitting the target at 25 feet reliably. Nice job, Becky!
Next go round I’ll have her try a shotgun…for home defense, I’m thinking she’ll be better off with a 20 gauge loaded with 00Buck. That’ll stop one of Baltimore’s numerous murderous rapists in his tracks without knocking her silly. We’ll make a date to do that next time.
The more interesting part of the evening was the drive home. Becky’s first time firing a gun had been a success, and she clearly had had a good time. I joked that much like Luke Skywalker playing with the laser droid thing…she’d taken her first step into a larger world. Becky remarked that since she’d left the gun control lobbying world, she’d realized that we gunnies aren’t a bunch of crazed maniacs trying to arm criminals for kicks; she further remarked that she thought the rhetoric was too heated all the way around, and that yes, much of what the Brady Bunch and the VPC promulgated was hysterics designed to provoke a reaction, not really anything that was meant to be factually accurate or sound grist for the public policy mill. I pointed out that, in point of fact most gun control organizations, her protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, really do want to limit civilian gun ownership as much as possible.
She largely agreed that the gun control agenda wasn’t anymore likely to succeed than drug control or booze control or hooker control or gambling control; but what made her really want to leave was that she wanted to make a real impact in her community that was tangible and measurable (good on ya, Becky!). It’s what I’ve been saying since day one–if you want less violence, build a better, more just society that values life and engenders a culture of success, prosperity, and openness. In other words…taking all the guns away isn’t going to remove what ails the human heart.
She got into gun control wanting to work with inner city Baltimore communities; she said a large rift developed between her and other people in her organization over this. They told her “look, there’s no money in Baltimore, you have to get money and the way to do that is suburbia.” Instead of focusing on helping violence plagued communities, her organization–at the behest of the Brady Bunch–focused on raising money to become better lobbyists. Make no mistake, there it is from the horse’s mouth–the gun control movement is about building a political power structure, NOT about working with communities to reduce violence. It’s the same patriarchal nonsense we’ve always known to be the core of hoplophobia–we’ve gotta get white suburbia to lobby and spend money to change the law so those pesky dark skinned folks who can’t be trusted with weapons will be denied access to them at the expense of everyone else’s freedom and safety. It’s pandering and using pantswetting hyperbole to raise money from those soccer moms mowing the rest of us down in their SUVs in order to deny self defense to the very urban po’folks they’d just as soon ignore all day long.
Have no illusions–gun control is about rich white folks making vain efforts at denying Hispanics and African Americans weapons by way of taking them away from whites, blacks, and every shade in between. It’s punishing all drivers because of the limited few who repeatedly drive and get caught with a BAC of 0.19 . It’s telling Arabs around the world they can’t fly on airplanes because of 19 crazed idiots. It’s denying you and me a glass of beer because Britney Spears can’t control herself. It’s telling glaucoma patients they can’t smoke a joint because crack dealers are killing people.
It’s what you do instead of something.
So how much do I owe you for ammo?
Comment by thirdpower — October 23, 2007 @ 4:44 pm
Heh…we can start a kitty of some kind to pay for the “take Becky shooting” fund. I think she’ll like a .22 and a 20 gauge a lot better than my hand cannon.
Comment by Administrator — October 23, 2007 @ 8:48 pm
[…] The other Sebastian takes an anti-gun person shooting. It takes quite a leap to go from activist on the other side to the shooting range, and I have to hand it to Sebastian, that was quite a feat. His entire post is a must read, but here’s a quick excerpt: The more interesting part of the evening was the drive home. Becky’s first time firing a gun had been a success, and she clearly had had a good time. I joked that much like Luke Skywalker playing with the laser droid thing…she’d taken her first step into a larger world. Becky remarked that since she’d left the gun control lobbying world, she’d realized that we gunnies aren’t a bunch of crazed maniacs trying to arm criminals for kicks; she further remarked that she thought the rhetoric was too heated all the way around, and that yes, much of what the Brady Bunch and the VPC promulgated was hysterics designed to provoke a reaction, not really anything that was meant to be factually accurate or sound grist for the public policy mill. […]
Pingback by Snowflakes in Hell » Blog Archive » Take an Anti Shooting Day — October 23, 2007 @ 8:49 pm
Dude.. that kicks ass.
Comment by The Other Sebastian — October 23, 2007 @ 8:56 pm
The sad thing is that, in point of fact, Jadegold is full of it–I’m hardly a liar. I gave my word that I wouldn’t use her name, even though it’d be front page news in the gun rights world if I did.
I’ll respect her privacy–that being said, of course…astute Marylanders will probably be able to figure who Becky really is.
Comment by Administrator — October 23, 2007 @ 9:47 pm
Ok, lookie here, you done good. I can find no real fault with you on this.
Damn though, it hurts, so let me throw this at you just to keep my hand in and give you an excuse to mentally marginalize me. No, no, I’m serious, I don’t think I could stand a complete paradigm shift in our relationship. Bad heart you know. Really bad, but nice. Ok, maybe not that nice, but it has fooled my wife a lot. I’m sneaky like that.
This is what you wrote “That said, Becky was a trooper.”
The word you are looking for is “trouper”. Yep, as in an actor or performer. You know as in “The show must go on.”, that kind of troup. Not a trooper as in, “I must write a traffic ticket.”, or trooper as in “If I am to earn my wings, I gotta jump out of this perfectly functioning airplane”. Geez, even I wouldn’t do that….again.
Becky is a trouper in that she did continue on with the show regardless of discomfort. Bless her heart. (No, although I am a southerner, I am not now going to say something really terrible about her. Only our women do that after saying “Bless her heart”. Too much Southern Baptist and not enough Jesus, I think).
I only brought this up because I actually like you, so I thought you might like to know the origin of the phrase.
And I felt like being a dick tonight. Dammit, this honesty crap is killing me.
Anyway, you done good.
Comment by straightarrow — October 24, 2007 @ 3:36 am
left out an “e”, you know where it goes. Damn, nothing ruins smartass like doing something stupid. Ok, I concede this round.
I need a drink!
Comment by straightarrow — October 24, 2007 @ 3:39 am
Good job!
Now the question is, will “Becky” be willing to come to Annapolis this winter and fight for her rights and pull back the veil of hypocrisy that fronts the anti-gun lobby in this state?
Comment by Norton — October 24, 2007 @ 5:06 am
Heh. Let’s not get overzealous…but hey it can’t hurt to ask.
Comment by Administrator — October 24, 2007 @ 7:22 am
[…] How to win. […]
Pingback by SayUncle » Take an anti-shooting — October 24, 2007 @ 7:40 am
I don’t think the white suburbanites behind gun control have an agenda so much as a disconnect from reality. Many of these people (my neighbors) live in a cocoon of affluence, safety, and liberal moral preening. Very few of them have any direct experience of hunting, shooting sports, military service, or “the evil that men do”.
Congratulations on your range trip. Hope Becky wants to return.
Comment by PN NJ — October 24, 2007 @ 8:07 am
“.40SW is too much caliber for most men to practice with,
Really? I had a blast at the range with my CZ-75B in .40 S&W…I did better with the CHL target than I did with the Bersa .380 Thunder I used to take my shooting test.
Hand cannon is trying to shoot .357 mag from a 2 inch snub revolver, which I did a few weeks ago…ooow.
Yeah, slamming my fist into the hood of a truck a few times is just as much fun, too. I quickly swapped out my .357 mag hollow points for .38 hollow points, and put the .357 mag hollow points into my GP100 with a 6 inch barrel.
“…and it’s definitely too much for a first timer female student.”
Well, yeah. .22 LR for a first timer is probably a good call. Need to work up to .380 auto and eventually 9mm, though, and a .38 sp snubbie would also be a logical choice.
I have a lady friend who used to have a 12 ga but she didn’t like the recoil and traded it for a .38 snubbie. I told her to give a 20 ga a try instead. Keep the .38 for car-carry of course, but for home defense a shotgun is a must.
The local Academy stores here in Houston are odd. In the white, suburban areas, they sell handguns as well as long guns (I picked up my 9mm Taurus PT92 at one, and my CZ)
But, in the one story located in a predominantly black/hispanic area, all they sell are long guns. I did a double take when I saw that in their sporting goods section…what, no handguns??
Comment by JJR — October 24, 2007 @ 9:06 am
“I can find no real fault with you on this.”
Well, first time for every thing.
Comment by SayUncle — October 24, 2007 @ 11:37 am
Heh. SA is gettin’ all literary on me
.
Comment by Administrator — October 24, 2007 @ 11:50 am
Heh. SA is gettin’ all literary on me .
Comment by Administrator — October 24, 2007 @ 11:50 am
You take that back! My parents were too married.
Comment by straightarrow — October 24, 2007 @ 3:31 pm
Good Post!
Comment by Sean — October 24, 2007 @ 6:24 pm
Way to go, that’s the way to handle it, one person at a time.
Comment by Barbara Holmstedt — October 25, 2007 @ 2:38 pm
The problem that i hear about if that the 20 gauge is too light so you still get more recoil than many women are comfortable with. My solution is a 12ga with #4s. The pellets are still large enough to take down a man sized opponent at indoor ranges.
OTOH, some people have found that it is easier to train a novice to use an AR-15 at short range than a shotgun, and in fact that the AR-15 makes a better home defense weapon for novices. They are more accurate with it and more likely to go practice with it since it won’t bruise their shoulder.
Comment by Gregg — October 25, 2007 @ 5:02 pm
.40 S&W for a first-timer is cruel and unusual.
I used to borrow a .22 short for first-timers. There is a certain element of fear the first time you shoot a gun.
Then would work up - .38s in a .357 - to 9mm - etc. Starting slow they can envision having something that is a) fun and b) useful. Most people can shoot a heavy frame 9mmm or .45 provided it fits their hand. Most guns are designed for your average 1945 GI. Some are bigger than that. The grips just aren’t right for a small woman. Try something like a Bersa or a Walther PPK.
What works for you won’t work for everyone.
Comment by Zendo Deb — October 26, 2007 @ 1:44 am
Dude, that Luke Skywalker reference was too obscure even for me.
Comment by Tim — October 26, 2007 @ 6:09 pm
Damn good post and a fine job being the good ambassador. This brings to mind a still over-looked event earlier this year on Democratic Underground where a poster asked simply: “Do you own one or more guns?” The question was posted in general discussion for several days and received over 700 responses, splitting 5l-49 on the “yes” side. Not scientific, but maybe resulting from seeing how good argument and listening will gain converts. May the Force be with You!
Comment by SteveM — October 26, 2007 @ 6:36 pm
Aw come on, everybody remembers the part where Luke is playing with the light saber on the way to Alderan…which isn’t there anymore
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Comment by Administrator — October 26, 2007 @ 7:02 pm