Community for asking and answering any question related to the life, the people or anything related to the USA. Non-US people are welcome to provide their perspective! Please keep in mind:
No, cause I'm french and the only time I see guns is where there are military or police on patrol.
However, I did some air rifle when I was younger and it happen the club I was in had an ex olympic champion as member. He let me tried its olympic air rifle. Smth like this:
Such beautiful piece of machining ! But I didn't shoot better with it π
There's a fascist uprising in my country. Not only do I own multiple guns, I'm getting in shape and training with them.
I appreciate that there is a strong uptick in diversity at a local range I frequent.
Yes. I really can't understand why anyone watching the rise of fascists would still be anti gun.
It's funny that the people that spent the past few decades screaming that the 2A is meant to protect from a corrupt government aren't picking up their guns but cheering and voting for the corruption instead...
You can't expect political opponents to do the hard work for you, whether it's protesting, press, or 2A stuff
All citizens have access to the same things. Someone might live in a state with restrictions, but that can be seen as a case of "you get what you vote for" too
I grew up in the American south and we had lots of guns when I was a kid. Me and my dad would go out target shooting on weekends and I always thought it was fun. As an adult I haven't really kept up with it. After my dad passed away I just kind of lost interest. I have a few of those old handguns and rifles still but they just stay locked up in a cabinet at the back of my closet now.
It was pretty much just always something fun I got to do with my dad.
Remember that guns that haven't been used for a long time will usually benefit from a clean and re-oil in order to work smoothly ... should you feel the urge to freshen up your skills in the current political climate.
Yes, fired a gun. Not really my thing but I can understand the appeal.
What really took me away from it is the finality that taking a life brings to it. I was 13 and was shooting around at birds and clipped one to the point it flopped around the ground. My babysitter (I have two younger sisters) at the time didnβt want it to suffer and blew its brains out, of which some landed on me. It taught me a valuable lesson that day. Donβt shoot at something living unless you intend to kill.
In a way, I wish everyone who enjoys guns had a similar experience, I think theyβd have a lot more respect for them.
My grandpa taught me firearm safety and had the same lesson: "Dont point it at anything you dont intend to kill."
He also added a second point: βIf you shoot it, you kill it, clean it, and eat it. No shooting animals for fun"
It was kind of a joke but still is a good lesson. Taking a life (of an animal) should never be a trivial act, even if it is sometimes necessary or worthwhile. He was vocally very anti-poaching so if I'd actually killed an animal without the right tags he would have never let me hear the end of it.
The idea that killing humans is wrong didn't need to be stated explicitly.
Well, I've been shooting in one way or another damn near my entire life so far.
Air guns as a wee laddie, moving to small caliber rimfire, then eventually more sizable stuff as I aged into it, and showed responsibility.
Hand guns, long guns, and improvised guns of various sizes just because I wanted to see if I could.
I'm better with long guns overall, but better on iron sights with handguns. You give me a decent scope and time to dial it in, and I can hang in with low end pros most days. Not good enough to compete on a big scale, but I usually win local shoots, as long as my glasses are fairly new.
I've done training in various scenarios beyond sitting and putting holes in paper, though it's been years since I did any of that.
I've messed around with some cowboy shooting too, but it didn't stick. Dunno why, really, because I enjoy watching it, but trying it myself was just meh. I think it's harder to sink in and really get into the zone with that kind of thing, maybe. Didn't help that I was using borrowed gear tbh.
Despite that, I'm not really a "gun guy". I don't obsess over them, I don't memorize specs and details of everything. I have most of what I want already, and the only new purchases I plan to make are for stuff that's able to mount red dot optics. I'm past the point where it's fun to shoot with iron sights regularly, and I want lighter options for carry/home defense as well, so might as well shoot five birds with one bullet lol.
I've done some instruction, but I don't really like it. I'm supposedly decent at it, but I'm just repeating the stuff my grandfather taught me, so he's the one that's doing the job. But I'd rather not do it, if it isn't family. I keep getting suckered in though. Especially lately, but I'm on the injured list, so I've not been doing much of it.
Being real? I think it's something more people should try. Not because of any ideology or whatever, but because learning the basics is a really good way to develop patience, focus, and how to filter out what isn't important. The basics are a great way to make that happen because most people that haven't already tried it tend to take it pretty serious and not fuck around. So they treat it with more respect rather than as a hobby, or a chance to swing dick, both of which interfere with the mental side of shooting in the early stages.
This guy guns
I agree, especially about how it hones skills that are useful in life beyond hitting a target, but it's not flashy cool gun stuff so they can easily be overlooked. For me I really feel my mind working harder when running a bolt action or doing archery. I think it makes me slow down and make sure each shot counts.
There's a quote somewhere (I'll edit it in when I find it) that says something like "there is a connection between good citizenship and good marksmanship"
Edit: Here it is! It's a quote from Jeff Cooper "I have long had a tendency to tie marksmanship to morality. The essence of good marksmanship is self-control, and self-control is the essence of good citizenship. It is too easy to say that a good shot is automatically a good man, but it would be equally incorrect to ignore the connection."
I dig that quote.
One of the things my grandfather drilled into me that guns are a responsibility, not just a tool. You mess up with a hammer, you bust a thumb. You mess up with a rifle, someone can die.
Marksmanship, and the process of developing it, really is about self control. On so many levels, not just the obvious. Like, breathing. The way you do it, and when you hold it, syncing it up to your aim, then the control of how you squeeze the trigger.
If you can't control yourself with shooting, there's a pretty good chance you'll have trouble in other ways too. Conversely, shooting helps develop that awareness, the patience and self reflection, that makes for a solid person in general. Not that there aren't other ways to develop that, there are. But it's a pretty damn good option
Yes, the local gun range used to have a "ladies day" and we could get half off gun and lane rentals.