Monday, January 25, 2010

The Gun Show

Hey peoples, what's good? I just had a new experience this weekend. I've gone 39 years without ever having held a loaded gun, let alone firing one. And now I'm one step away from being licensed to carry a concealed one. Let me tell you how this happened.

In the summer between my 10th and 11th grade years, my best friend Rodney, accidentally shot himself in the eye. Rodney was a smaller than average kid. Getting fucked with on G.P. just for being small. He was hella cool, and hella smart, but frankly he got sick of being pushed around. He had an Honda Elite scooter and some hard cats on the block decided he didn't deserve it. They let him know the next time he rode past on it, it was theirs. He copped a gun from another set of hard cats on the block. He didn't know what the fuck he was doing with it and he caught a bad one in the eye. I'm still not exactly sure it was an accident, but that's the story I got.

Since, and actually before, then, I had a real antipathy towards guns. Cowards tools, I thought, so I stayed clear of them.

A few years back I got the idea that it wouldn't be a bad idea to have one, because shit, you never know how certain things may play out. We got some bad men out there with some bad intentions, and it you're on the wrong side of their way of thinking, you might become a victim. I was reluctant because then I'd become what I've always hated, a conspiracy minded nutjob. I do happen to live in the town where Tim.o.thy Mc.Vei.gh and the Nic.hol.s Brothers conspired to take down the Fed.eral Building in OK City.

The more I thought about it, and talked to friends about it, the more natural the progression seemed to come. So I signed up for the 8 hour permit to Carry a Concealed Weapon class. I told the instructor that I was a novice and ended up getting a little private instruction away from the class. It was strange to pull that trigger for the first time. There was a lot of power and a slight feeling of dread. After a while, I got into the groove.

After taking the written test (25 out of 26!), the entire class engaged in intruder cappin' scenarios on the gun range. That shit was actually fun, especially the yelling before shooting to give the intruder a chance to run. "Get the fuck outta my house, scumbag!" Fantastic.

In short, it was a great way to release stress, even though I still doubt I'll actually carry a gun around. The sad part is after one class, they'd actually let me.

Peace! (hehehehe)
KZ

6 comments:

Bananas said...

Well Zed, always remember, having a gun and using a gun are very different things. Trust me. Once you use it, you can never go back.

But I'm sure they covered that in class.

onefromphilly said...

I know I don't have the right temperment to carry a gun, nor be in a profession where I would have the authority to use a gun. But more and more I consider getting one for the house.

chele said...

My PMS is too out of control for me to have a gun.

The Brown Blogger said...

Um... What Terry said.

A.u.n.t. Jackie said...

what chele said.

The Second Sixty-Eight said...

I found the whole one class to a permit thing rather strange myself. Nothing says you HAVE to carry one. But it is cool to be cleared to do so if needed.