So I spent a day teaching a couple to shoot..

[X_Digger]

A friend of a friend put me in touch with two older gentlemen from (I kid you not!) Gun Barrel City, TX.

Seems one of their neighbors' father doesn't like 'those queers' living down the street from his daughter and her kids, and has made some not so veiled threats to their other neighbors. (Nothing actionable as it's hearsay, and nobody's been willing to talk to the police.)

They've had small acts of vandalism to their property and one of their cars, but they have no way of proving that it was this man who did it. There have also been some break-ins of boat houses and boats on the lake, so they wanted to be prepared in case of emergency.

My friend who works with Rusty (the older of the two) counseled them on the purchase of a handgun (Springfield XD in .45acp), but since Matt hadn't shot a gun since he was a kid (and that was a rifle), we brought along a couple of 22 pistols for them to start with. We loaded up two cars and headed down to some land my friend owns outside Waxahachie. We'd previously set up an impromptu range in an old stock pond, as it gave us a good backstop.

By the end of the day, Matt was doing very well with the Ruger, but he was still jerking down in anticipation of the recoil of the 45. If I'd thought about it, I would have brought some dummy rounds to load into the magazine randomly so that he would be more aware of what he was doing. More practice just shooting, not paying too much attention to the target, and that will go away. Rusty really liked my 1911, I think I know what their next purchase will be.

Why post about my shooting trip? While we were having lunch, they were talking about why they chose to have a gun in the house. Rusty said "We live on a lake with a beautiful view. I'm going to retire in a few years, you know?" Matt chipped in with "I'll be damned if they're going to chase me away." My friend mentioned something about calling the cops on the neighbor's father, and Rusty replied, "We just want to be left alone, we're not bothering anybody."

On the ride home, it struck me how these guys would be received by their own party (Matt is a Henderson County Democratic party official of some sort- we talked elections and how many TX counties were likely to turn blue in the next election.) How they would likely be treated here on DU- would the majority outside of the gungeon see them as Texas rednecks with guns? Possibly so, and their loss. These guys don't fit into any stereotype. (Okay, okay, I got guffaws and snorts demonstrating how to clean their pistol, and any time I mentioned 'rem oil' (not THAT kind of rim, Matt! R-E-M! Remington!), 'lube', etc. Double entendres were flying, let's just leave it at that.) They're both responsible gun owners / users- there was as much discussion about safe handling and storage as there was about usage.

But what would many here see? A couple of old white guys with a thick Texas drawl, and a gun.

[patrice]

1. Aren't you doing what you are accusing others of by assuming what we would think?

You're stereotyping us by assuming that "we" would stereotype them.

Notice that in both instances the assumptions are based on little or no specific knowledge of them or us.

All of that aside, why bring it up? It's a nice story, but why gloat over prejudice that, **IF** relevant at all, is probably not very deeply rooted for, very likely, most of DU? Is there some pleasure in what you (mistakenly in most cases) assume is being discriminated against?

[X_Digger]

7. Sadly, it's based on experience here.

If you hunt through the threads here (hard to pin down search terms that yield only those threads) questions about self-defense seem to be met very differently depending on whether it started here in the gungeon or elsewhere and was moved here.

Why bring it up? How do you challenge prejudice? Expose it first.

[patrice]

9. Good points! With one caveat . . .

There are many actors on the internet under many guises doing many different things, more or LESS honestly, for motivations that can be quite covert. Trolls and other Disrupters are only the tip of this iceberg.

[X_Digger]

10. True, it does seem to be mainly drive-by posters.. n/t

[patrice]

11. BTW, I do personally know some very Liberal "gun-lovers" and some NOT so Liberal ones.

[Tim01]

2. Good post.

Those guys are in a tough spot. I haven't yet figured out a good way to deal with the white trash your friends are facing.

It is really tough to stop people from tearing up your stuff at night. But security cameras might be a really good use of money.

I hope they don't hop on their horses and ride in to town with their new guns and shoot up the place. Just kidding.

Oh, I also chose the XD45.

[GreenStormCloud]

3. Gun Barrel City is fairly close to Cut 'N' Shoot, Texas. N/T

[east texas lib]

6. Just south of Lockandload, I believe...

Out by Shootemall.;-)

[GreenStormCloud]

4. Get them a copy of "The Gift of Fear".

The value of the book to them in this case is that it has excellent sections on how to tell if a situation is likely to turn violent or if somebody is just a blowhard.

[GreenStormCloud]

5. Crimson Trace laser sights are a great training aid.

They are a bit pricey, but they pay for themselves in saved training ammunition. Have the student put the dot on a spot and dry fire until they can hold the dot steady during the trigger pull.

It also helps develop the ability to point the gun. Point at target, squeeze laser button, see where your shot would have really gone. In a short time the student can accurately point.

And in a real situation, they are a great help when the adrenaline is pumping and fine motor skills have gone to hell, and the situation won't allow a Weaver stance, the dot takes care of aiming.

The new holographic sights are awesome too, and not very expensive.

[X_Digger]

8. Good point

I think Matt just needs to get used to the sound / feel of the gun going off. That anticipatory flinch down was completely absent with the 22, but very noticeable with the 45.

[Hoopla Phil]

12. K and R