Gun-totin’ Lefties
Our friend Alex has been talking about taking Christina and me shooting, and we finally got a chance to head to a range run by the PA Fish and Game Commission this past weekend. Alex brought the guns and ammo, while we provided transportation and money to cover the cost of bullets.
Here we are shooting a 45 caliber pistol:
I gotta say, pistols scare the living shit out of me. They’re small and (relatively speaking) fairly light, and I found my hands shaking a little bit the first time I picked the thing up. I get the same kind of anxiety when I use power tools: something about the potential for permanent, grievous harm makes me queasy.
Pistols don’t have the same range or accuracy as a rifle, so I wasn’t surprised that I wasn’t able to hit the targets 50 yards away. What worried me was that my arm might shake while firing, sending a bullet ricocheting off a tree or a rock and into someone’s head.
I’ve got a much deeper understanding of why people object to handguns (even if I do not): something that small and that deadly can lead to a LOT of problems for everyone. in addition, as Alex pointed out, handguns are used for close-range self-defense, like when someone breaks into your house. As such, the typical handgun is either loaded, or the ammo is kept nearby in case of emergency. I certainly wouldn’t want one in my house with a kid Sam’s age living there. There’s just too much opportunity for something to go horribly, tragically wrong.
On the other hand, the rifle was a LOT more comfortable to use. It was a 1970s Romanian PSL, a semi-automatic sniper rifle that’s widely available for anywhere from $700-$1000.
There are a lot of reasons we like the rifle better. For starters, the fact that it’s, you know, BIG, means neither of us felt like it might go off by itself if we dropped it or handled it wrong. Also, since a rifle is typically used for hunting, it’s not kept loaded: rather, the gun itself is locked up in a secure case until you use it, and the ammo is kept separately.
And man, does that PSL make a spectacular BANG when you pull the trigger. if it wasn’t for those ear protectors I’m wearing (christina had the in-ear plugs), I’d be stone-deaf right now.
I’m not sure if we’re eventually going to invest in a firearm one way or the other. A lot of that depends on whether I follow through on learning how to hunt (and while the PSL isn’t approved in Pennsylvania, the much cheaper Mosin Nagant, a bolt action rifle used by the Russian Army from the 1890s through 1960s, is not only legal here but apparently very good for deer hunting).
Of course, learning to hunt means buying a “Butt-Out” to facilitate removing entrails.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Real men don’t wear earplugs.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
and when you’re ponying up the bucks for cochlear implants, new eardrums, etc, I’ll be delighted to employ your definition!
November 16th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Somehow you both look natural holding a rifle, even though it could be classified as an ‘assault weapon’.
As for the whole safety issue- a firearm is only as safe as its user. Keeping kids safe from firearms requires both keeping the guns away from the kids as well as teaching the kids (at an appropriate age) the proper use and treatment of them.
Glad you had fun.