Some of my earliest childhood memories are of me out shooting with my uncles - chilly December dawns with a moist blanket of dew covering the countryside, the morning mist slowly fading away and the smell of burning cordite...Divine!
I was introduced to guns at the "ripe old age" of 6 and acquired my first gun (a .22 Cal Air Rifle) when I was 8. It was a gift from my uncle and I was absolutely thrilled. As I slowly honed my skills during those initial years, one of my Dad's friends introduced me to target shooting and later sub-junior events at state level competitions. I was hooked!
I love shooting for many reasons. In the first place, holding a gun means that I am not helpless in the face of aggression coming from another. I also love the very act of shooting, for one simple reason, it is the ultimate form of self-control. If I pull the trigger, and the bullet doesn't go where I wanted it to go, I, and I alone, am at fault. In other words, I have to practice self-control when I shoot, there is no point in losing my temper when I miss, no point in blaming the gun, bullet or sights. I simply have to take a deep breath, and try again. It is a constant process of self-improvement, and to achieve a goal of perfection, or even near-perfection, brings me immeasurable satisfaction.
At the end of every shooting session at the range, I come back at peace with myself and with the world. The noise of shooting, the power I've unleashed (and which I've had to control), the calmness which I've had to achieve, all combine to bring me into a state of Zen-like stillness. It's something everyone should experience. I've taken many people shooting with me, a lot who have never shot before. Without exception, they've all come away as fans of the sport, and wanted to do it again.
There's another thing that's not just personal; and it's a guy thing. Guns are almost perfect machines. When you take one apart, and see what I call its "simple complexity", you are in awe as to what happens - cams move, sears disengage, springs coil back, metal moves along metal, all within tolerances of thousandths of an inch, and all within a couple millionths of a second. Then you reload, and do it all over again. I have a pistol in my collection which was manufactured circa 1942, and it still works as advertised. Find me another machine that still works about as well as the day it was made sixty two years ago, has detonated and contained a mini-explosive device many thousands of times, lasted through who knows what weather, endured rough handling and neglect, and travelled through at least two continents (it was made in U.S.A, for the Army). Like I said, the love of so perfect a mechanism is a guy thing.
In any event, I make no excuses for my attachment to guns, nor do I care about the opprobrium or condescension of others. I have more than one gun, for the same reason that other people own more than one CD album, and more than one performer withal. I don't need more than, say, two or three guns (actually, I once worked out that eight would be about my minimum), but gun ownership has little to do with need anyway. Except for self-protection - you can read about that in the entertaining Parable of the Sheep for an explanation so simple that even a child can understand it.
Responsible gun ownership requires a strict adherence to safety and I have attempted to put together the basic rules of firearm safety here. Even if you do not own or intend to own a firearm, please take the time to read these tenets of gun safety.
If you would like to know more about (my favourite sport) Skeet shooting, you can read more here.
If you wish to know about the state of gun ownership and gun control in India you can read more here. Finally I would strongly recommend you read Eric S Raymond's "Ethics from the Barrel of a Gun: What Bearing Weapons Teaches About the Good Life" to understand how gun owners feel.
I wish women (and men) in Maryland could apply for,and get a gun permit.
Does India have a 2nd. Amendment that is laughed at by some states?
I wonder who mans the NRA hotline in India.
(Indian accent) This is "Tom". Please reboot your Glock and try again. Thank you very fine!
I spent some time in India back around 1980. Back then, private handguns were almost unknown. There were a few rifles for hunting, but the idea of a city dweller having a gun for self-defense was not common at all.
One of the archtypes there is the “Female Bandit”. I remember one getting a tremendous amount of press attention, but you never really knew if she was real, or if it was all just myth.
"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest"
and
“He who cannot protect himself or his nearest and dearest or their honor by non-violently facing death, may and ought to do so by violently dealing with the oppressor. He who can do neither of the two is a burden.”
Gentlemen/Ladies,
Greetings from India. What you saw in those articles is only a part of the picture. It is only the reactionary impulse of a disarmed citizenry helplessly pinned down against rampant crime. Right now the Gun rights in India are a rarity. Guns are accessible only to the luckiest or privileged (well connected) people. Our Gun laws changed after Independence from British rule but what really matters is the implementation. There the authorities attitude still reeks of colonial baggage. License are refused on grounds such as “No threat to life/property assessed”. The law clearly states that any applicant who has come clean in background check - with bonafide records, no physical or mental issues - by default qualifies for the firearm license. Meaning granting the license should be the norm and refusal an exception.
However reality is quite the opposite as Abhijeet has summed up in few lines “I live in India and I am a proud firearm owner - but I am the exception not the norm, an odd situation in a country with a proud martial heritage and a long history of firearm innovation. This is not because the people of India are averse to gun ownership, but instead due to Draconian anti-gun legislation going back to colonial times.”
That website mentioned above “abhijeetsingh.com”, is actually the personal abode of this guy.
A wider forum for discussions (again started by Abhijeet & others) is active at http://www.indiansforguns.com
People from within and outside IFG (IndiansForGuns) had setup NAGRI few years back to spearhead the mission of protecting Gun rights of the Indian citizenry and educate them about Guns (Rights, safe use etc).
To answer some questions raised above:
— Thought there’s no BPO/hotline :D but together the IFG and NAGRI man the NRA role in India.
— Indian constitution didn’t support Gun ownership the way 2nd amendment did for US; but still our Constitution identifies Gun as a property and Gun ownership as a legal (not fundamental) right. Bottomline - our laws are workable but not the bureaucratic lordship in the country are hopeless despite of soundly failing in their job of protecting the society.
By the way as the topic was roughly “Women and Guns”, has anyone visited the site “http://www.corneredcat.com"; ? It is run by a woman with experience. There’s a lot of valuable information at that site as well.
Regards,
Virendra