Today, the fourth in the Celebrate days in this Lenten Photo Challenge, I will celebrate a thing and the people that enjoy that thing. It is not really a thing, it is a tool. The humble gun.
Left alone to itself, the gun is a harmless piece of metal that is in no way harmful or evil or dangerous. That only happens when people who have poor handling or training in the operation of a gun, or they have evil in their hearts. Guns, by themselves are not dangerous. Only people are dangerous. And people who are unsettled, evil, untrained, and yes, overly confident are more dangerous with guns. They are simply tools, just like a shovel, a hammer, a car.
I have a fair number of guns... more than I need, but fewer than I want. Guns are a real investment. Rarely do they decrease in value so when you buy them, you can make your money back or more. But that is not what I want to talk about.
I have been shooting since my father taught me when I was about 7 or 8 years old. It was with a bb gun. He made sure I knew what was the right way and wrong way to use and operate it. How to take care of it. He let me care and clean his few guns that he had and when I was 10, maybe 11, he let me buy my first .22 caliber Marlin bolt action rifle. I still have that gun. It is my favorite gun of all time. I can shoot the nuts off of a gnat with that little rifle.
Since then I have purchased many more guns and I have brought my children up to be respectful, careful, and confident around them. My son shot his first gun when he was 6. He has not stopped shooting since. He has surpassed me in knowledge, training and skill with guns. He is working at a shooting range and is a range safety monitor and will most likely make a career with something revolving around guns.
My daughter is also a shooter. I bought her a .22 caliber revolver for her 14th birthday and for her 16th birthday she received a 12 gauge shotgun. She is a member of the high school trap shooting team and her time shooting guns has given her a confidence that some young girls cannot get.
My wife, who shot a little bit when she was a young girl, was not brought up in a family or culture of guns. However, being married to me, she was eventually going to be exposed to them. Not afraid them, she was not confident around them and maybe just a little bit scared around them. I set out to change that and now my wife has four guns of her own. Her skills improve all of the time and she is definitely confident and safe shooter and quite a good shot, especially with a shotgun.
Not all of my friends shoot guns. But the majority of them do and more and more of them are becoming shooters. The time we spend together shooting guns has created wonderful memories, because it is not the shooting that is the memory, it is the time we spend together at the range, talking, sharing our knowledge and generally becoming closer to one another through the hobby of target shooting. They are people I feel I can depend on.
Today I spent time with my my wife, my son and his girlfriend, and three other lady shooters and while we only spent an hour shooting, it was a really great time. I really love to celebrate the gun culture and those responsible people who are part of it, and they are the ones I "celebrate" today!
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