03-27-2019, 08:51 AM
(03-26-2019, 11:41 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I am convinced that people who like to shoot things aren't divided by liberal/conservative, but by people who have already shot things/people who have not.
If you go plinking/clay shooting/etc even just once, I feel you will have an increased appreciation for the fun of it. Seems to me most of the people who hate guns/shooting have never fired a gun, didn't grow up around them, and their only experience about them are movies and news reports of crimes, are the ones who don't enjoy recreational shooting.
There is so much truth to this. Right now I am helping a candidate for our state legislature on policy issues. She's lived here about ten years at this point and is a pretty typical suburban mom type. Her husband is not outdoorsy, either. I don't think either one of them has handled a gun and she is a part of Mom's Demand Action and all that. Her opponent for the primary was born and raised around here. He got involved as a Bernie volunteer in the area (Bernie won, here). He gets to put on the good ol' boy look because he was raised out in the county. He grew up around the agricultural community and around the hunting and fishing (top ten in deer harvest each year, first in black bear harvest) and it shows not just in his community support but in the policies he focuses on.
My job with this candidate is to countrify her a little. One of the things I did was take her shooting. First time she ever held a gun. I did this with my wife years ago, as well. We shot a Ruger Mk II, a Ruger P95, a Remington 870, a Winchester '94, a Ruger 10/22, and a Remington 788. She had a blast. We talked about gun safety, what these are used for, and why they are an important part of this community. It gave her a better understanding of the issue because she got to see them as the tools they are. All of those (except the P95) are guns I've used for hunting. They've put meat on my table and the tables of many residents in the district she is wanting to represent. Not only that, but we had her husband and her son give it a try. I wasn't able to borrow something for the 4-year-old daughter, though. Anyway, it was a fun family activity that was done safely. So she got to see that side of things as well.
All that being said, I don't know if any of them will try a shotgun again because my 870 kicks like a mule.
"A great democracy has got to be progressive, or it will soon cease to be either great or a democracy..." - TR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." - FDR
