Criminal
11-21-2002, 02:31 AM
...I was born in the city and was not exposed to rural ideals. Really though, I know its really hard for me to understand why people need to have guns. Call me ignorant and perhaps you are right. But please try to understand my point of view.
When I was a kid I used to have play guns. My mom hated me playing with them but all the kids in the neighborhood had em so I had to have them also. I wore an army uniform with real patches courtisy of my cousin who was an army paratrooper. I thought I was so cool.
Well I always dreamed I would get a real gun. You know, one you could actually kill something with.
It was really my mother who drew the line.
"I will not allow them in my house" were her words to my older brother when he got a BB gun. She finally did back down for his sake. She even let him get a hunting rifle which he used to hunt pheasant and ducks. Then he hurt himself. He had an accident. It was not a serious one, just a bullet ricocheting and grazing him but it was enough for my parents.
"Get that out of here...I dont care what you do with it just get it out!!!" Were mothers words.
Well I knew better than to ask. No guns for me, ever.
Being the youngest in the family really sucked for that very reason... I couldnt get away with anything. I could not get a motorcycle because my older brother got one and hurt himself. I could not smoke because my brother did before and my parents let him though they disapproved, nonetheless the one time I was caught I got my ass whooped big time.
Well guns were all part of this.
As I grew older I began to see guns were not all that cool after all. But anyway I really found them to be scarey.
I recall visiting my brother and his wife in Arizona. His basement is like an arsinal. I went with him out to the desert and he gave me a pistol. I never held a handgun before. I was always taught that a gun was something dangerous and I was quite terrified. Well he set up some bottles and we shot at them. The power I fealt was amazing, but also a bit terrifying. To know that I had the power of life and death right in my hands was really scarey.
About 10 years ago I was in Europe and was in Czechoslovakia. I visited my wifes' family and was rather surprised at how many people had guns in their house. Mostly they had hunting rifles. Hunting is taken very seriously there. My wife had a friend whose father was a Jagermeister or hunt master. This is the european equivalent of a game warden. He was cleaning his rifle when I met him. He explained in German (he was one of the few Germans remaining in the town, the Czechs threw out most of them after WW2) how guns are a way of life in the country. In Europe ever man is expected to serve in the army. Its sort of a right of passage.
Now this made me think. In the US there is no compulsory millitary service. Its a good thing yes, but I sometimes wonder what we have in place of this as a right of passage. We have high school graduation? College Graduation? Getting a job in an office?
Well I went through all of it. I did finish high school. I went to college and worked my ass off. I did the right thing but sometimes I wonder if that was enough for me.
I suppose that is why guns are so important to some people. It is something some people identify with being a man, or to be less sexist, a rite of adulthood.
For me training in martial arts does give me a sense of power. I also got some sense of power from learning and useing my knowledge efficiently. I would guess for others being able to handle a weapon gives them the same power.
Well I guess I listened to my mother too much.
When I was a kid I used to have play guns. My mom hated me playing with them but all the kids in the neighborhood had em so I had to have them also. I wore an army uniform with real patches courtisy of my cousin who was an army paratrooper. I thought I was so cool.
Well I always dreamed I would get a real gun. You know, one you could actually kill something with.
It was really my mother who drew the line.
"I will not allow them in my house" were her words to my older brother when he got a BB gun. She finally did back down for his sake. She even let him get a hunting rifle which he used to hunt pheasant and ducks. Then he hurt himself. He had an accident. It was not a serious one, just a bullet ricocheting and grazing him but it was enough for my parents.
"Get that out of here...I dont care what you do with it just get it out!!!" Were mothers words.
Well I knew better than to ask. No guns for me, ever.
Being the youngest in the family really sucked for that very reason... I couldnt get away with anything. I could not get a motorcycle because my older brother got one and hurt himself. I could not smoke because my brother did before and my parents let him though they disapproved, nonetheless the one time I was caught I got my ass whooped big time.
Well guns were all part of this.
As I grew older I began to see guns were not all that cool after all. But anyway I really found them to be scarey.
I recall visiting my brother and his wife in Arizona. His basement is like an arsinal. I went with him out to the desert and he gave me a pistol. I never held a handgun before. I was always taught that a gun was something dangerous and I was quite terrified. Well he set up some bottles and we shot at them. The power I fealt was amazing, but also a bit terrifying. To know that I had the power of life and death right in my hands was really scarey.
About 10 years ago I was in Europe and was in Czechoslovakia. I visited my wifes' family and was rather surprised at how many people had guns in their house. Mostly they had hunting rifles. Hunting is taken very seriously there. My wife had a friend whose father was a Jagermeister or hunt master. This is the european equivalent of a game warden. He was cleaning his rifle when I met him. He explained in German (he was one of the few Germans remaining in the town, the Czechs threw out most of them after WW2) how guns are a way of life in the country. In Europe ever man is expected to serve in the army. Its sort of a right of passage.
Now this made me think. In the US there is no compulsory millitary service. Its a good thing yes, but I sometimes wonder what we have in place of this as a right of passage. We have high school graduation? College Graduation? Getting a job in an office?
Well I went through all of it. I did finish high school. I went to college and worked my ass off. I did the right thing but sometimes I wonder if that was enough for me.
I suppose that is why guns are so important to some people. It is something some people identify with being a man, or to be less sexist, a rite of adulthood.
For me training in martial arts does give me a sense of power. I also got some sense of power from learning and useing my knowledge efficiently. I would guess for others being able to handle a weapon gives them the same power.
Well I guess I listened to my mother too much.