BB GUNS

When I was eight years old I got my first gun. It was a Daisy Red Ryder BB Gun: single action lever/single shot air rifle. Guns were common in our family, as was the healthy respect for them and the safety thereof. We had a gun safety class in our school in 5th grade besides the grilling my dad gave us. Teachers, kids, parents, etc. still had them in their gun racks when they came to school. "Zero Tolerance" applied to sissies-you weren't allowed to be one. Not that owning, carrying or knowing how to use a gun made you "unsissified", it wasn't even really paid attention to. It was as natural as the smoking area or the bus rides to school.

My father owned many guns (and still does) not out of any loyalty to the second amendment or fear of government power (which he had anyway) but for groundhogs, wild dogs, birds, rabbits, and rabid raccoons or foxes. An occasional deer was "harvested" but not out of any sport. When we ceased to NEED the venison, he ceased hunting. Besides, it was getting dangerous out there in the woods anymore during hunting season. Another by product of overpopulation in my opinion-- not of deer but of HUMANS. He did occasionally shoot over the heads of drunken teenagers who were smashing our mailbox. (Now mailbox baseball should be another subject of discussion ... a federal offense yes, but when you catch one with the sweet spot: ooo-la la)

Shooting THINGS is fun. Have you ever shot a cinderblock with a Mauser? Have you ever shot a gallon milk jug filled with water with a 4.10 shotgun? Have you ever shot a TELEVISION??? I had a friend who shot apart a whole house trailer with a 10 gauge. It took him all freakin' summer, but what a sense of accomplishment!

I'm not looking for a race war, or my government to come "pry it out of my cold, dead fingers", I'm looking to make some noise and smell gun oil. I'm listening to the sound of cold polished steel slide back and forth into place with precision. I'm looking for a good grouping of shots in case Mr. Intruder ever visits me.

But for now I have the Red Ryder. I have a BB range set up in the back yard, much to the chagrin of my wife. But it's tastefully done. There is an answering machine that's fun to shoot, an alarm clock, numerous beer cans, a Mickey mouse doll (he squeeeeaaaaks when you hit him in the chest), various downloaded pictures of people I HATE, and a Wisconsin license plate.(Don't worry all you inhabitors of the Dairy Air state - when a BB hits that thing it bounces back at you with about as much velocity as it left the muzzle - AND THAT AINT MUCH! You generally have time to shield your eyes.) The worst I do with my Red Ryder is hit squirrels in the ass when they climb all over the wife's birdfeeders. It's useful and respected.

Unless you've tried it, you can not know the Zen relaxation of shooting at aluminum cans for hours on end. Thinking and shooting. Thinking and shooting. Thinking and shooting.
So, keep your muzzle pointed a safe direction, know your background, treat EVERY BB gun as if its loaded, and you won't put your eye out....