The Saturday Morning Post: Touching the Third Rail

Oh I know I am going to frighten and piss off some people with this post.  I generally stay away from politics, religion, and guns.  People are frightened and angered by all three (pissed off = angered in American English.) 

Bob posted about a politician who keeps lying about how he was shot.  Was it in a war zone, or the tale he told to the police when he was being investigated for discharging a firearm in a national park.  He told the police that the handgun discharged when he dropped it while loading it. That is possible, though unlikely. A single action revolver would be most likely to have that happen if he was being careless in handling it while loading or unloading it.  Pistols are much safer, and it is nearly impossible for them to accidentally fire, throw them around all you want, drive over them with a car, and they are unlikely to fire.  

I seldom talk about this, I am a gun owner.  My grandparents gave me a semi-automatic rifle when I was a teenager, I still have it.  I spent many hours as a teenager shooting target practice.  

When I was in my 40's my father gave me his colt-revolver.  I had grown up with it in a locked box in the hall closet. A few times a year it would come out for target practice, a cleaning, then be locked away again.  I think I fired it once, before he gave it to me.  

When he gave it to me, I went to a professional indoor range owned and operated by a couple of retired police officers, and hired a professional instructor to show me how to handle it safely.  The Colt was an old design, single action revolver, a design that has been around since the 1850's.  You have to be very-very careful if it is loaded and "half cocked" and you wish to not have it fire, if you carelessly drop it at that point, it could fire accidently if it landed just the wrong way.  The instructor meticulously showed me, and had me practice how to safely do that with the gun unloaded, and was explicit in how to only do that under controlled circumstances so that if an accident happened no one and nothing would be hurt. Then we spent a couple hours on the range firing line practicing what I had learned.  

I went back to that instructor when I bought my first pistol.  He was pleased that I was moving to something modern, and spent time showing me how to handle it safely, and how to safely unload and clear the chamber.  You never pick up a firearm without verifying that the chamber is clear - NEVER. You NEVER point a gun at anything you are not prepared to make a big hole in.    

No one should handle firearms without that kind of training, and without the instructor signing off that the person has the skills and judgement to safely handle the firearm.  It was not required, I did it because I knew I didn't know what I was doing and wanted to do it safely. I live in a state that does not license or register guns.  I never have lived in a state that does.  

I enjoy target shooting, though it has been several years since I last went to a range.  Why do I own them? Because I do.  I have enjoyed them over the years. There is no real need or justification other than I do because I can.  Kind of like why do I own cameras. 

The Colt is a family heirloom, it has been passed onto a family member, with the instruction to go hire an instructor before putting ammunition into it for the first time. 

A friend of mine lives alone in a rural part of appalachia.  His father gave him a loaded revolver to keep next to his bed.  He has no idea how it works, he has never fired one, never loaded or unloaded one, that is how people die. I have urged him to hire an instructor, or contact the local police and say, "would you please come take this thing away."  

No one should handle guns, without careful instruction and good judgement.  People who lack good judgement, should never be allowed near guns.  

The idiot politician is either a liar, or careless, or more likely both. His actions and words show that he lacks the character needed to handle firearms and shouldn't be allowed near them.