It's funny. As I get older, and maybe gain a little more perspective, sometimes I look at things differently. I am grateful for my life with firearms.
Seems so many threads touting the benefits of firearms, how they prevent crime, prevent government tyranny, etc., decrying the efforts of the "Controllers". All of these threads seem to me today to share an aspect in common: the this/that, us/them, type of foundation. Sometimes I tire of the debate which has been framed in terms which themselves direct the conclusions.
Here lately, I marvel in myself, subjectively, the sheer joy of firearms. I feel great happiness with guns. Each one is a marvel of engineering. The mechanisms, the materials, the heft, all of these to me have become very satisfying. I smile when I examine firearms, ammunition, these things. How much I enjoy reading of people's experience "in the field," the prospect of maybe buying a new rifle, thinking through options... again it is not a subject of should I / Shouldn't I, or with any concern whatsoever to what these extraneous arguments of "need" of firearms imply, but solely based on the connection I feel with a deeply blued, walnut stocked, firearm.
And I control these mechanical items, they do not control me. The jabs and insults and insinuations of the Controllers become laughable, pitiable cries of futility, based in ignorance.
The act of shooting is become for me, when I pay attention, almost a Zen state of oneness. The joy and solidity I feel is its own reward. It is as though my mind guides the projectile to the target, not the mechanics of burning powder, aerial flight, etc.
It is a wonderful aspect of firearms ownership and shooting which, in the moment, eclipses the oft debated aspects of guns. The same debate which we all know has been framed by the "Controllers," in such a way as to put us on our heels. The debate becomes mindless babble, distraction, when I take the time to experience why firearms ownership is important to me.
So, in these troubling times for the firearms community, I find it is helpful to me to experience this joy, remember my hunting experiences, my shooting experiences, and know "this is good."
Seems so many threads touting the benefits of firearms, how they prevent crime, prevent government tyranny, etc., decrying the efforts of the "Controllers". All of these threads seem to me today to share an aspect in common: the this/that, us/them, type of foundation. Sometimes I tire of the debate which has been framed in terms which themselves direct the conclusions.
Here lately, I marvel in myself, subjectively, the sheer joy of firearms. I feel great happiness with guns. Each one is a marvel of engineering. The mechanisms, the materials, the heft, all of these to me have become very satisfying. I smile when I examine firearms, ammunition, these things. How much I enjoy reading of people's experience "in the field," the prospect of maybe buying a new rifle, thinking through options... again it is not a subject of should I / Shouldn't I, or with any concern whatsoever to what these extraneous arguments of "need" of firearms imply, but solely based on the connection I feel with a deeply blued, walnut stocked, firearm.
And I control these mechanical items, they do not control me. The jabs and insults and insinuations of the Controllers become laughable, pitiable cries of futility, based in ignorance.
The act of shooting is become for me, when I pay attention, almost a Zen state of oneness. The joy and solidity I feel is its own reward. It is as though my mind guides the projectile to the target, not the mechanics of burning powder, aerial flight, etc.
It is a wonderful aspect of firearms ownership and shooting which, in the moment, eclipses the oft debated aspects of guns. The same debate which we all know has been framed by the "Controllers," in such a way as to put us on our heels. The debate becomes mindless babble, distraction, when I take the time to experience why firearms ownership is important to me.
So, in these troubling times for the firearms community, I find it is helpful to me to experience this joy, remember my hunting experiences, my shooting experiences, and know "this is good."
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