Guns Don't Kill

I recently bought a gun. I have never owned, nor even shot a gun. Honestly I am not sure I have even been around a gun being shot outside of a few BB guns when I was a kid. We looked at several guns  and decided that a .22 would be a good learning gun. For some reason we never really wanted a gun as I was growing up, but we now feel it is not a bad item to own.

We looked at a few of the .22 hand guns and finally decided on getting the Ruger SR22. It had some of the best reviews in the caliber and was on sale which put it right into the range of my pocket.

My gun. Picture courtesy of Ruger.com

We bought a few rounds of ammo, and began to learn about gun safety and proper usage. I wanted to just take the gun and begin shooting. So many years of playing video games and watching movies I knew all I needed to know. Turns out they do teach you a lot of it, but not all. I learned a bit more, talked to people who have shot for a while, even talked to people from the military. I feel confident I will not shoot my toes off nor anyone's face. Well, I still might do the last, but at least it will be with confidence and in self-defense. (This is a complete joke, anyone that knows me, I am an angry pacifist (quick to anger but I hate to fight) but I realize the need for means of defense of my family, friends, myself and the liberties our ancestors fought so hard for.)

I am proud to be among the owners of guns. When I look at the gun, I smile. It is small, but it feels nice in my hands, and in a way, is a beautiful piece of equipment. When I am holding it, I feel.... different. I do not know the words I should use, but there is a difference I feel. As I get older, I believe all people should learn to use guns. Each family should own at least one and be taught respect and responsibility. But that will never happen because there are people that think guns are not safe. Those are also probably the people who think it is wrong to discipline their children, but I am not writing this to complain about things, or say who is wrong or right, frankly I don't care about their opinions on guns since that is THEIR opinion and they are entitled to it. (As long as they acknowledge that I am entitled to my own as well.)

I asked my friend to describe how he feels while holding a gun, he told me:

"Honestly I view a gun as a tool, so helpful would be my words of choice."

Greg is a Marine and a good friend. I think his helpful comment is a very good way to describe it. Guns are tools and I think any actual tool, hammer, screwdriver, saw, car, muscles, even nail clippers, when given to someone who would will harm on others, can be a weapon. I do not view owning a gun as owning a weapon, it is a tool like any other. Carpenters use their hammers for a living, the military uses guns for a living. They are tools, when used in the proper manner, can build us the amazing world we live in. When used wrong, they bring us untold amounts of pain. I will not go into what is right and wrong. That is outside of the scope of the blog. I just wanted to talk about my excitement at buying a gun.

I am looking forward to the learning of using the gun as a tool to keep everything I hold dear safe. Guns are such a hot topic right now but I just wanted to talk about the excitement involved with them as well. I look forward to buying more of them, different styles and sizes and learning them as well.

I am going to end this blog here, because my mind is beginning to wander into freedom and what that means to me and what so many are displaying as what it means to them. So thanks for reading.