Jacqueline and I volunteered to promote 2nd Amendment rights at a gun show this weekend. The show is fairly small for the Phoenix metro area and it tends to have older guns and an older clientele. A family of ‘gun show tourists’ (non-gun owners) stopped at the table to talk to us, because we “looked normal” (our wookie suits had just been picked up from the cleaners). I looked around and saw nothing that looked abnormal, then I noticed the vendor across the aisle with a President Obama dressed as Hitler T-shirt. Ughh!
The sightseeing wife asked a ton of questions about guns, where to shoot, and how to pick out a gun. It was also clear that she was interested in protecting her family, and target shooting, and learning what-in-the-hell this gun culture thing is all about.
After talking to her about guns for at least five minutes, the woman finally noticed that we were both open carrying. I don’t know how anybody could miss the purple Elsie-nine on Jacqueline’s hip. As we talked about buying a gun, the conversation took a strange turn:
Woman: Do you actually own another gun?
Me: Yes, of course.
Jacqueline: We have a gun for each purpose.
Me: Different guns for different purposes.
Woman: Purposes? <BLINK!>
Me: Yes, it depends on what you want to do with a gun.
Woman: ????????????? <ZOT!!!>
Me: What do you want to do with a gun?
Woman: <Bug-eyed vapors! Bzzzt! ZOT!!!>
Me: Do you want a gun for target shooting? Hunting? Plinking soda cans in the desert? Long range rifle competition? A compact self-defense gun for concealed carry? Or a home defense gun?
Woman: (looking perplexed) I don’t know.
Me: That’s okay, figuring out what you want to do with a gun will help greatly in choosing the right gun. Give it some thought before you go shopping.
Jacqueline: While you’re here at the fun show, ask if you can pick up guns that you might be interested in buying. See how they fit in your hand and make sure you can reach the controls (slide release, magazine release, and trigger).
This back-and-forth went on for quite some time. We recommended she take her family to the Arizona Game & Fish Department Outdoor Expo to try different types of recreational shooting and guns, then take a NRA First Steps class, then go to a local indoor range on ladies night and try a variety of handguns until she found one she liked and worked well for her hand size, while fitting her intended use. Of course, she needs to practice with the gun to develop and maintain her skills.
Many people have been conditioned by years of dishonest anti-gun propaganda, yet they are interested in learning reality (and unlearning the propaganda). When I asked the woman what she wanted to do with a gun, it must’ve come across as, “who are you going to kill?” She was baffled and apprehensive about the question, but relaxed quite a bit when I mentioned four possible recreational uses. I think it was at that point she realized much of what she knew, just wasn’t true. You could almost hear the ‘pop’ of her paradigm shifting without a clutch.
My experience with this inquisitive woman was an important reminder that we can all be good ambassadors for gun ownership and the 2nd Amendment. We can’t write off the people who’ve been lied to by politicians and newscasters over the years. If you see lost and scared gun show tourists, stop and give them some help. They’re easy to spot, because they don’t look like normal fun show attendees.
Mz. VRWC and I went to the Lucky Gunner.com Blogger shoot, near Knoxville, Tennessee and had an amazing adventure. The blog shoot was part of BulletFest 2011, a full-auto, car shootin’, appliance killing, Tannerite laced cacophony, held in support of the Wounded Warrior Project.
Lucky Gunner offered us free ammo, a chance to shoot a few machine guns, social time with other gun bloggers and a few surprises. If the event was half as good as it appeared, we figured it would be worth it to fly out from Arizona to Tennessee.
It would be a tremendous understatement to say that Lucky Gunner under-promised and over-delivered on this event. They were even thoughtful enough to provide us with “ammo waitresses”, who would get us ammo and water, so we never had to leave the firing line.
We started off with an informal meet-and-greet at a local pizza place on Friday night, where we heard rumors of tanks and other surprises. We also got to meet many of the people we would be shooting alongside. We had great conversations with Mike from Firearms Anonymous and his Army buddy, Fill Yer Hands, Reverend Kenn Blanchard, M.J. Mollenhour and Angela from LuckyGunner.
As we pulled into the range, it suddenly became clear that we were falling down the rabbit hole and into the gunny version of Wonderland. We were overwhelmed at the amount of machine guns, military hardware, ammo, smoke, noise, and hospitality available.
The 9mm subcompact and 1911 in .45 ACP that I brought along seemed inadequate compared to what was available to shoot. As I vaguely recall, I shot a lot of machine guns, including a BAR, M16s in various calibers and configurations, HKs, grease guns, and…then it all turns into one smoky blur of bullet sprayers, exploding appliances, and carbeques. I lost track of how many full-auto guns I shot in the first day. By the end of the day, I had even shot a civil war cannon!
There were tanks, half tracks, artillery, an EODT attack dog demonstration, guests of honor, and Veterans, appreciation for what our service men and women have faced for our country, great conversation, ammo waitresses, chicks with guns, handgun training, Gunnie Awards, and too way much fun to describe in just one blog post. We didn’t even get to meet all of the bloggers.
Guests of Honor at Bullet Fest 2011
We’ll be posting more about the blog shoot and giving shoutouts to more of the participants and link love to new friends. Until then, check out Rob Reed‘s compilation video of the blog shoot.
LuckyGunner.com is honoring the best gun bloggers on the internet and they want your help choosing the winners! Go to the Gunnie Awards page to vote for your favorites.
Again, this is a partial list, you’ll have to go to the Gunnie Awards page to see the rest of the nominees and cast your votes.
Get your vote in by Friday, May 27th, 2011. The winners will be announced & presented with their 30mm replica round trophy from Technoframes on Saturday night, May 28th at the LuckyGunner.com Blogger Shoot held in Knoxville, TN this Memorial Day Weekend.
The 2009 NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits kicked off on Friday Phoenix. The theme of the NRA convention is a “Celebration of American Values“ and the concept really shines through. The crowds were huge, but polite, and included people from all walks of life. The lines to get into the hall were long, with turnout appearing to be much higher than expected. If you plan on going, be prepared to wait in line, I can assure you its worth it. Although grumbling about waiting in line could be heard from some in the crowd, my fellow gun owners were polite and courteous to each other. I’m sure that anyone who hasn’t been around gun culture would be shocked to find out that law abiding gun owners treat each other with a great deal of respect, far more than you get walking through a mall, stadium, or airport.
Once inside the exhibit hall, the massive scale of the convention becomes apparent. The vendor exhibits and various shooting association displays covered a full six acres of floor space. The guns on display ranged from antique muzzle loading flintlocks to the latest in tactical firearms. The NRA Store features an extensive range of NRA merchandise that is far too long to list here. DPMS brought a semi-trailer inside the convention center, the walls covered with various calibers and configurations of AR-15 based rifles. If fact, virtually all AR-15 manufacturers were represented at the show. Ruger officially joined the AR-15 market with their introduction a piston driven AR, the Ruger SR-556. Checkout NUGUNS site for photos, videos, and additional information about the Ruger SR-556.
My time walking around the exhibit hall was cut short by the need to get to the Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum at U.S. Airways Arena. The Leadership Forum will be covered in greater detail in another post, until then, check out the Snowflakes in Hell live blogging of the NRA Leadership Forum to get a feel for what the speakers had to say.
The day was capped off by mixer at Majerley’s in downtown Phoenix with The Outdoor Channel’s star of the popular show the Shooting Gallery, Mr. Michael Bane (he is a hoot to hang out with). A big thank you to Tactical Solutions and Insight Tech Gear for providing attendees with some great swag.
