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Guns are Really Neat
by: Vance W. McGee
I am a city boy, and while growing up I was not exposed to real firearms. My dad didn't hunt, so neither did I. But when I was 7 years old, on Christmas Day of 1972, my dad gave me a brand new Daisy B.B. gun. He taught me how to use it properly, and within a couple of years he allowed me to shoot it un-supervised in the backyard. Do you remember those two inch, green plastic army men that you could buy at K-Mart? I would place these all over the yard, and to make things more challenging, I would back up to the farthest reaches of the property and lob B.B.s toward the miniature grenadiers and flame-thrower-guys and pick them off long distance. I assumed [wrongly, of course] that all boys everywhere had B.B. guns, and it was as obvious to me as the goodness of ice cream that guns were 'really neat.'
In fact, guns are really neat. I own several, and would acquire more of them if I didn't think my wife would use one against me [just kidding, Sweetie.] Did you know that it's legal for you to own a firearm? It's true; if you're not a felon or a psycho or a man on the wrong end of a restraining order, you too may avail yourself of a gat, a hog-leg, a shootin' 'arn, a peacemaker, an equalizer, or a heater. And did you know, my fellow American, that in other parts of the world decent fellows like you and me may not own firearms of any sort? Sadly, there are millions of fine citizens in ostensibly 'free' countries like England and Australia who may not have as much as a .22 rim fire in their possession. You see, these more enlightened nations have determined that guns are not neat, and that it is the duty of every progressive democracy to protect their tax paying peasantry from dangerous weapons. Of course it follows that since England is free of guns it is therefore free of crime, and blessed with well scrubbed citizens who settle disputes along the lines of the Oxford Socratic Society [if you want a brilliant display of just how idyllic the United Kingdom really is, read Theodore Dalrymple's, Life at the Bottom: The Worldview that Makes the Underclass.]
But this article isn't about England. Rather, I am asserting that Guns are Really Neat. Allow me to prove this to you. When I was 21, I went to a local gun-shop that specialized in military and surplus firearms. I purchased a World War I vintage Lee-Enfield British army rifle [in .303 calibre] for $69.99. A friend and I took my rifle into the California desert, where we stood on a hillside and blasted away at rocks and old tin cans. We even set some ¼-inch steel plates out approximately 150 yards from where we were shooting. With the standard iron sights, I could not miss these 10-inch plates; hitting them was almost automatic. The old gun sure kicked hard, and it produced this unexpected result; instead of knocking the plates over, the 50-year-old surplus ammunition punched perfect, .303 sized holes right through them. Pretty neat. I couldn't help but think how phony 99% of the Hollywood war movies really are. In these, the hero takes three rounds from a Mauser and keeps on fighting. But I'll tell you this; even the most run-of-the-mill deer rifle sitting idly in a closet is an awesome weapon. You may already have one. If so, take it out of its case, clean it up a little, go to a shooting range and touch off a few rounds. Guns are Really Neat, and even though your old '06 pounds the stuffing out of your shoulder, it will remind you of the fact that as an armed American, you are not powerless.
Since we're already on the subject of guns, allow me to make another controversial assertion; pistols are Really, Really Neat. You see, what makes them especially cool is the fact that they can be kept loaded and stowed away from your kids, but also handy enough to quickly light up a bad guy. This may seem harsh, but if someone breaks into your home, seeking to harm your family in any way, you as a man on God's earth have a duty to kill said intruder stone dead. Notice that I didn't say you have the option of self-defense. Rather, you have the sacred responsibility of lethal deterrence.
Let me tell you a little about myself. I am 37 years old, I have a bit of a gut, but I still weigh only 152 pounds soaking wet. I was a maniacal baseball player in high school, but that ended almost 20 years ago. I'm out of shape, I don't know any karate, and I'm also not convinced that I can shoot that stupid pepper spray directly into a dark intruder's dark eyes in the dark at 3:30 a.m. So what are my options? Well, I can call the police, who will in a kind and leisurely fashion send the C.S.I's over to the house and photograph my corpse. Or, I can do what out of shape, near-sighted couch potatoes like myself have been doing for a long, long time; grab a pistol and start shooting. These equalizers equalize like nothing else can. And if you do not currently own a rifle, pistol or scattergun with which to defend your homestead, you are failing as a red-blooded American male and ought to move directly to Great Blairistan.
Yes, those guns are pretty neat. If you've followed me this far, I'm guessing that you already own a few of them yourself. And if you are the type that regularly reads the Patriotist, you already know that life in these United States is getting less neat every day. So permit me to ask you three questions. First, do you think of the federal government, based in Washington D.C., as your government? Are you peacefully secure in the knowledge that the Congress, the Courts, and the Executive are your people, and concerned with the values that you and your family hold dear? And finally, do you believe that your children or grandchildren will have a future as secure as your past? Well, I myself must answer these questions, No, No, and Heck No.
In the early 1500's, a young Augustinian monk named Martin Luther trekked from Germany to Rome, to see the Holy City in all her splendor. Upon arrival, he discovered that the hypocrisy, sin and abuse of the System were staggering. He could not forget what he saw there, and felt alienated from his own church long before he was ex-communicated. And those of us in the heartland, though we were born in these United States and hope to see our country prosper, are similarly alienated from the Imperial Government that rules from D.C. We pay our 'tithes' [taxes] as Luther did, but our hearts are not at ease. We watch television, and the nightly news brings us shameless robber barons, whining minority leeches, and vacuous, value-less politicians. And I'm sorry to offend my Republican brethren, but can you honestly tell me that in a nation of 280 million people, Dubya is really the finest and most noble man in the land? I didn't think so.
So what am I getting at? Just this; Guns are Really Neat. Aside from the fact that they can blow big 'ole holes through engine blocks and elk, they also teach us good theology. You see if people were basically good, we wouldn't need guns at all. And since governments consist universally of people, we know that we must not trust our leaders even as we obey God and pray for them. Train yourself to shoot a gun. And pray also that no one ever forces you to use it.
Guns are Really Neat
by: Vance W. McGee
I am a city boy, and while growing up I was not exposed to real firearms. My dad didn't hunt, so neither did I. But when I was 7 years old, on Christmas Day of 1972, my dad gave me a brand new Daisy B.B. gun. He taught me how to use it properly, and within a couple of years he allowed me to shoot it un-supervised in the backyard. Do you remember those two inch, green plastic army men that you could buy at K-Mart? I would place these all over the yard, and to make things more challenging, I would back up to the farthest reaches of the property and lob B.B.s toward the miniature grenadiers and flame-thrower-guys and pick them off long distance. I assumed [wrongly, of course] that all boys everywhere had B.B. guns, and it was as obvious to me as the goodness of ice cream that guns were 'really neat.'
In fact, guns are really neat. I own several, and would acquire more of them if I didn't think my wife would use one against me [just kidding, Sweetie.] Did you know that it's legal for you to own a firearm? It's true; if you're not a felon or a psycho or a man on the wrong end of a restraining order, you too may avail yourself of a gat, a hog-leg, a shootin' 'arn, a peacemaker, an equalizer, or a heater. And did you know, my fellow American, that in other parts of the world decent fellows like you and me may not own firearms of any sort? Sadly, there are millions of fine citizens in ostensibly 'free' countries like England and Australia who may not have as much as a .22 rim fire in their possession. You see, these more enlightened nations have determined that guns are not neat, and that it is the duty of every progressive democracy to protect their tax paying peasantry from dangerous weapons. Of course it follows that since England is free of guns it is therefore free of crime, and blessed with well scrubbed citizens who settle disputes along the lines of the Oxford Socratic Society [if you want a brilliant display of just how idyllic the United Kingdom really is, read Theodore Dalrymple's, Life at the Bottom: The Worldview that Makes the Underclass.]
But this article isn't about England. Rather, I am asserting that Guns are Really Neat. Allow me to prove this to you. When I was 21, I went to a local gun-shop that specialized in military and surplus firearms. I purchased a World War I vintage Lee-Enfield British army rifle [in .303 calibre] for $69.99. A friend and I took my rifle into the California desert, where we stood on a hillside and blasted away at rocks and old tin cans. We even set some ¼-inch steel plates out approximately 150 yards from where we were shooting. With the standard iron sights, I could not miss these 10-inch plates; hitting them was almost automatic. The old gun sure kicked hard, and it produced this unexpected result; instead of knocking the plates over, the 50-year-old surplus ammunition punched perfect, .303 sized holes right through them. Pretty neat. I couldn't help but think how phony 99% of the Hollywood war movies really are. In these, the hero takes three rounds from a Mauser and keeps on fighting. But I'll tell you this; even the most run-of-the-mill deer rifle sitting idly in a closet is an awesome weapon. You may already have one. If so, take it out of its case, clean it up a little, go to a shooting range and touch off a few rounds. Guns are Really Neat, and even though your old '06 pounds the stuffing out of your shoulder, it will remind you of the fact that as an armed American, you are not powerless.
Since we're already on the subject of guns, allow me to make another controversial assertion; pistols are Really, Really Neat. You see, what makes them especially cool is the fact that they can be kept loaded and stowed away from your kids, but also handy enough to quickly light up a bad guy. This may seem harsh, but if someone breaks into your home, seeking to harm your family in any way, you as a man on God's earth have a duty to kill said intruder stone dead. Notice that I didn't say you have the option of self-defense. Rather, you have the sacred responsibility of lethal deterrence.
Let me tell you a little about myself. I am 37 years old, I have a bit of a gut, but I still weigh only 152 pounds soaking wet. I was a maniacal baseball player in high school, but that ended almost 20 years ago. I'm out of shape, I don't know any karate, and I'm also not convinced that I can shoot that stupid pepper spray directly into a dark intruder's dark eyes in the dark at 3:30 a.m. So what are my options? Well, I can call the police, who will in a kind and leisurely fashion send the C.S.I's over to the house and photograph my corpse. Or, I can do what out of shape, near-sighted couch potatoes like myself have been doing for a long, long time; grab a pistol and start shooting. These equalizers equalize like nothing else can. And if you do not currently own a rifle, pistol or scattergun with which to defend your homestead, you are failing as a red-blooded American male and ought to move directly to Great Blairistan.
Yes, those guns are pretty neat. If you've followed me this far, I'm guessing that you already own a few of them yourself. And if you are the type that regularly reads the Patriotist, you already know that life in these United States is getting less neat every day. So permit me to ask you three questions. First, do you think of the federal government, based in Washington D.C., as your government? Are you peacefully secure in the knowledge that the Congress, the Courts, and the Executive are your people, and concerned with the values that you and your family hold dear? And finally, do you believe that your children or grandchildren will have a future as secure as your past? Well, I myself must answer these questions, No, No, and Heck No.
In the early 1500's, a young Augustinian monk named Martin Luther trekked from Germany to Rome, to see the Holy City in all her splendor. Upon arrival, he discovered that the hypocrisy, sin and abuse of the System were staggering. He could not forget what he saw there, and felt alienated from his own church long before he was ex-communicated. And those of us in the heartland, though we were born in these United States and hope to see our country prosper, are similarly alienated from the Imperial Government that rules from D.C. We pay our 'tithes' [taxes] as Luther did, but our hearts are not at ease. We watch television, and the nightly news brings us shameless robber barons, whining minority leeches, and vacuous, value-less politicians. And I'm sorry to offend my Republican brethren, but can you honestly tell me that in a nation of 280 million people, Dubya is really the finest and most noble man in the land? I didn't think so.
So what am I getting at? Just this; Guns are Really Neat. Aside from the fact that they can blow big 'ole holes through engine blocks and elk, they also teach us good theology. You see if people were basically good, we wouldn't need guns at all. And since governments consist universally of people, we know that we must not trust our leaders even as we obey God and pray for them. Train yourself to shoot a gun. And pray also that no one ever forces you to use it.
