priv8ter
Member
Military Appretiation Day at the Mall. Cool! But...
So, today being my anniversary, of course, at 4:00 yesterday, I found myself heading to the mall to pick up some stuff for my wife.
Turns out the mall was pretty packed, and there were all kinds of booths set up for 'Military Appretiation Day.' Mostly there were groups of Marines or Sailors sitting there with cool pictures of what they did. But, the divers had their gear, and then, at the far end of the mall, a group of Marines had driven in a Humvee, and where letting kids climb all in it. They were even allowed to climb up inside, and sit behind the mounted machine gun, and swing it around, which was cool. Near here, the same group of Marines had a table set up with some weapons. AND they were letting folks fondle them! Now, this called for a closer look.
It was cool stuff. They had an M-14 set up on a bipod, with a manly looking scope on top. Then, they were passing around an M-4 with a Red-Dot scope on top. And, a very tactical looking Beretta, complete with a flash-light mounted under the barrel.
So, all this was very cool, watching these kids play with these weapons. But....THEY WERE POINTING THEM AT PEOPLE! AND THEIR FINGERS WERE ON THE TRIGGERS!
This kind of freaked me out. I mean, I was pretty sure that the Marines had done something to make the guns safe, but there was nothing you could see. It just kind of gave me the hebbie-jebbies. So, I approached a young corporal, and asked him what they did to make the guns safe for the kids.
Maybe it was the pink and white Victorias Secret bag in my hand(I HAD been shopping for my wife) but the Marine just kind of looked at me, gave me a barely noticable eye roll, and said, 'The firing mechanisims inside have been disabled'.
Ooooo.
I kind of let it go at that, but I still had goosebumps. In the minute or so I was standing there, I must have heard the slide on the Beretta get racked about a dozen times, while the gun was pointing every which direction. And, 'Disabled Firing Mechanisim' or not, there is something creepy about seeing a 12-year old test a Red Dot scope by tracking a mom and her kid in the mall with an M-4.
Maybe I'm just a wimp, but it kind of ruined what I thought was an otherwise cool Pro-Military event.
greg
So, today being my anniversary, of course, at 4:00 yesterday, I found myself heading to the mall to pick up some stuff for my wife.
Turns out the mall was pretty packed, and there were all kinds of booths set up for 'Military Appretiation Day.' Mostly there were groups of Marines or Sailors sitting there with cool pictures of what they did. But, the divers had their gear, and then, at the far end of the mall, a group of Marines had driven in a Humvee, and where letting kids climb all in it. They were even allowed to climb up inside, and sit behind the mounted machine gun, and swing it around, which was cool. Near here, the same group of Marines had a table set up with some weapons. AND they were letting folks fondle them! Now, this called for a closer look.
It was cool stuff. They had an M-14 set up on a bipod, with a manly looking scope on top. Then, they were passing around an M-4 with a Red-Dot scope on top. And, a very tactical looking Beretta, complete with a flash-light mounted under the barrel.
So, all this was very cool, watching these kids play with these weapons. But....THEY WERE POINTING THEM AT PEOPLE! AND THEIR FINGERS WERE ON THE TRIGGERS!
This kind of freaked me out. I mean, I was pretty sure that the Marines had done something to make the guns safe, but there was nothing you could see. It just kind of gave me the hebbie-jebbies. So, I approached a young corporal, and asked him what they did to make the guns safe for the kids.
Maybe it was the pink and white Victorias Secret bag in my hand(I HAD been shopping for my wife) but the Marine just kind of looked at me, gave me a barely noticable eye roll, and said, 'The firing mechanisims inside have been disabled'.
Ooooo.
I kind of let it go at that, but I still had goosebumps. In the minute or so I was standing there, I must have heard the slide on the Beretta get racked about a dozen times, while the gun was pointing every which direction. And, 'Disabled Firing Mechanisim' or not, there is something creepy about seeing a 12-year old test a Red Dot scope by tracking a mom and her kid in the mall with an M-4.
Maybe I'm just a wimp, but it kind of ruined what I thought was an otherwise cool Pro-Military event.
greg