More than a Gun

JPFO ^ | 2002 | Michelle Nevada

[SJackson]

I went out into the hills yesterday with a friend. We were going to look at some property that he was thinking about buying, but we also brought a gun so that we could do some target shooting. The land here is vast, and there are a lot of places someone can go to do almost anything, including shooting a gun. This time it was a shotgun, an all-purpose double-barreled shot gun, which is a great weapon for protection. You never know what you might need to protect yourself from out here--sometimes a threat walks on four legs, and sometimes it walks on two--but you have to be prepared, especially when you live a distance away from a city. So, a lot of mye friends go into the mountains to shoot and stay prepared for anything that may come up.

I know we are probably the butt of many jokes by those who don't have guns. They call us "fanatics" and they say we are paranoid. They feel safe in their world, and can't imagine why someone would want a gun. I know this because I used to be one of them. When I heard the crack of a gunshot across the valley before I owned guns, I would shake my head and say to myself, "guns are not the answer." I was right, of course. Now I know that it is not the gun, but what the gun represents, that provides the answer.

I haven't had guns that long. I remember only a year ago, when the neighbor's dog killed my turkeys, and I yelled over the back fence at them, "If I see that dog on my property again, I'll shoot it!"

My eldest son, who was with me, sheepishly whispered in my ear, "With what, Mom? A rubber band?"

I used to say that I would never have a gun in my house as long as I had children in my house, but the change came over me when I realized, late one night, that I would be powerless to protect my children if I didn't have a gun. Yes, there is a phone, but the line could be cut. Yes, I have neighbors, but who knows if they would hear me? Yes, I have a wonderful, loyal, and extremely scary dog, but she, G-d forbid, could be shot. There is no greater fear, for a parent, than not being able to protect your children. So, being the last person in the entire geographic area to admit I finally needed a gun, it wasn't long before everyone I knew was ready to take me shooting and bring me into the fold of gun ownership. It was as if a great relief had swept over them all, "She finally got a gun!" they said to each other in triumph.

I guess it wasn't that hard of a change for me, really. My mother has always had a loaded gun ready, my sisters have always "packed heat," and my brother used to take me shooting when I was small. I grew up firing one gun and another as a child . . . but I had never made the effort, as an adult, to own a gun until now.

So, now I have guns, and realize that it was crazy not to have them. My friends and my family were right. Here I am, a Jew in the middle of nowhere. Any wacko could find me and decide to conduct their own personal pogrom, right? When everyone around you has a gun, you really need one--and the biggest, loudest, most powerful gun you can safely use. My gun is deterrent, not attack. My gun is protection, not aggression, and I am glad I have it because it represents something deep within me that has finally come to the surface in recent months: I am not safe. One might think that this feeling is a type of surrender to fear or a painful revelation, but it isn't either of those: it is empowerment. Let me explain.

When I went to Israel, I was feeling very much at home with the guns on everyone's belts and in everyone's cars. When we walked around in the Shomron, my friend from New York asked me, "Don't all these guns make you feel nervous?"

I said, "No. I feel like I am at home, and I feel safe." Well, safer than most places. I knew there was danger, sure; but at least the people around me were ready. I just wished I could have been carrying a gun as well. She shook her head at me with a look of disbelief on her face.

We returned to the conversation when she and I were walking in the streets of Tel Aviv a few days later. "I don't feel safe here," she said.

"I felt a lot safer in Sumaria," I answered. "Tel Aviv is too big. It makes me nervous."

"I mean, I don't feel safe in Israel," she added.

I had never felt safer anywhere in my life than in Israel. "Where do you live now?" I asked.

"New York."

"And you feel safe there?" I asked.

"Yes. I know that someone won't be trying to attack me there."

"Really?" I let the high pitch of the last syllable hang in the air, then I walked in silence. We walked for a long time without saying anything.

"I guess I am not safe there, am I?" she said.

"A Jew isn't safe anywhere," I said. "If you think you are safe somewhere, then you are in even more danger. I feel safer when I am around people who are clear about the fact that they aren't safe. At least they are ready to defend themselves. They have thought about the fact that they might be a target, and what to do if they are. I don't want to be around people who haven't thought about that," I admitted.

It is funny how, a lot of the time, you don't really understand how you feel about something until you explain it to someone else. At that moment, I finally understood what the feeling of finally having a gun really meant to me: it meant that I had thought about what might happen; it meant that I had a plan; it meant that I had decided to survive.

So now, when I hear the crack of a gunshot ring out across my valley, or when I hear that a friend who has never had a gun has finally bought one, I don't mourn. I don't think to myself, "That poor person has finally given in to fear," and I don't think that they are paranoid or crazy. I am swept with relief. "They have finally bought a gun," I say in triumph. I realize the gun represents something greater than it is, and that person has moved from hiding and denying--to planning. They have thought about things, they have planned, and they have decided to survive.

[SJackson]

*bang_list

[SJackson]

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[Billthedrill]

...it is empowerment.

Nothing so empowers a woman - or a man - as the means of self-defense and the determination to use it at need.

[mvpel]

For my mother-in-law.

[stevie_d_64]

Shhhhhh, this is all a big secret!

Don't tell anyone!

[sarcasm mode off]

Later,
Steve

[billhilly]

"Yes, there is a phone, but the line could be cut"

Not on a cordless phone, the current standard! But, Hey! Bust some caps.Justify your every move or intention.

Maybe you could just shut up and leave everyone guessing.

[stevie_d_64]

Bravo!!!

Now if I could only get this idea through mother...hmmmm...

Later,
Steve

[TheBattman]

bumping for later.

[Salem]

"...I realize the gun represents something greater than it is, and that person has moved from hiding and denying--to planning. They have thought about things, they have planned, and they have decided to survive."

The "settlers" in Samaria are oft portrayed in the press as "well armed." Always reminds me of the early Americans that settled the West. Tough lot of people who helped make this nation what it is.

If you'd like to be on or off this
Christian Supporters of Israel ping list,
please FR mail me. ~
    
There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had
spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass. (Joshua 21:45)
Letter To The President In Support Of Israel ~
'Final Solution,' Phase 2 ~

[mvpel]

[SJackson]

"Yes, there is a phone, but the line could be cut"...Not on a cordless phone, the current standard! But, Hey! Bust some caps.Justify your every move or intention...Maybe you could just shut up and leave everyone guessing.

I may be missing your point.

Forget Michelle for a moment.

I spend a lot of my time in a 30 minute response area where, well, if I had a "cordless phone" (doesn't everyone?-no, we don't all have wireline), it might work, but I don't , and the cell is phone is a 30% proposition at best.

What is your point?

[SJackson]

The "settlers" in Samaria are oft portrayed in the press as "well armed." Always reminds me of the early Americans that settled the West. Tough lot of people who helped make this nation what it is.

Right. Settlers. Pioneers.

How did that ever get to be a bad thing?

[cpdiii]

"They have thought about things, they have planned, and they have decided to survive."

The last sentence above was the best part of the post.

[Tunehead54]

Bookmark bump for the wife too! ;-)

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[GeronL]

wow. some people are hard to convince and some are easy. This one seems to have been easy.

[Travis McGee]

Only the police and military need guns, everybody knows that.

[GeronL]

I know. I know.

I am still working on that laser pulse rifle... I am trying to draw one as a first step.

[supercat]

Not on a cordless phone, the current standard!

Jamming a typical mobile phone isn't terribly difficult.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

What is the problem with having a gun if you use it only to protect yourself?

[o_zarkman44]

yeah, a cordless phone does have a wire to the reciever. You know, the wire that runs from the box on the outside of your house? The one that can be cut without your knowledge. While the cops are eating jelly donuts 3 blocks away. They dont respond until someone has been victimized.
Duh!

Self defense is a PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Nobody can be more prepared to defend you than yourself.
Do not resist oh sheeple. Big brother will save us from our evil selves only as long as we are of use to him.

[ezoeni]

as long as Im alive there will be a fighter to stop those images that you post

[Valin]

A gun is a thing, an inanimate object. If someone could explain to me just how a thing can be evil I'd be ever so grateful.

[Travis McGee]

You and me both, my friend.

[Yehuda]

bump to you both.

[Quix]

YUP.

[stevie_d_64]

I know it might be a stretch...But I got to thinking...

"Oh crap...Steve's thinking again!!!"

But anyway...With all this talk about Weapons of Mass Destruction and specific types of weapons, (i.e.: Nuclear, Chemical, Biological etc etc...The same ole tried and true stuff)...

If we were to consider that "genocide" or "Ethnic Cleansing" being a type of Mass Destruction...

Could we say that the mass graves and other evidence of the mass killings that we have seen lately in Bosnia (Balkans) and Iraq qualify as a need to go in a police that situation up...Like we have done so far???

We kinda blew it in WW2 with the atrocities that were rumored, and then confirmed after we invaded and started clearing out the mess...I believe it was denial from the general public on the allies side, that maybe people thought it was inconceivable, that something like that could have occured...And whats amazing is that some segments of population, nowadays, still believe it was all a hoax...

I never really needed any convincing that this kind of activity was going on in places like I just mentioned...And there are a few places I know I did not list...It just amazes me that it has to be something tangable, something visual, to make certain aspects of our population take note of why we should be compelled to take action against this type of lack of human decency and immorality...

And if being armed with the means to protect yourself or deter agendas similar to what is illustrated above does the trick...Why cant the obvious correlation be made by those who would agree or allow that moral right to preserve oneself be diminished, restricted or outright removed...

I wonder what kind of world it would be...

Actually, I do not struggle with this too much, because I am comfortable knowing what I am prepared to do if it (however unlikely) comes knocking at my door...

Later,
Steve

[Mulder]

Not on a cordless phone, the current standard! But, Hey! Bust some caps.Justify your every move or intention.

You can dial 911 on a phone which may or may not work.

Personally, I'll dial 45-ACP when confronted by a forcible felony.

[Dead Corpse]

I just ordered a box of 180 grain .357 for my S&W wheelie. Still looking for a pair of decent .40's to add to the collection. The wife kinda likes the Kimber Compact Stainless II in .40. Got my eye on a Ruger P944 for a new carry piece.

Yep. We've thought about it. No professional victims here...

[facedown]

Got my eye on a Ruger P944 for a new carry piece.

Go for it. You will have no regrets.

[Dead Corpse]

The only other one I've been looking at is the S&W 4003 Tactical. My father has one with Crimson Trace grips. Slick little machine. Feels good as well. Nice high backstrap with plenty of room for the over-sized paws I commonly call my hands.

I can get the Ruger for about half the price of the Smith though, and I'm still not over that whole fiasco with Clinton. Even if they are back under US ownership and have since repudiated the former agreement.

[facedown]

The more "refined" the machine, the more probability of malfunction. The 944 is a simple, no frills piece designed to do nothing other than throw lead.

I'm a wheelgun guy, but the only semi's I trust are Rugers.

[Travis McGee]

The world certainly missed the boat in Rwanda, which served as an object lesson in the uselessness of the UN to prevent such disasters. In the Balkans, international bodies were again useless, it too American leadership to break the status quo (agree or disagree with Clinton).

[Dead Corpse]

4003T is a well designed piece of ordnance. It was my fathers carry gun for his last couple years as a LEO. It is still his CCW gun.

The Magnum Research guns are good. Kimber has an excellent rep. I love my Tarus 92. Auto's aren't what they used to be.

"When in doubt, empty the clip."

Kinda hard to do that when you've only got six in the cylinder.

[billhilly]

" You can dial 911 on a phone which may or may not work.

Personally, I'll dial 45-ACP when confronted by a forcible felony."

Several people here have questioned my point, so please allow me to remake it with your post. I've owned and shot guns since I was a boy under ten years old. That covers over 55 years. I've been a member of the NRA for a long time. I spent a lot of years in the military. It is sickening to hear people boasting about what they will do under unknown circumstances. They don't know. I don't know. And more importantly, the bad guy doesn't know. When I suggest to braggarts that they just shut up and stop acting like kids whistling as they pass the graveyard, it is not without some understanding of the personalities behind the boasts.

[Mulder]

It is sickening to hear people boasting about what they will do under unknown circumstances.

So you find it "sickening" that people might actually defend themselves from a violent attack?

[Lurker]

My wife loves wheelguns, and I will never, ever trust my life to a semi-auto pistol not designed by John Moses Browning.

But then, I'm an old fashioned kind of guy.

L

[yarddog]

I like Browning guns also and you will never go wrong choosing one but there are others which are good too.

[Lurker]

I know there are some fine semi pistols on the market these days.

The Sigs are darn good ones. I just happen to be most used to my .45 Commander. I've had it for more than 15 years. I've put thousands of rounds through it and all I've ever had to do is replace the springs, a firing pin, and a slide release.

Once it got nice and broken in, it feeds everything I put in it just fine.

Mrs. L is partial to wheelguns. She has a 629 I don't think she would part with for any money and I just bought her one of those little titanium Taurus snubbys in .44 Spl. She likes that one a lot too.

Once I got the handloads dialed in for them, she can split a police silhoutte target in the head at 30 feet with either gun. That's not bad shooting for a 2" and a 4" barrel if you ask me.

Just my opinion. Everyone elses mileage will vary of course.

L

[yarddog]

I agree with you to a point. Still I suspect some braggarts would also turn out to be pretty good fighters.

I remember something my best friend's Father once told us. He said never corner a coward unless you are determined to fight. Just because he is a coward does not mean he can't be tough.

[yarddog]

I bought a Commander just about the same time you did only mine was used. It had the Colt electroless nickel finish, but had a little rust through the nickel on the grip saftey and front of the frame. Surprisingly nearly all the rust wiped off with a Remington blitz cloth.

It became one of my favorites too. Unfortunately I traded it off in one of my dumber moments. Probably my all time favorite is the Browning Hi-power mainly because of the great feeling grip and the ability to hit things with it.

[yarddog]

I like everything about the various Ruger high power auto's except for some reason they just don't fit my hand right.

I even bought one thinking I would eventually get used to it but never did. It always seemed like my finger was in some awkward position where I had no leverage.

[billhilly]

" So you find it "sickening" that people might actually defend themselves from a violent attack?"

No, in this case I find it sad that someone can have such a mindset that they cannot understand when a valid point is made.

You're damn right, you do have a right, indeed an obligation to defend yourself, your family, your property and your nation. You just don't need to make juvenile boasts about what you will do or when you will do them. I, for one, am not impressed.

[Mulder]

You just don't need to make juvenile boasts about what you will do or when you will do them. I, for one, am not impressed.

Well, "you being impressed", really isn't a requirement.

So we'll just have to leave it at that.

[billhilly]

And that is the way we will leave it.

[Lurker]

My Commander is stainless. I don't even think they make them anymore, but I could be wrong. I had a Hi-Power for years. I sold it to a friend of mine when he offered me more money than it was worth at the time. Since I've never been a huge fan of the 9mm cartridge, I parted with it.

Looking back, I wish I'd kept it.

Even if I was dead broke and starving, I don't think I'd part with my Commander. For some reason it just seems to fit me if you know what I mean.

I know there are other pistols made of more modern materials. I know there are other pistols that have larger magazine capacity than it does. I know there are lighter, smaller, and more concealable pistols out there. You know what? I don't care.

If one can love an inanimate object, I love my Commander. I intend to pass it on to my son someday.

I didn't mean to turn this thread into an Ode To The 1911 Commander, but IMO it's just about as close to perfection as one can come in this world.

I own a bunch of handguns and if I had to chose just one, that would be the one.

Take care there yarddog. Nice chatting with you.

Regards,

L

[blackbart.223]

If one picture is worth a thousand words this is worth three thousand words.

[Travis McGee]

Yep, those are some powerful images...

[GunnyB]

Ha! Awesome! "Dial 45-ACP"!!!!