the substance of things

So I got bored on the way home from my car’s maintenance appointment today, and as any of you probably know, bored Linoges are bad things. The thought occurred to me, thanks to a webpage that will remain nameless and linkless just due to the sheer amount of stupidity contained within its confines, that most of the hoplophobes out there do not adequately understand why people own firearms. As such, I thought I would touch on a few topics, and then delve into why exactly I, personally, own a firearm (soon to be plural).
Initially, firearms were designed to better and faster kill people, I do not think anyone can really dispute that. Over the years, they have developed a few corrollary uses as well, however, the primary purpose of killing people contains within it some of the reasons why civilians still own them. First and foremost in that megaset is the concept of self defense. Firearms are a part of modern society, that much is a fact. Simply outlawing them will not cause them to miraculously and magically disappear, as Great Britain is unfortunately finding out. As such, criminals will always have the opportunity to procure one to further their nefarious goals, no matter the legislation, no matter the laws, no matter the system. Considering that criminals will have firearms to execute their crimes (after all, breaking a firearm-ownership law seems like small beans compared to robbing someone, raping someone, or murdering them), do you not want one, and the training to use it, yourself? Level the playing field? Keep your family and those you love safe? Yeah. Me too. Guns are not just going to disappear because people legislate it to be so, and any belief that they will is tantamount to sticking your head in the sand and a target on your arse.
As an added thought, police are not required to protect individuals. Fun thought, is it not? But the basic concept is that police are empowered and required to protect society, but when it comes to individuals’ life and property… well, they are the guys who show up to fill out the forms after the fact. So if they are not going to protect you, who, exactly, is?
Second, and hopefully never actually implemented, is the concept of checks and balances against the government. The American government is possibly unique in the world in this concept – it exists solely at the sufferance of the people. If they people do not want it, they can change it. If the government starts doing things that go against the Constitution or the laws of the country, it is the responsibility and duty of the people to stop it, fix it, or abolish it. Granted, I certainly hope that kind of situation would never actually have to take place (it smells highly of civil war), but the option is there, with roots going all the way back to our original War of Independence.
Ok, so that pretty much covers civilians potentially having to kill other people. In addition to killing people, though, firearms are rather good at killing… well… just about anything. Hunters have used them since about the time they got portable and aimable by hand, and that certainly is not going to change any time soon. Arrows, whether projected by bows or crossbows, have remarkably short ranges compared to the majority of firearms out there, and their accuracy goes to hell in very short order. With the use of gunpowder, lathed barrels, and little balls of lead (and a lot of help from the American spirit), the Pacific Ocean was discovered by American explorers, the Wild West was tamed, and explorers in every outback were able to keep themselves and their expeditions alive longer, finding new and undiscovered lands. These days, hunting is not quite as necessary, but it is still an industry, still a sport (as much as shooting something that cannot really attack back (barring things like bears and cougars and such) can be), and still something people enjoy.
Alright, we can check killing people, and killing animals off our lists of why people own firearms. What does that leave? Ah, having fun. One of the most common reactions to first-timers shooting anything short of a 10 gauge shotgun is an immediate smile, and something approximating, “Damn, that was awesome!” I will not deny that some people do not experience this rush, but it is pretty darned common. And the fact of the matter is, it is an honest reaction – punching holes in paper from 10 yards away is great, knocking tin cans off a rail is better, and blowing the crap out of a watermellon is just awesome.
Additionally, and kind of in the same vein as general-purpose “fun”, shooting has turned into quite the sport, with all manner of pistol- and rifle-related specialties. Hell, they have even made it into the Olympics, which should definitely say something. (I would, personally, say more, but I honestly know little about that specific topic.)
Ok, so we are up to five things, and I am sure there are quite a few more (zombies and alien invasions and suchlike). However, I view those as kind of the highlights. Which one do I tend towards? Well, since I do not carry a concealed weapon, I only really care about defending my apartment. I am still naive enough to believe that the government might stabilize or turn around at some point, so there goes that. I sure as hell do not hunt (Pansy, I am.). And I surely enjoy firing my pistol (and will no doubt enjoy the M1A when it gets here). But, if you can tell from my verbage, none of those are quite the central, driving reason I own a firearm. So what is?
If I were born ten years after I was… possibly even five… and if I had an entirely different set of parents, I would probably have a life prescription to Ritalin, or some other drug like it. I have a difficult time concentrating on a single thing at a time, unless I am thoroughly engaged in it, or unless it requires my unfettered attention for successful completion. I can force myself to do so, but in that case, I feel as though I am wasting some portion of my productive time (for instance, at the same time as I am writing this, I am catching up on all of the Mad Men episodes I have on my TiVo). I do not think I was a hyperactive child, but people may disagree with me. And even these days, I tend to be somewhat… impulsive, unless I mind myself. A mouth powered by that impulsiveness has gotten me in trouble more than once, though it can be quite entertaining in the appropriate circumstances. And, trust me, do not bring up my finances with Better Half.
However, when on the firing line, staring down the sights at the target a few yards away, you cannot think about anything else – even the slightest distraction or parallel thought will cause your focus to falter, which will detrimentally affect your aim, and will result in you not shooting as well as you could. For ideal accuracy, there is only you, and the target… not to wax poetic and speak above my station, but in a perfect situation, even the firearm simply becomes a further extension of your own body. All of the stupid worries about the day fall away – they have to. No more concerns about work, no more worrying about bills, no more schedules… nothing except you and the range. The situation forces the outcome, and that is something I both enjoy and appreciate. Hell, even when it comes to cleaning the firearm, you have no choice but to pay remarkably close attention to it, in order to ensure you take it apart without incident, clean and lubricate everything adequately, and reassemble it properly… because if you do not, the best case is just a very expensive broken thing. The worst… well, you are dealing with explosives.
Sure, other things demand focus… driving in San Diego is no joke, most X-Box games kind of require a little attention, etc. etc. But, all the while, there is sufficient room left over in my brain/consciousness/awareness that background thoughts are bouncing around, cluttering things up. However, the range is one of the few places and instances where it all just falls away, and there is nothing else. (And, no, I am not going to discuss what the other instances are… not the point of this post.)
And it is a damned sight cheaper than a headshrinker.
So, yes, for all of you people out there skipping through this post looking for the highlights, I find shooting therapeutic. I am sure this comes as a great surprise to all of the hoplophobes out there, who view firearms as demonic implements of evil bent only on the destruction of families and the murder of innocents, but the fact still stands. If you cannot come to terms with it, that is hardly my problem. And for further disturbance, I am sure I am not alone in this revelation, either. Best of luck handling that.
There you have it, “gun control” advocates of the world. Maybe I should start calling you “gun thieves”… certainly a more accurate moniker. Regardless, there a lot of reasons people own firearms… a lot more than I briefly enumerated here. However, in all honesty, very few of them are the kind of things that cause you people to label all firearm-owners as people who “are convinced that anyone who advocates sane gun policy is part of the EVIL NEW WORLD ORDER that is coming to eat you and your children and set up a global communist dictatorship headed by the Anti-Christ,” for example. Comments such as those only serve to show the frail, faulty nature of the gun thieves’ arguments, when there are so many more perfectly rational, perfectly sane, perfectly logical people out there who have perfectly rational, perfectly sane, and perfectly logical reasons to own firearms.
Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Perri Nelson’s Website, The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary’s Thoughts, DeMediacratic Nation, Big Dog’s Weblog, The Pet Haven Blog, Webloggin, Leaning Straight Up, Cao’s Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, Conservative Thoughts, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, Right Celebrity, Faultline USA, , Blue Star Chronicles, The Pink Flamingo, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.