OMG! They’re Selling Guns In Arizona! To Almost Anyone! OMG!

The Truth About Guns ^ | 6 August, 2012 | Dan Zimmerman

[marktwain]

It can be hard for those of us stranded out here in flyover country — what with dodging the Indians’ flaming arrows and digging our Conestogas out of them durned wheel ruts — to fully grok the anti-gun, pro-disarmament POV so prevalent among those who inhabit the left and right coasts. Not to mention a few conspicuous points in between. But it’s always useful to put yourself in the shoes of those on the other side, if for no other reason that plot better ways to counter their arguments. Not that that was what Jeanne Marie Laskas was doing with her piece in GQ. No, she embarked on her foray into the wilds of a Yuma, Arizona gun store more as an anthropological expedition . . .

Chronicling the mysterious people in the middle is apparently a big thing for Laskas. Her new book, Hidden America: From Coal Miners to Cowboys, an Extroardinary Exploration of the Unseen People Who Make This Country Work, comes out next week. So she apparently knows how to dress (and maybe even talk!) in these strange and foreign lands.

In this excursion, though, she ventured west “to listen to the conversation the rest of America was apparently having” about guns in the wake of some recent high-profile shootings. As pervasive and integral a part of American culture as guns are, Laskas wondered “If an armed citizenry is a piece of our national identity, how is it that I’d never even met it?”

Just a thought, but immersing yourself in the east coast media culture (she’s a former WaPo columnist and Contributing Editor at Esquire) could have something to do with it. Maybe.

Anyway, once she finally dug up a store willing to take her in, she spent some quality time with the folks who own, operate and patronize Sprague’s Sports, observing the indigenous fauna as they prowled the gun counters and ranges. But despite the experience you’d have to think she acquired while researching her book, it was hard to tamp down all that northeast corridor parochialism. She took the opportunity to pose some challenging questions to a member of the store’s sales staff…who was more than ready for it.

“I’m kind of surprised you carry assault rifles,” I said to Ron.

“There’s no such thing as an assault rifle,” he said. “These are ‘military-style rifles’ or ‘modern sporting rifles.’ ”

“But they’re assault rifles,” I noted. I knew that much from TV.

“Assault is one of the worst things the media has ever done to us,” he said. “Have any of these rifles ever assaulted anyone?”

Again, from the perspective of the limited circles in which Laskas runs (she a creative writing professor at the University of Pittsburgh), guns are something “those damn people” think they need.

Nobody in my circle back east had guns, nobody wanted them, and if anybody talked about them, it was in cartoon terms: Guns are bad things owned by bad people who want to do bad things. About the only time the people where I come from thought about guns was when something terrible happened. A lunatic sprays into a crowd and we have the same conversation we always have: those damn guns and those damn people who insist on having them.

Just a guess, but it looks like Jeanne’s not a regular DGU of the Day reader.

But give her some credit. During her time in the borderland area store, she bought herself an M&P 15-22 and a Glock 19. She couls barely contain her horror and revulsion, though, when a customer complimented her on her rifle choice, telling her that he’d just bought the same gun for his six-year-old.

Ultimately, the conversations with all the exotic gun people, some of whom betray their fears of the regulations anti-gunners would be only too happy to impose, were a little too much for her.

In the end, I went over to the indoor range to blow off some steam and to release my mind from the endless loop of stupid-scary.

But it’s a funny thing about those guns and the people who choose to own them. In Laskas’ case, they may have — may have — made her reconsider her POV. A little.

I kept thinking about neighbors. You have this crazy family living next door. One day you go over with a pie, figuring if you just confronted the crazy, you’d understand it and find acceptance. Then you discover that all this time they think you’re the crazy family. The more you try to explain yourself, the crazier you sound, and if you stay long enough, you probably will be.

These were burdensome thoughts, and I wanted to get rid of them. I rented an Uzi, fully automatic. I chose the male zombie. I think he was supposed to be a lawyer. He had a briefcase. I aimed for his left eyeball and pulled the trigger. The patter of thirty-two bullets lasted maybe three seconds, and then the eyeball was gone. The release felt like one gorgeous, fantastic sneeze, and the satisfaction reminded me of cold beer.

Come on in, Jeanne. The water’s fine.

[HiJinx]

Which points out the truth of the saying that prejudice is born of ignorance.

[stephenjohnbanker]

” I think he picked it up and threw it on the other side of the fence. It was great! It was obviously not a rattler. :-)”

Hopefully not : )

[petitfour]

Oh my. All we ever see are coyotes and snakes. Hubby and our oldest son have chopped up a few snakes. And hubby ran over one. And over it again. And again. And again. LOL

[stephenjohnbanker]

” Bears, Bobcats, & Javalenas as well.”

Looks like HiJinx has his own bear.

LOL!

[petitfour]

We have tarantulas as well, but we mostly ignore them. There is one that hangs around our front door. /shiver

I have no doubt that there is quite an arsenal of weaponry in our neighborhood. Between the cops, military, ex military, drug dealers, illegals, etc., we are pretty safe unless there is a SWAT raid. Then all bets are off. Heh

[stephenjohnbanker]

” we are pretty safe unless there is a SWAT raid. Then all bets are off. Heh”

LOL!

[GladesGuru]

MmKay - A blond, creative writing professatrix says anything worth discussing - ORLY?

[pops88]

“Once you leave town out here (although you don’t really have to) everything you see wants to either bite, sting, or stick you.

Folks in Arizona travel unarmed at their own risk!”

I lived in Arizona for a year about 3 years ago. I lived in the boonies. I concealed carried to the grocery store that was a 30 minute drive, though the middle of no where. A woman alone with an over 20 year old car...I wanted protection. I had an interesting chat with a couple of neighbors about the critters in the area and the consensus was that it was a good idea to keep your gun with you when you’re out and about. When I bought my gun in Las Vegas, I was warned it wasn’t legal in California because of something about the barrel. I don’t intend to go there so it doesn’t matter and I love the gun I picked. Got an education about the real crime rate in Las Vegas, too. So I bought a few more.

[az_gila]

Or if you even just live on the edge of town. In my folks’ backyard, I’ve seen tarantulas, five foot long snakes, bobcats, coyotes, great horned owls... and I’m only there for a week or so a year.

-------------------------------

Yeah... but bobcats are cute, and their cubs even cuter...

And the owls cool off in our pool. This guy is standing on the top step half in the water...

[saminfl]

When I lived in Tucson, I went into my garage one night and found three javalinas wandering around.

[stephenjohnbanker]

They always seem to come in 3’s : )

[jlindseyx]

Please define “a gun pistols”.
Thank you.

[stephenjohnbanker]

” Please define “a gun pistols”.
Thank you.”

Please see correction at #5.

[azishot]

We’re away for the summer and all this talk about critters and guns is REALLY making me homesick :-(

[stephenjohnbanker]

Oh well, you will be home soon : )

[Little Bill]

When I lived in Montana as a kid no one went fishing with out a pistol. Rattlers everywhere, much the same when I lived in Idaho.

[stephenjohnbanker]

I’ve seen rattlers in Idaho.
Didn’t know about Montana.

[saminfl]

When I tried to shoo them out, the big one acted like he wasn’t quite ready to go. They did leave though.

[Little Bill]

My Old Man was a Fanatical fly fisherman, bait caster and eater of our finned friends, I wish I still had his rods. I loath the thought of eating fish, but I never minded catching them and since I had no choice cleaning them.

He was a salesman for Lever Brothers and we moved a lot so to keep it short when in Montana we fished in Montana and they do have rattlers, lots of them. The best haul was 11 in our party of 5.

[Boogieman]

Yeah, it is kind of awesome how you can be sitting in a nice, air conditioned, lovely suburban home, with that kind of great wildlife just stopping by in your backyard.

Nowadays though, I’d be worried that the EPA might see those pictures and declare your pool a protected wetland ecosystem for endangered owls :S