Partisan Ranger
Member
From Theory to Practice
Until last year, I knew next to nothing about guns. I didn’t know the difference between single or double action, a 9mm from a .38 Special. I didn’t hunt, I didn’t shoot, and I hadn’t smelled Hoppes 9 since I was a teenager. But if you peeked in my wallet, you would find both NRA and GOA membership cards, and I probably gave $250 to pro-gun legislative efforts last year. Except for the utter lack of guns in my bedroom closet and practical gun experience in the last 15 years, I was a gun nut.
It was the politics of guns, however, and not the guns themselves that I was a nut about. Just as many college professors are naturally comfortable with communist and socialist ideas (ideas that don’t work thrive on college campuses where they never have to prove themselves), guns always fit snugly into the holster of my classical liberal political philosophy of personal liberty and self-reliance.
When I get to thinking about the role of guns in our society, a powerful image often comes to my mind: a Revolutionary War patriot with a flintlock musket in his right fist (actually, the cover art of a priceless book, Boston’s Gun Bible). I think of what that gun in those hands represents: our unique American independence guaranteed by the force of arms, our natural aversion to government tyranny, and our status as citizens, not subjects. I think of The Bill of Rights which limits the power of government, how it enumerates our God-given rights, and that the right to bear arms stands solemn sentry over all the others. That image of an armed American patriot always motivates me when I engage in rhetorical battle with those who would take our rights away.
After a particularly nasty argument with my favorite anti-gun bigot about concealed-carry, it began to dawn on me that a theoretical understanding of guns could only take me so far in the battle to retain our rights. How can you understand about the wonders of flying if you’ve never been in an airplane, or describe the taste of an apple pie if you’ve never tasted one? Or convey the importance of the 2nd Amendment to an anti-gun bigot if you never take a gun in your hands?
I decided that guns and I needed to get better acquainted. So I enrolled in the NRA Basic Pistol class. It was a good refresher for me. The morning portion of the class consisted of gun safety, gun safety, and oh yes, gun safety. In the afternoon, we got into shooting techniques, cleaning and maintenance, and the legal aspects of personal defense. We ended the day at the range with me making some nice 6 inch groups with my instructor’s .22. Interesting tidbit – more than half of the class were women. This would cause Sarah Brady shrieking fits, but I thought it was pretty cool.
With that experience under my belt, I bought my first gun, Kahr K-9 9mm. Reliable and built like a tank; the manual of arms for cleaning the K-9 said to ‘tap’ the slide pin out with a screwdriver handle. Yeah, right. I ‘tapped’ it out with a hammer.
Next was the range. I ran about 250 rounds through my K-9 on my first trip. I’d heard that a 9mm is marginal for self-defense purposes, but to a rookie gunner it seemed a handful. My NRA instructors taught me well; the 3 rules of gun safety were etched in my brain. My trigger finger sure took a beating, but it’s toughening up with practice.
Now I was on a roll. I went online and began to learn about guns from the experts – other gun owners, of course.
I peppered my favorite gun board, TheHighRoad.org, with the questions of a gun novice –
What do I need to clean and lube my gun? The answers were a fascinating jumble of years of accumulated gun experience from dozens of enthusiastic gun owners. Hoppes solvent, Q-tips, Mobile synthetic motor oil, Bore Snake, Miltec, CHP, old toothbrush, cleaning rod, patches and more patches.
When I carry my K-9 concealed, should I keep a round in the chamber? This was a hot debate. Some insisted that carrying a round in a DAO action gun is dangerous, but plenty disagreed. They pointed out that the Kahr has a heavy trigger pull and that relying on a gun’s safety mechanism is a bad idea, in any case. My favorite bit of advice on this subject, “If you don’t carry a round in the chamber, you better buy a bigger gun because the only thing it’ll be good for in a self-defense situation is as a club.â€
Which 9mm ammo for self-defense? After first sorting out the differences between full metal jacket ‘ball’ ammo and hollow point, the disadvantages of high grain ammo for 9mm (low velocity) and a lot more, my tally of the results indicated that Cor Bon +P 115 gr hollow point was the hands-down winner, with a 90%+ 1 shot stop ratio.
Is buying ammo at Wal-mart ‘socially acceptable’ in gun circles? This was another raging topic. Many said that buying where ammo is cheapest makes sense (I agree with them). Others stressed the importance of supporting local gun shops and NOT supporting Wal-Mart, which no longer sells handguns and is lukewarm on gun rights. The mothers in the checkout line tend to stare when you purchase 1,000 rounds of .40 S&W, too.
Through this combination of practical experience and asking a lot of questions, I’m getting a better understanding of the gun issue. Before, I could respond only on an intellectual level to the stupidity of many gun control laws. Now I can speak from experience. It’s easy for me to see, for example, why we need ‘high capacity’ magazines. In a self-defense situation, more is better. Hitting a moving target at 7 yards isn’t easy.
I still have a ways to go, but at least now when I think of that American patriot, I have some idea of not only why he has that gun, but what he can do with it.
Until last year, I knew next to nothing about guns. I didn’t know the difference between single or double action, a 9mm from a .38 Special. I didn’t hunt, I didn’t shoot, and I hadn’t smelled Hoppes 9 since I was a teenager. But if you peeked in my wallet, you would find both NRA and GOA membership cards, and I probably gave $250 to pro-gun legislative efforts last year. Except for the utter lack of guns in my bedroom closet and practical gun experience in the last 15 years, I was a gun nut.
It was the politics of guns, however, and not the guns themselves that I was a nut about. Just as many college professors are naturally comfortable with communist and socialist ideas (ideas that don’t work thrive on college campuses where they never have to prove themselves), guns always fit snugly into the holster of my classical liberal political philosophy of personal liberty and self-reliance.
When I get to thinking about the role of guns in our society, a powerful image often comes to my mind: a Revolutionary War patriot with a flintlock musket in his right fist (actually, the cover art of a priceless book, Boston’s Gun Bible). I think of what that gun in those hands represents: our unique American independence guaranteed by the force of arms, our natural aversion to government tyranny, and our status as citizens, not subjects. I think of The Bill of Rights which limits the power of government, how it enumerates our God-given rights, and that the right to bear arms stands solemn sentry over all the others. That image of an armed American patriot always motivates me when I engage in rhetorical battle with those who would take our rights away.
After a particularly nasty argument with my favorite anti-gun bigot about concealed-carry, it began to dawn on me that a theoretical understanding of guns could only take me so far in the battle to retain our rights. How can you understand about the wonders of flying if you’ve never been in an airplane, or describe the taste of an apple pie if you’ve never tasted one? Or convey the importance of the 2nd Amendment to an anti-gun bigot if you never take a gun in your hands?
I decided that guns and I needed to get better acquainted. So I enrolled in the NRA Basic Pistol class. It was a good refresher for me. The morning portion of the class consisted of gun safety, gun safety, and oh yes, gun safety. In the afternoon, we got into shooting techniques, cleaning and maintenance, and the legal aspects of personal defense. We ended the day at the range with me making some nice 6 inch groups with my instructor’s .22. Interesting tidbit – more than half of the class were women. This would cause Sarah Brady shrieking fits, but I thought it was pretty cool.
With that experience under my belt, I bought my first gun, Kahr K-9 9mm. Reliable and built like a tank; the manual of arms for cleaning the K-9 said to ‘tap’ the slide pin out with a screwdriver handle. Yeah, right. I ‘tapped’ it out with a hammer.
Next was the range. I ran about 250 rounds through my K-9 on my first trip. I’d heard that a 9mm is marginal for self-defense purposes, but to a rookie gunner it seemed a handful. My NRA instructors taught me well; the 3 rules of gun safety were etched in my brain. My trigger finger sure took a beating, but it’s toughening up with practice.
Now I was on a roll. I went online and began to learn about guns from the experts – other gun owners, of course.
I peppered my favorite gun board, TheHighRoad.org, with the questions of a gun novice –
What do I need to clean and lube my gun? The answers were a fascinating jumble of years of accumulated gun experience from dozens of enthusiastic gun owners. Hoppes solvent, Q-tips, Mobile synthetic motor oil, Bore Snake, Miltec, CHP, old toothbrush, cleaning rod, patches and more patches.
When I carry my K-9 concealed, should I keep a round in the chamber? This was a hot debate. Some insisted that carrying a round in a DAO action gun is dangerous, but plenty disagreed. They pointed out that the Kahr has a heavy trigger pull and that relying on a gun’s safety mechanism is a bad idea, in any case. My favorite bit of advice on this subject, “If you don’t carry a round in the chamber, you better buy a bigger gun because the only thing it’ll be good for in a self-defense situation is as a club.â€
Which 9mm ammo for self-defense? After first sorting out the differences between full metal jacket ‘ball’ ammo and hollow point, the disadvantages of high grain ammo for 9mm (low velocity) and a lot more, my tally of the results indicated that Cor Bon +P 115 gr hollow point was the hands-down winner, with a 90%+ 1 shot stop ratio.
Is buying ammo at Wal-mart ‘socially acceptable’ in gun circles? This was another raging topic. Many said that buying where ammo is cheapest makes sense (I agree with them). Others stressed the importance of supporting local gun shops and NOT supporting Wal-Mart, which no longer sells handguns and is lukewarm on gun rights. The mothers in the checkout line tend to stare when you purchase 1,000 rounds of .40 S&W, too.
Through this combination of practical experience and asking a lot of questions, I’m getting a better understanding of the gun issue. Before, I could respond only on an intellectual level to the stupidity of many gun control laws. Now I can speak from experience. It’s easy for me to see, for example, why we need ‘high capacity’ magazines. In a self-defense situation, more is better. Hitting a moving target at 7 yards isn’t easy.
I still have a ways to go, but at least now when I think of that American patriot, I have some idea of not only why he has that gun, but what he can do with it.
