Newspaper Article: "Gun-toting liberals and getting a C
Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 8:09 am
Nice little article, better than most, from a Liberal Columnist in our local paper. Good to see some of them are at least open to the idea of self protection.
http://www.lufkindailynews.com/opin/con ... rders.html
By GARY BORDERS
The Lufkin Daily News
Sunday, June 10, 2007
AUSTIN — My buddy Frank and I are sitting bleary-eyed in a Masonic Lodge at 7 a.m. on a Saturday in Leander, which used to be 25 miles northwest of River City before folks started gobbling up all the country for subdivisions. Now Leander is Extremely North Austin.
A dozen or so of us have gathered to take a 12-hour concealed handgun class, taught by a duly certified instructor. We will learn the laws concerning concealed handguns — when it's legal or not to use deadly force; a primer on anger management; the difference between a semi-automatic and a revolver; and several stories about the instructor's wife and grandchildren. Eleven hours of talking is a large hole to fill, after all. We'll actually get to shoot for just an hour or so.
Frank is my longest-tenured friend. We met 36 years ago while volunteering at a Longview crisis hotline manned by teens who had no business counseling themselves, let alone anyone else. The males became involved in hopes of meeting girls who would overlook their inherent nerdiness and raging acne, and actually be attracted — even if only briefly — to a guy with the sensitivity to listen to someone on the phone engulfed in teen angst.
Actually, this approach sort-of worked, but that's another story. I'm here to talk about gun-toting liberals. I am a GTL, as is Frank. We're designing a T-shirt; e-mail me to place an advance order.
Make no mistake. I'm a liberal. If that was an option I could check on the census form, I'd do it. I realize in these parts that may be a minority opinion, but that's the great thing about being a liberal. We are absolutely in favor of people having minority opinions! Not so sure that's the case with a lot of conservatives I run across.
Given this liberal caveat, I am also a strong backer of the Second Amendment, though not as rigidly as my conservative friends. I am close to a First Amendment absolutist. Since the Second Amendment deals with bullets instead of words, I am a bit more cautious. Someone could get hurt. And you couldn't talk me into joining the NRA if you put a gun to my head. Well, maybe then.
I've shot guns since my dad took me out plinking with his single-shot Remington .22 rifle when I was a squirt. Hunting never appealed to me, because I don't like to kill animals, really don't want to cut them up, and anyway have evolved into a quasi-vegan lately. I've quit eating mammals — strictly fish and fowl these days — and often no meat at all. This does not make me a better person, but maybe it will lower my cholesterol.
So the only things I shoot are targets and cans, with one of three handguns I own. And I have a half-century old Remington 16-gauge Sportsman 48 shotgun I take out occasionally to try shattering clay pigeons, with limited success.
Anyway, Frank and I decided to take the CHL class. I travel a lot on weekends and feel safer carrying a handgun in my car. I may be a liberal, but I intend to protect myself if necessary.
A few observations about this CHL process:
n Folks who go through the hoops required to get the permit are extremely unlikely to use a gun in an inappropriate manner. The background checks are thorough, and the number of incidents involving CHL holders going postal or robbing liquor stores is miniscule. The knotheads buying handguns on the street pose the greater risk.
n Anybody with a clean record and the forbearance — or padding — to survive sitting in a hard-bottomed chair for 12 hours can pass the classroom portion of the course. I made a 98 on the test; Frank made a 100. (He's always been an overachiever.) I'm pretty sure I would have made a 90 without ever taking the class; 70 or better is passing.
n Though being legally blind is a hindrance to holding a CHL, it wouldn't stop one from passing the shooting portion of the test. It's ridiculously easy. Anyone who can't pass that portion probably shouldn't be driving. (I will modestly say here that I had a perfect score and beat Frank. We're a bit competitive that way.)
I now hold a CHL, having passed the background check with flying colors, even after being fingerprinted. I went to a gun show with Frank a few weeks ago and bought a lightweight .357 Smith and Wesson five-shooter to carry in the car when traveling.
It was my first gun show. I immediately noticed how polite everyone was; it pays to be civil when surrounded by that much firepower. I bought a bumper sticker that made me chuckle, given my line of work: "If guns kill people, then do pencils misspell words?"
Wish I could blame the pencil, largely replaced these days by the keyboard. Especially when the e-mails start pouring in from NRA members. And non-GTLs.
http://www.lufkindailynews.com/opin/con ... rders.html
By GARY BORDERS
The Lufkin Daily News
Sunday, June 10, 2007
AUSTIN — My buddy Frank and I are sitting bleary-eyed in a Masonic Lodge at 7 a.m. on a Saturday in Leander, which used to be 25 miles northwest of River City before folks started gobbling up all the country for subdivisions. Now Leander is Extremely North Austin.
A dozen or so of us have gathered to take a 12-hour concealed handgun class, taught by a duly certified instructor. We will learn the laws concerning concealed handguns — when it's legal or not to use deadly force; a primer on anger management; the difference between a semi-automatic and a revolver; and several stories about the instructor's wife and grandchildren. Eleven hours of talking is a large hole to fill, after all. We'll actually get to shoot for just an hour or so.
Frank is my longest-tenured friend. We met 36 years ago while volunteering at a Longview crisis hotline manned by teens who had no business counseling themselves, let alone anyone else. The males became involved in hopes of meeting girls who would overlook their inherent nerdiness and raging acne, and actually be attracted — even if only briefly — to a guy with the sensitivity to listen to someone on the phone engulfed in teen angst.
Actually, this approach sort-of worked, but that's another story. I'm here to talk about gun-toting liberals. I am a GTL, as is Frank. We're designing a T-shirt; e-mail me to place an advance order.
Make no mistake. I'm a liberal. If that was an option I could check on the census form, I'd do it. I realize in these parts that may be a minority opinion, but that's the great thing about being a liberal. We are absolutely in favor of people having minority opinions! Not so sure that's the case with a lot of conservatives I run across.
Given this liberal caveat, I am also a strong backer of the Second Amendment, though not as rigidly as my conservative friends. I am close to a First Amendment absolutist. Since the Second Amendment deals with bullets instead of words, I am a bit more cautious. Someone could get hurt. And you couldn't talk me into joining the NRA if you put a gun to my head. Well, maybe then.
I've shot guns since my dad took me out plinking with his single-shot Remington .22 rifle when I was a squirt. Hunting never appealed to me, because I don't like to kill animals, really don't want to cut them up, and anyway have evolved into a quasi-vegan lately. I've quit eating mammals — strictly fish and fowl these days — and often no meat at all. This does not make me a better person, but maybe it will lower my cholesterol.
So the only things I shoot are targets and cans, with one of three handguns I own. And I have a half-century old Remington 16-gauge Sportsman 48 shotgun I take out occasionally to try shattering clay pigeons, with limited success.
Anyway, Frank and I decided to take the CHL class. I travel a lot on weekends and feel safer carrying a handgun in my car. I may be a liberal, but I intend to protect myself if necessary.
A few observations about this CHL process:
n Folks who go through the hoops required to get the permit are extremely unlikely to use a gun in an inappropriate manner. The background checks are thorough, and the number of incidents involving CHL holders going postal or robbing liquor stores is miniscule. The knotheads buying handguns on the street pose the greater risk.
n Anybody with a clean record and the forbearance — or padding — to survive sitting in a hard-bottomed chair for 12 hours can pass the classroom portion of the course. I made a 98 on the test; Frank made a 100. (He's always been an overachiever.) I'm pretty sure I would have made a 90 without ever taking the class; 70 or better is passing.
n Though being legally blind is a hindrance to holding a CHL, it wouldn't stop one from passing the shooting portion of the test. It's ridiculously easy. Anyone who can't pass that portion probably shouldn't be driving. (I will modestly say here that I had a perfect score and beat Frank. We're a bit competitive that way.)
I now hold a CHL, having passed the background check with flying colors, even after being fingerprinted. I went to a gun show with Frank a few weeks ago and bought a lightweight .357 Smith and Wesson five-shooter to carry in the car when traveling.
It was my first gun show. I immediately noticed how polite everyone was; it pays to be civil when surrounded by that much firepower. I bought a bumper sticker that made me chuckle, given my line of work: "If guns kill people, then do pencils misspell words?"
Wish I could blame the pencil, largely replaced these days by the keyboard. Especially when the e-mails start pouring in from NRA members. And non-GTLs.
