Killing a pie-pan ain't no big deal

[davidn]

One of the more unusual events of the last week was when I got to participate in the unarguably American hobby of firing small bits of lead off at high velocities. The photo on the left still feels absolutely surreal for me to even look at.

In Britain, through the general ban on firearms, we're taught to fear guns and their effects, and we never really use them or even lay eyes on them most of the time. As chance would have it, for most of my time in Scotland I happened to live opposite the only licensed gun shop in the entire region, and gun-owning Americans have asked me if this ever made me feel unsafe in any way. No, it didn't, because the town was a quiet place where nothing ever happened. However, if I had also been living next door to the Fred Nutter Institute for the Criminally Insane, then that would have posed a problem - and unfortunately I view a large amount of America as rather closer to this. Not the people I was staying with - they were extremely responsible in their use and knowledge of them, and I was given a strict safety course and an eloquent speech about a gun being a simple tool - but, for example, the idea that most of the people on FA who regularly post pictures of their arsenals are allowed to handle anything sharper than a 2B pencil quite frankly scares me to death.

Given the frightening image surrounding guns from my own point of view, I was very surprised at how this sort of mythically powerful weapon seemed so normal and almost toy-like when viewed up close. wolfekko will have to come in and say what I was actually firing again - because all the guns that I know anything about are used online and have names like the ASMD Shock Rifle, I was only able to refer to the two I experienced as "the big one" and "the small one". The larger of the two weapons was actually the less powerful of them, despite looking more intimidating because of its size and the scope bolted to the top of it - this was a pellet gun, and the other was a rifle that fired genuine bullets. In a similar way to their innocent look, it's surprising that they don't make the noise that you're used to from films and television, and if anything, the sound is a sharp SNAP, like a small firework being set off. I'm fairly certain, however, that both of them would hurt a lot - we did untold damage to a plastic bottle and a tin foil baking tray from a distance of fifty paces while we were out there.

On my own end, I had insisted for a long time that playing violent games wouldn't teach you how to handle and fire a real weapon, so it's rather unfortunate that I was told that people who played games tended to have a large head start in the co-ordination required to aim accurately. And I was rather proud of knocking one of the two targets over on my first attempt, even if there's video evidence of me being rather surprised by the recoil. In fact, it's frighteningly similar to just playing Silent Scope - only with the addition of being punched in the shoulder a bit every time you fire.

Comments

[scani.livejournal.com]

I got subject to a lot of mockery for the restrictiveness of Canada's gun laws, despite the fact that it's probably one of the countries where it's probably most justified to have one. Not because of self-defense, but frankly, if you're out in the bush and you come across wildlife that wants to tear you to shreds (i.e. Ursus arctos horribilis, you may very well want one in your hands.

It doesn't sound like they put anything too powerful in your hands; I remember going out there for my first time, and deliberately having a 9 mm put in my hands first (as oppsoed to the .22). Hey, if we're going to introduce someone to a firearm for the first time, let's put the most intimidating and get the fear out of the way, right?

As I said to you upon my departure, though - you were definitely in good hands. It's important to have respect for them as a tool - albeit one that could cause significant damage - and frankly, not to view it as an extension of your penis.*

* Ironic that the short-barreled ones are almost better for that.

[davidn]

Yes, in Britain, they're just... not things that you encounter (although it's unfortunate to say this now that the links below have been provided...) because they're just not a part of culture and there's no dangerous wildlife to speak of beyond the occasional larger-than-average rabbit.

Your comment about the 9mm reminded me of something else - the surprising dissonance between how... big and menacing a gun looks and how intimidating it actually is. Of the selection I saw, the pellet gun - the weakest of the bunch - actually looked the most intimidating to me because of the long sniper-esque barrel and the scope.