Saturday, October 18, 2008

Last week Roberta X asked a simple question, a question that has become a Meme and is being answered across the blogosphere. I have not read to much of the answers other bloggers have posted, I was waiting until I posted an answer of my own.

The question?

How about you? Why do you shoot? Why do you carry, if you carry at all?

So why do I shoot?

For me, the answer to that question is pretty straight forward. I shoot because my Dad taught me to shoot. He gave me my first long gun for my seventh birthday. It was a .22/.410 over under. It was mine. My Dad’s friend, Jay Boone, gave me a hunter’s safety course and helped my Dad work on my shooting skills. We hunted dove, rabbit and gophers with that gun. As I got older I purchased more guns and hunted larger animals. In high school my group of friends were all shooters. We would head out to the desert on our dirt bikes or in pickup trucks, loaded down with all sorts of both long and hand guns. We never hurt anyone, or each other. We knew to be safe. Shooting was always done with folks I liked and respected.

I enjoy putting holes in little targets at distance. I have come to really enjoy the sound of a high velocity projectile striking a metal plate or a .22 bullet knocking over a metallic ram at 200 meters.

In the shooting sports, there is always something new to learn. Over the past few years I have taken up action pistol shooting, first to improve my skills for self defence, and now because it is a blast.

In the shooting sports, it is just me, my gun, and the target. Sometimes the match calls for accuracy, sometimes for speed and accuracy, and sometimes athleticism along with speed and accuracy. In the end, it comes down to the shooter, the equipment and the target.

Why do I carry?

I carry because it is my responsibility. I am responsible for my own safety and the safety and security of my family. The fact that I carry is a deterrent to goblins in my community. They do not know that I carry, but the fact that I might gives them pause. The daily news stories about goblins being put down by armed citizens should give them pause. Earlier I mentioned responsibility, maybe I should have said duty. I am a free citizen of these United States. As a free citizen, it is my duty to exercise my Second Amendment rights and fulfill my responsibilities as a citizen.

I carry because I can. I carry because I should. I carry because it is my right, my responsibility and my duty to carry.

So, why do you shoot? Why do you carry? If you don’t shoot, or don’t carry, why don’t you?

If you have been following this blog for the past couple of months, you probably know that I was a Volunteer Deputy Registrar in Tarrant County. This position meant that I could register voters. I use the past tense because voter registration ended on October 6th here in Texas. I was not as good at registering voters as those ACORN folks are. I could not find one dead person, cartoon character or super hero who wanted to vote in this election.

My friend Phil is a Deputy Registrar in Dallas County. After all the news of ACORN activities this past week, I asked if I could share an email he sent after we worked a gun show together a Few Sundays back.

It’s an email about hope:

…By the way–I did get my cards turned in. I am not sure I feel much safer. The Co. election office is just across the freeway and North one block from Market Hall. So it seemed worth the effort to try to go there. The county elections official did tell us during the deputy training that they would there every day until the registration deadline.

So I walked in the door. The security guard was standing at the door. Nice guy, but a little surprised to see anyone. ”What do you want.”. he said. I said that I had some voter registration cards to turn in, showed him the cards and told him that I was told they would be open today to accept them. ”Oh I see, yeah they are up there, go on up.”

All of the offices seemed to be locked. I finally found one door open and walked in. Four or five folks were working in a large room. Individual boxes full of papers were everywhere. They looked at me in total surprise. I explained, ”I am here to turn in voter registration cards. I was told that you would be open today to receive them…” They still looked surprised. One fellow finally said that he would show me where to turn them in. We walked down the darkened hall, through a couple of doors, down another hall. Large office, with several cubicles. Lights off, nobody at work. ”Just set them on this desk, write down your name and deputy number, they will take care of them.”. I asked whose desk this was. ”She will take care of it…no problem”, he said. I asked his name. ”My name is Omar”, he said. I said ”Thank you, Omar”. Shook his hand and left.

I sure hope Omar was not an ACORN guy, hope he does not grab that ID No. Hope the person on that desk does it right. I hope there are not thousands of new, questionable registrations with my ID No., someone is bound to ask questions.

I sure hope that worked.

Maybe the Obama campaign is working–There is a lot of new hope out there. Thanks again.

Phil

You see, we gun clingers have hope also.

It is a beautiful day in North Texas, just about perfect for pounding the pavement and talking with folks about getting to the polls and voting for Representative Bill Zedler.

There was quite a turn out for today’s push. I was pleasantly surprised by all the college age volunteers that showed up today. We even had Miss Teen Tarrant County helping to get out the vote for Rep. Zedler.

I had a good time. V was driving and our small team of two and a helper was working our list of registered voters who had a history of voting Republican or Independent. We made personal contact with well over 200 households, contact which I know made a difference for at lease a few of the people I spoke with.

There has to be at lease one candidate on the ticket who is worth your time. Contact that candidate and offer to help, there are lots of ways you can help, and any help you can give will be appreciated and remembered.