I’m a shooter. I like rifles in particular. And I’m a sometimes hunter. I started early, thanks to Dad. Growing up watching John Wayne Westerns provoked my interest in shooting, which quickly grew serious, not just plinking and sighting in rifles before deer hunting.
Dad gave me a Henry H001, when I was a boy because I just had to have a lever gun like the Duke did. Then, he gave me a Ruger Single Six, because I just had to have a six shooter like the Duke.
And my love for shooting took off from there. Turning from a hobby to a passion.
By accident, I got involved in the Second Amendment movement. I’d had a kids membership to the NRA, thanks to Dad. Later, middle school age, I out grew the kids magazines and switched to an adult annual membership, getting an adult magazine ‘America’s 1st Freedom’. Later, I became a NRA Life Member.
Then, things began to happen. NRA advocating for bump stock bans and red flag laws. NRA’s attempted filing for bankruptcy despite the then CEO/EVP saying they were in great financial shape. All these things happened around the same time, and I grew suspicious.
Being cynical by nature, and independent minded, I slowly began to dig, both into the NRA’s current issues, and past history, and then into the Second Amendment movement.
And here I am. Still the devoted shooter. Still cynical. Still independent minded. I have a “no compromise” attitude on the Second Amendment. Mr. Stoner invented the finest shoulder fired weapons system of all time, the AR-15. And yes, the Duke’s the best there ever was, and the best there ever will be. And he saved the best for last, ‘The Shootist’ (1976).
And thank you David Codrea at waronguns.com, for encouraging me to do this, and for mentioning it on your blog,