Son,
By the time you read this, you will likely have been given my pellet rifle, and probably my old .22 rifle. I got a version of this same pellet rifle when I was 6 (it was the 1776 commemorative issue when I got mine) and the .22 I got when I was 8. It came with lessons in responsibility, safety and common sense, but most of all it came with a little fear - which in the case of a firearm is a good idea. Hopefully, as you read this, you will look back on our times target shooting - the patience, the skill, the perfect shot - and you will have come away with some basic lessons, like -
- Never point it at anything you aren't willing to destroy
- Always treat a firearm like it is loaded, even when you are 99% sure it isn't
- Once the bullet is fired, you can never, ever put it back and you can never repair what it destroys.
But on the other hand, there is nothing like the power, the adrenaline, and the release of firing a weapon. The skill it takes to hit targets; the power of holding a controlled explosion - All of it pretty much develops a confidence which few other events can develop. You truly hold life and death in your hands and it is a power and responsibility which should never be taken lightly.
In our country we have the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution of these United States. In it, it attempts to preserve the right to keep and bear arms, a phrase consistently abused, stretched and tormented by the gun lobby and the manufacturers, as well as a few extreme members of our society. Over the years, regulators have tried to take away rights, limit rights and even take guns from the hands of their owners. While I suspect they will never accomplish this, a few extremists went over the top and placed these rights onto a slippery slope into a shredder by being foolish in the eyes of the international press, and the local anti-gun lobbyist.
During a recent "Town Hall Meeting" - Republican speak for opportunity to scream and Liberal speak for chance to spin the truth, members of the Arizona community came to the meeting armed - carrying assault rifles slung over their shoulder. This was done under Arizona's Open Carry law which permits residents of the state to carry a loaded firearm in the open, without being concealed. I suppose the logic is that the bearer of the weapon is letting everyone know he is carrying so others can leave him alone. I can find only a half dozen lessons here for you to take away with you.
First, remember this - Just because you have a right, doesn't mean you have to exercise it. People who abuse these privileges mock the very purpose behind the law. I suspect that the intent of this law was to help farmers who were trying to deter coyotes from taking livestock, and it has been bastardized to this purpose
Second, if you are the strongest man on the beach, someone will try and test you. Similarly the guy with the assault rifle is only a bad day away from someone trying to take it from him. And any fool who wears a shiny assault rifle on his shoulder is sure to have it taken from him.
Third, firearms kill indiscriminately. Combustion, velocity, friction, momentum, and a variety of factors weigh in to determine where the round goes after it leaves the chamber. Carrying an assault rifle in public is not for self-defense - It is a show. And if that carrier shoots someone in a crowd, they will likely kill the person behind the target. Remember, you cannot control where the bullet stops, and who it kills along the way.
Last, and most importantly, our founding fathers felt reasonable men (and women) could arrive at a conclusion through open discourse. The 2nd Amendment was not designed to end arguments. Bringing a firearm to open debate closes the discussion through fear - exactly the type of despotic influence we have fought since 1774, and which we shall always continue to fight. Tyranny through force is never the solution, especially within our own borders. And for this reason, these extremists have placed our collective rights in jeopardy through their abuse of rights.
I hope this is valuable, and I hope someday, you will look at your son, across the range, knocking holes out of the 10-ring while you teach him these same lessons of responsibility. Know that our nation was founded on certain beliefs and we must sustain these without distortion and abuse.
